Meaning & use
pathophysiology
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Meanings
noununcountablemedical
The study of how disease changes the normal working of the body's organs and systems.
Grammar: A field of study, so it takes no article and a singular verb: pathophysiology is taught in year two.
Patterns
- study pathophysiology
- pathophysiology of something
First-year nursing students take a course in pathophysiology.
The textbook explains pathophysiology in clear diagrams.
Her research in pathophysiology focuses on the heart.
nounsingularmedical
The specific changes in body function that a particular disease causes.
Grammar: Almost always followed by of: the pathophysiology of asthma.
Patterns
- the pathophysiology of something
Doctors still debate the pathophysiology of migraine.
The pathophysiology of diabetes involves how the body handles insulin.
Understanding the pathophysiology of the condition led to a better drug.
Common combinations
- the pathophysiology of
- The lecture covered the pathophysiology of heart failure.
- underlying pathophysiology
- The underlying pathophysiology is still not well understood.
- understand the pathophysiology
- Nurses must understand the pathophysiology of what they treat.
- disease pathophysiology
- Disease pathophysiology is the focus of the second module.
- explain the pathophysiology
- The article explains the pathophysiology in plain language.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pathogenesis
- Pathogenesis is narrower, focusing on how a disease begins and develops, while pathophysiology also covers the resulting functional changes.
- pathology
- Pathology is broader and often means the study of tissue and test samples to diagnose disease, rather than how function is disturbed.
- disease process
- Disease process is an everyday phrase for the same idea, easier for patients but less precise than pathophysiology.
Opposites
Word family
- pathophysiological adjective
- relating to disease-caused changes in function
- pathophysiologist noun
- a specialist who studies these changes
- physiology noun
- how a healthy body works
- pathology noun
- the study of disease
Commonly confused: pathophysiology or pathology?
pathophysiology vs pathology
Pathology is the broader study of disease and its causes and effects on tissue, while pathophysiology is specifically about disturbed body function.
Practice
Which topic belongs to the pathophysiology of diabetes?
Choose one answer.
Pathophysiology deals with how a disease disrupts normal body function, such as blood sugar control. The other options are about history, cost or buildings, not function.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pathophysiology”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.