GENERAL HEALTH CONDITIONS

1. GENERAL HEALTH CONDITIONS (GHC)
DR.QURATULAIN MUGHAL
(DPT)
ISRA UNIVERSITY,KARACHI

2. CONTENTS
1. Fatigue
2. Malaise
3. Fever
4. Chills
5. Sweats
6. Nausea
7. Vomiting
8. Dizziness/lightheadedness
9. Unexplained weight
change
10. Numbness/Paresthesia
11. Weakness
12. Mentation/cognition

3. 1.FATIGUE
DEFINITION:
 “Sense of tiredness or weariness marked by
a change in ability to carry out normal daily
activities.”
 Duration of 2 or more weeks

4. CAUSES OF FATIGUE
 Psychological problems
 Metabolic disorders
 Infections
 Neoplasms
 Cardiopulmonary disorders
 Connective tissue diseases
 Improper Sleep

5. 2. MALAISE
DEFINITION:
 “A general feeling of discomfort, illness, or
unease whose exact cause is difficult to
identify.”
OR
 “Sense of lethargy”
 Malaise expresses a patient's uneasiness that
"something is not right" that may need a medical
examination to determine the significance.

6. 3. FEVER
 Also known as pyrexia and febrile
response.
Defined as:
 “having a temperature above the normal
range (37.5 and 38.3 °C) or (99.5 and
100.9 °F)”.
 Fever is one of the most common medical
signs.

7. CAUSES OF FEVER
 Viral
 Bacterial
 Parasitic infections
 Non-infectious causes
include vasculitis,deep vein thrombosis e.t.c.

8. SITES TO MEASURE FEVER
 ANUS (rectum/rectal) is at or over 37.5–
38.3 °C (99.5–100.9 °F).
 Mouth (oral) is at or over 37.7 °C (99.9 °F).
 Arm (axillary) or in the ear (tympanic) is at or
over 37.2 °C (99.0 °F).

9. TYPES OF FEVER
A) Continuous fever:
Temperature remains above normal
throughout the day and does not fluctuate
more than 1 °C in 24 hours.
e.g:
1. Lobarpneumonia
2. Typhoid
3. Meningitis
4. urinary tract infection e.t.c.

10. B) Intermittent fever:
The temperature elevation is present only for a
certain period, later cycling back to normal.
e.g. malaria
C) Remittent fever:
Temperature remains above normal throughout
the day and fluctuates more than 1 °C in 24
hours.
e.g. infective endocarditis

11. 4. SWEATS
 Also called perspiration.
DEFINITION:
“The act of secreting fluid from the skin”.
 Secreted by small tubular glands situated
within and under the skin (in the
subcutaneous tissue).
 Occurring during a high fever, but sometimes
is also a common symptom which occurs
alone in specific people.

12. 5. CHILLS
DEFINITION:
“ a feeling of coldness”
 Occurring during a high fever, but sometimes
is also a common symptom which occurs
alone in specific people.

13. 6. VOMITING
 Also known as emesis.
DEFINITION:
 “Is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the
contents of one's stomach through
the mouth and sometimes the nose”.

14. 7. NAUSEA
DEFINITION:
“Sensation of unease and discomfort in the
upper stomach with an involuntary urge
to vomit”.
OR
“The feeling that one is about to vomit is
called nausea”

15. 8. DIZZINESS/LIGHTHEADEDNESS
DEFINITION:
“Lightheadedness is a common and typically
unpleasant sensation of dizziness and/or a
feeling that one may faint”.

16. 9. UNEXPLAINED WEIGHT CHANGE
 "Unexplained” change in weight is a serious
medical condition.
 Weight gain is an increase in body weight. This
can involve an increase in muscle mass, fat
deposits, excess fluids such as water or other
factors.
 Weight loss reduction of the total body mass,
due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose
tissue or lean mass, namely bone mineral
deposits, muscle, tendon, and other connective
tissue.

17. 10. NUMBNESS/PARESTHESIA
DEFINITION:
 “Abnormal sensations such as prickling,
tingling, itching, burning or cold, skin crawling
or impaired sensations.”

18. 11. WEAKNESS
DEFINITION:
“Lack of strength OR quality of being weak”.

19. 12. MENTATION/COGNITION
DEFINITION:
“The mental action or process of acquiring
knowledge and understanding through
thought, experience, and the senses.”