functional disease

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a disease in which there is an abnormal change in the function of an organ, but no structural alteration in the tissues involved (opposed to organic disease).

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functional disease British  

noun

1. a disease in which there is no observable change in the structure of an organ or part Compare organic disease

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Etymology

Origin of functional disease

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

On the other hand, a structural or functional disease of the brain may prevent that organ from taking cognizance of the sensations of the stomach, when the system actually requires nourishment.

From A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene (Revised Edition) by Cutter, Calvin

By functional disease there is expressed merely that no anatomical or chemical change is discoverable in the material which gives the unusual reaction.

From Disease and Its Causes by Councilman, William Thomas

Neurosis is a functional disease of the nervous system.

From Woman Her Sex and Love Life by Robinson, William J.

We recognized that every so-called functional disease has its organic basis too, and that it is entirely secondary whether we are able to find visible traces of the organic disturbance.

From Psychotherapy by Münsterberg, Hugo

Epilepsy, ep′i-lep-si, n. a chronic functional disease of the nervous system, manifested by recurring attacks of sudden insensibility or impairment of consciousness, commonly accompanied by peculiar convulsive seizures.—n.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various