Idiopathic disease

An idiopathic disease is any disease with an unknown cause or mechanism of apparent spontaneous origin.[1]

For some medical conditions, one or more causes are somewhat understood, but in a certain percentage of people with the condition, the cause may not be readily apparent or characterized. In these cases, the origin of the condition is said to be idiopathic. With some other medical conditions, the root cause for a large percentage of all cases has not been established—for example, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or ankylosing spondylitis; the majority of these cases are deemed idiopathic.[2] Certain medical conditions, when idiopathic, notably some forms of epilepsy and stroke, are preferentially described by the synonymous term of cryptogenic.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Idiopathic". Concise Medical Dictionary (8th ed.). 2010. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199557141.001.0001. ISBN 9780199557141. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  2. ^ Daskalakis N, Winn M (2006). "Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis". Cell Mol Life Sci. 63 (21): 2506–11. doi:10.1007/s00018-006-6171-y. PMC 11136043. PMID 16952054. S2CID 11321176.
  3. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About Epilepsy | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 26 October 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ahmad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).