Re: symptom?

[Joe Malin <jmalin -at- jmalin -dot- com>]

In the EMT world, "symptom" is something that a patient complains about, 
while "sign" is something that the EMT sees.

My observation is that a symptom is something immediately obvious or 
detectable that really indicates some other (and not always related) 
problem. For this reason, good bug-reporting systems usually have a 
place to record the "symptom" (or problem) and the "cause".

My favorite example of this is a woman who complains of persistent pain 
in her left shoulder. The care-giver examines her, but does not see any 
sign of trauma. The patient does not report any recent accidents, 
injuries, or activities that involved the shoulder. Remembering that 
pain can sometimes radiate, the care-giver asks (delicately) if the 
woman could possibly be pregnant. The woman says that she is sexually 
active and is not using contraceptives. The care-giver concludes that 
the woman should be examined further for an ectopic pregnancy; they 
often manifest as shoulder pain radiating from the abdomen.

Joe

Milan Davidovic wrote:
> When humans are sick, we can say they display
> *symptoms*. When machines are "sick", they display
> ____?
>
> I'm reading some text about a device performing a
> self-test. As the device performs each step of the
> self test, the operator is supposed to watch for
> particular problems. For example, one of the steps is
> that the screen lights up completely. The "symptom" to
> watch for is dark spots or lines.
>
> Would you use the word "symptom" in this instance?
>
> Milan
> http://altmilan.blogspot.com
> http://www.terminus1525.ca/studio/view/2758
>
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*Joe Malin*

jmalin -at- jmalin -dot- com <mailto:jmalin -at- jmalin -dot- com>

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