{{Short description|Disease with a rapid onset and/or a short course}} In medicine, describing a disease as '''acute''' denotes that it is of recent onset; it occasionally denotes a short duration. The quantification of how much time constitutes "short" and "recent" varies by disease and by context, but the core denotation of "acute" is always qualitatively in contrast with "chronic", which denotes long-lasting disease (for example, in acute leukaemia and chronic leukaemia).
In the context of the mass noun "acute disease", it refers to the acute phase (that is, a short course) of any disease entity.<ref name=pain2007>{{cite book|editor1=Robert F. Schmidt |editor2=William D. Willis |title=Encyclopedia of pain|year=2007|publisher=Springer|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-540-29805-2|page=Acute Pain, Subacute Pain and Chronic Pain (Chapter.)}}</ref><ref name=Mosby1998>{{cite book|editor=Kenneth N. Anderson|title=Mosby's medical dictionary : illustrated in full colour throughout|year=1998|publisher=Mosby|location=St. Louis|isbn=0815146310|edition=5th revised|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mosbysmedicalnur00ande}}</ref> For example, in an article on ulcerative enteritis in poultry, the author says, "in acute disease there may be increased mortality without any obvious signs",<ref name="isbn_9780702028625">{{Citation |last=Pattison |first=Mark |year=2008 |title=Poultry Diseases |edition=6th |page=207 |isbn=9780702028625 |publisher=Saunders/Elsevier |postscript=.}}</ref> referring to the acute form or phase of ulcerative enteritis.
== Meaning variations == A mild stubbed toe is an acute injury. Similarly, many acute upper respiratory infections and acute gastroenteritis cases in adults are mild and usually resolve within a few days or weeks.{{cn|date=April 2023}}
The term "acute" is also included in the definition of several diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, acute leukaemia, acute myocardial infarction, and acute hepatitis. This is often to distinguish diseases from their chronic forms, such as chronic leukaemia, or to highlight the sudden onset of the disease, such as acute myocardial infarct.<ref name="Mosby1998" />
===Related terminology=== Related terms include:
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" |- ! scope="col" style="width: 25%;" | Term ! scope="col" style="width: 75%;" | Meaning |- | {{vanchor|Peracute}} || Very acute or violent. Denotes ''fulminant'', whereas "acute" only sometimes connotes ''fulminant''.<br> {{anchor|preacute|postacute}} ''P{{strong|er}}acute'' ("very") is not to be confused with ''p{{strong|re}}acute'' ("before", the opposite of ''postacute''). |- | {{vanchor|Recurrent}} || "Happening again"—the concept is often one of multiple acute episodes. ''Relapse'' can mean the same as ''recurrent'', although ''relapse'' is usually used to describe recurrence of chronic conditions that go into remission and then recur. |- | {{vanchor|Acute on chronic}} || An acute exacerbation of a chronic condition. It is applied to a variety of conditions, including liver failure,<ref name="Wlodzimirow 2013">{{cite journal|last=Wlodzimirow|first=KA|author2=Eslami, S|author3= Abu-Hanna, A|author4= Nieuwoudt, M|author5= Chamuleau, RA|title=A systematic review on prognostic indicators of acute on chronic liver failure and their predictive value for mortality.|journal=Liver International|date=January 2013|volume=33|issue=1|pages=40–52|pmid=22429562|doi=10.1111/j.1478-3231.2012.02790.x|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Graziadei 2011">{{cite journal|last=Graziadei|first=IW|title=The clinical challenges of acute on chronic liver failure.|journal=Liver International|date=September 2011|volume=31|issue=Suppl 3 |pages=24–6|pmid=21824280|doi=10.1111/j.1478-3231.2011.02585.x|s2cid=205652276}}</ref> subdural hematoma,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lee|first=KS|author2=Shim, JJ|author3= Yoon, SM|author4= Doh, JW|author5= Yun, IG|author6= Bae, HG|title=Acute-on-Chronic Subdural Hematoma: Not Uncommon Events.|journal=Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society|date=December 2011|volume=50|issue=6|pages=512–6|pmid=22323938|doi=10.3340/jkns.2011.50.6.512|pmc=3272512}}</ref> renal failure,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dear|first=JW|author2=Yuen, PS|title=Setting the stage for acute-on-chronic kidney injury.|journal=Kidney International|date=July 2008|volume=74|issue=1|pages=7–9|pmid=18560361|doi=10.1038/ki.2008.126|pmc=3113484}}</ref> respiratory failure,<ref name="Ambrosino 2009">{{cite journal|last=Ambrosino|first=N|author2=Gherardi, M|author3= Carpenè, N|title=End stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.|journal=Pneumonologia I Alergologia Polska|year=2009|volume=77|issue=2|pages=173–9|doi=10.5603/ARM.27836|pmid=19462352|s2cid=7689209|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Goldring|first=JJ|author2=Wedzicha, JA|title=Managing acute on chronic respiratory failure: a guide to non-invasive ventilation.|journal=British Journal of Hospital Medicine |date=August 2008|volume=69|issue=8|pages=444–9|pmid=18783091|doi=10.12968/hmed.2008.69.8.30740}}</ref> and bronchitis. |- | {{vanchor|Acute on chronic inflammation}} || A term sometimes used in pathology to describe a pattern of inflammation which is a mixture of chronic and acute inflammation.{{medical citation needed|date=June 2013}} It may be seen in asthma,<ref name="Newaskar 2011">{{cite journal|last=Newaskar|first=Manisha|author2=Hardy, Karen A.|author3= Morris, Claudia R.|title=Asthma in Sickle Cell Disease|journal=The Scientific World Journal|date=1 January 2011|volume=11|pages=1138–1152|doi=10.1100/tsw.2011.105|pmid=21623460|pmc=5548285 |doi-access=free }}</ref> rheumatoid arthritis,<ref name="Wakefield 2001">{{cite book|last=Wakefield|first=D|title=Inflammation: chronic (Encyclopedia of life sciences)|year=2001|publisher=Nature Publishing Group|url=http://immuneweb.xxmu.edu.cn/reading/innate/16.pdf|author2=Kumar RK|access-date=2013-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822095411/http://immuneweb.xxmu.edu.cn/reading/innate/16.pdf|archive-date=2013-08-22|url-status=dead}}</ref> chronic peptic ulcer,<ref name="Wakefield 2001" /> chronic periodontitis,<ref name="Wakefield 2001" /> tuberculosis,<ref name="Wakefield 2001" /> tonsillitis and other conditions. |- | {{vanchor|Subacute}} || A vaguely defined state that is clearly not acute, but rather between acute and chronic,<ref name=pain2007 /><ref name=Mosby1998 /> for example subacute endocarditis, or subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. |- | Chronic || A long-term condition.<ref name=pain2007 /><ref name=Mosby1998 /> |- |}
==Acute care== Acute care is the early and specialist management of adult patients who have a wide range of medical conditions requiring urgent or emergency care usually within 48 hours of admission or referral from other specialties.<ref name=Mosby1998 />
Acute hospitals are those intended for short-term medical and/or surgical treatment and care which is a medical speciality of acute medicine, as often primary care is not positioned to assume this role.<ref name="pmid23678202">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hirshon JM, Risko N, Calvello EJ, Stewart de Ramirez S, Narayan M, Theodosis C, O'Neill J | title = Health systems and services: the role of acute care | journal = Bull World Health Organ | volume = 91 | issue = 5 | pages = 386–8 | date = May 2013 | pmid = 23678202 | pmc = 3646345 | doi = 10.2471/BLT.12.112664 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{Wiktionary|acute}}
{{Medical terms to describe disease conditions}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acute (Medicine)}} Category:Medical terminology Category:Pain Category:Human diseases and disorders