predisease

alternative pre-disease

1. not comparableOf or relating to a predisease (such as prediabetes or prehypertension), as with predisease states or predisease stage.
2. not comparableBefore a disease began, as with predisease cognitive performance as a baseline in dementia or predisease motor function as a baseline in multiple sclerosis.

plural prediseases · alternative pre-disease

1. medicineA condition, albeit consisting of only one or two signs, that is identifiable as, or believed to be, a subclinical prelude to a disease, with greatly increased predisposition thereto (for example, prediabetes or prehypertension); the operational definition of such a state or the clinical value of asserting it may be contentious (as with purported preobesity).

   Nowadays, it suggests more of a kind of 'proto-professionalization': the internalization of professional attitudes towards one's own body and acting as a kind of 'proto-professional' in cases of the treatment of a predisease.

   2010, Michiel Korthals, Genomics, Obesity and the Struggle over Responsibilities

   1 more example

   When the goal of preventing adverse health outcomes is kept in mind, this review poses the idea that "predisease" as a category on which to act makes sense only if the following 3 conditions are met. First, the people designated as having predisease must be far more likely to develop disease than those not so designated. Second, there must be a feasible intervention that, when targeted to people with predisease, effectively reduces the likelihood of developing disease. Third, the benefits of intervening on predisease must outweigh the harms in the population.

   2011, Anthony J. Viera, “Predisease: when does it make sense?”, in Epidemiologic Reviews, volume 33, number 1, →DOI, →PMID, pages 122–134