decompensation
Decompensation (noun) - Medical/Psychological context: The failure of an organ (especially the heart) or a psychological system to maintain adequate function due to overwhelming stress or disease, resulting in a breakdown of compensatory mechanisms. - General sense: A deterioration in the ability to maintain normal physiological or mental equilibrium under strain.
- (The heart could no longer compensate for the increased workload.)
- (The mental coping mechanisms failed.)
- (The liver's ability to function properly collapsed.)
"Acute decompensation": A sudden and severe loss of function, often requiring emergency medical intervention.
- The doctor diagnosed acute decompensation in the elderly man's kidneys. (The kidneys abruptly stopped working adequately.)
"Decompensation in chronic disease": A gradual worsening of a condition previously managed by the body's compensatory mechanisms.
- Heart failure patients often show signs of decompensation after missing medication. (Their heart function deteriorates because the medication was helping it compensate.)
Decompensate (verb): To undergo decompensation; to lose compensatory ability.
- The patient began to decompensate rapidly after the surgery. (Their condition worsened as compensation failed.)
Decompensatory (adjective): Relating to or characterized by decompensation.
- The decompensatory phase of the illness required intensive care. (The stage where compensation broke down.)
- Deterioration: A gradual decline in quality or function.
- Breakdown: A failure of a system or process.
- Failure: Loss of ability to perform normally.
- Decompensate into: To progress into a state of failure.
- His health decompensated into a critical condition. (His health worsened to a critical state.)
Fall apart: To lose structure or function completely.
- Under extreme stress, her mental state fell apart. (She experienced psychological decompensation.)
Lose ground: To become less able to maintain a position or function.
- The patient lost ground despite treatment. (The patient's condition worsened despite medical help.)