encephalitis

/,enkefə'laitis/

Thân thiện

A doctor examines a brain scan showing signs of encephalitis.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Inflammation of the brain: A medical condition characterized by swelling and irritation of the brain tissue. It is most commonly caused by a viral infection, but can also result from bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases, or other causes. Symptoms often include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and sensitivity to light.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The patient was hospitalized with suspected viral encephalitis.
  • Early diagnosis and treatment of encephalitis are crucial to prevent serious complications.
  • The outbreak was traced to a mosquito-borne virus known to cause encephalitis.

Advanced Usage

• "Autoimmune encephalitis": A type where the body's own immune system mistakenly attacks healthy brain cells.

  • Her symptoms were later diagnosed as a rare form of autoimmune encephalitis.

• "Encephalitis lethargica": A specific, historically significant form of encephalitis that causes sleepiness and movement disorders.

  • The film explored the mystery of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic in the early 20th century.

Variants and Related Words

• Encephalitic (adj): Relating to or affected by encephalitis.

  • The patient showed encephalitic symptoms.

• Meningoencephalitis (n): Combined inflammation of the brain and the meninges (the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord). This is a compound term.

  • The infection progressed to meningoencephalitis.

Synonyms

• Brain inflammation: A direct descriptive synonym.
• Cerebritis: A less common medical term for inflammation of the cerebrum (a part of the brain).

Related Phrases

• "Post-infectious encephalitis": Encephalitis that develops following another infection.
  • The child developed post-infectious encephalitis after recovering from the flu.

Related Idioms

(There are no common idioms specifically for the medical term "encephalitis".)

Học thuật

Noun

1. inflammation of the brain usually caused by a virus; symptoms include headache and neck pain and drowsiness and nausea and fever (`phrenitis' is no longer in scientific use)

Từ đồng nghĩa

• cephalitis
• phrenitis