Functional symptom
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A functional symptom is a
Historically, there has often been fierce debate about whether certain problems are predominantly related to an abnormality of structure (disease) or are psychosomatic in nature, and what are at one stage posited to be functional symptoms are sometimes later reclassified as organic, as investigative techniques improve.
Whilst misdiagnosis of functional symptoms does occur, in neurology, for example, this appears to occur no more frequently than of other neurological or psychiatric syndromes. However, in order to be quantified, misdiagnosis has to be recognized as such, which can be problematic in such a challenging field as medicine.
A common trend is to see functional symptoms and syndromes such as
Weakness
Functional weakness is weakness of an arm or leg without evidence of damage or a disease of the nervous system. Patients with functional weakness experience symptoms of limb weakness which can be disabling and frightening such as problems walking or a 'heaviness' down one side, dropping things or a feeling that a limb just doesn't feel normal or 'part of them'. Functional weakness may also be described as
To the patient and the doctor it often looks as if there has been a stroke or have symptoms of multiple sclerosis. However, unlike these conditions, with functional weakness there is no permanent damage to the nervous system which means that it can get better or even go away completely.
The diagnosis should usually be made by a consultant
The most effective treatment is
Giveway weakness
Giveway weakness (also "give-away weakness", "collapsing weakness", etc.) refers to a symptom where a patient's arm, leg, can initially provide resistance against an examiner's touch, but then suddenly "gives way" and provides no further muscular resistance.
See also
- Functional disorder
- Functional neurological symptom disorder
- Idiopathy
References
External links
- Functional somatic symptoms and syndromes
- Engagement in psychological treatment for functional neurological symptoms--Barriers and solutions
- Chronic multiple functional somatic symptoms
- Functional symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease and their potential influence in misclassification of clinical status