Malaise#Cause
{{Short description|Feeling of general discomfort}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{Distinguish|nausea}}
{{For|the Swedish entomologist and inventor of the Malaise trap|René Malaise}}
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{{Infobox medical condition
| name = Malaise
| synonyms = Discomfort, uneasiness
| pronounce = {{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|l|eɪ|z}} {{respell|mə|LAYZ}}
| field = Family medicine, Internal medicine, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Psychiatry, Clinical psychology
| symptoms = Feeling of uneasiness or discomfort
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| diagnosis = Based on symptoms
| differential = Pain, anxiety, depression
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In medicine, malaise is a feeling of general discomfort, uneasiness or lack of wellbeing and often the first sign of an infection or other disease.{{cite web|url=https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003089.htm|title=Malaise: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia|website=medlineplus.gov|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916154928/https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003089.htm|archive-date=2016-09-16}} It is considered a vague term{{snd}}describing the state of simply not feeling well. The word has existed in French since at least the 12th century.
The term is often used figuratively in other contexts, in addition to its meaning as a general state of angst or melancholia.
Cause
Malaise is a non-specific symptom and can be present in the slightest ailment, such as an emotion (causing fainting, a vasovagal response) or hunger (light hypoglycemia{{cite journal|url=http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/2/390|title=Short-Term, Delayed, and Working Memory Are Impaired During Hypoglycemia in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes|first1=Andrew J.|last1=Sommerfield|first2=Ian J.|last2=Deary|first3=Vincent|last3=McAulay|first4=Brian M.|last4=Frier|date=1 February 2003|journal=Diabetes Care|volume=26|issue=2|pages=390–396|via=care.diabetesjournals.org|doi=10.2337/diacare.26.2.390|pmid=12547868|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913150624/http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/2/390|archive-date=13 September 2016|doi-access=free}}), to the most serious conditions (cancer, stroke, heart attack, internal bleeding, etc.).
Malaise expresses a patient's uneasiness that "something is not right" that may need a medical examination to determine the significance.
Malaise is thought to be caused by the activation of an immune response, and the associated pro-inflammatory cytokines.{{cite journal|last1=Dantzer|first1=Robert|title=Cytokine, Sickness Behavior, and Depression|journal=Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America|date=1 December 2016|volume=29|issue=2|pages=247–264|doi=10.1016/j.iac.2009.02.002|pmc=2740752|issn=0889-8561|pmid=19389580}}
Figurative use
"Economic malaise" refers to an economy that is stagnant or in recession (compare depression). The term is particularly associated with the 1973–75 United States recession.One example can be found in The Next 200 Years: A Scenario for America and the World, by Herman Kahn et al., published in 1976, p. 2. An era of American automotive history, centered around the 1970s, is similarly called the "malaise era."
The "Crisis of Confidence" speech made by US President Jimmy Carter in 1979 is commonly referred to as the "malaise speech", although the word itself was not actually in the speech.{{cite web |url= http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |title= "Crisis of Confidence" Speech (July 15, 1979) |publisher= Miller Center, University of Virginia |format= text and video |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090721024329/http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |archive-date= July 21, 2009 |df= mdy-all }}
See also
Notes and references
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{{Wiktionary}}
External links
{{Medical resources
| ICD10 = {{ICD10|R|53||r|50}}
| ICD9 = {{ICD9|780.7}}
| MedlinePlus = 003089
| eMedicineSubj = search
| eMedicineTopic = Malaise
}}
- {{MedlinePlusEncyclopedia|003089}}
{{General symptoms and signs}}
{{Common Cold}}