Pathophysiologic consideration of an intuitive “sense of alarm”
- VernacularTitle:「重症感」の症候学的考察
- Author:
Masaki Sanaka
;
Yoshihisa Urita
;
Kazushige Nakanishi
;
Hitoshi Nakajima
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
intuition;
sense of alarm;
autonomic nervous system response;
acute sickness behavior
- From:An Official Journal of the Japan Primary Care Association
2012;35(4):299-305
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
Abstract
Sometimes experienced doctors and nurses have an intuitive sense of alarm about an apparently stable patient, a sense which may be expressed as, for instance, ‘He/she seems seriously ill.’ However, this intuitive sense of alarm remains a rule of thumb, even though it is recognized as an important “diagnostic” indicator in clinical decision-making. In this review, we have attempted to clarify the meaning of the phrase by proposing a pathophysiologic/symptomatologic model that suggests that the sense of alarm is a premonitory sign of a homeostatic crisis characterized by acute systemic autonomic symptoms and acute sickness behavior. The model proposed here may help novices to avoid missing potentially critical diseases.
