Paucisintomatico

The adjective paucisintomatico is used to indicate the scarcity of symptoms with which a certain disease or anomalous condition is manifested. It is no coincidence that pauci, in Latin, means few; we can therefore use the terms paucisaccharides / oligosaccharides and oligosymptomatic / paucisymptomatic as synonyms synonymously.

It is said that a disease begins in a paucisintomatic way when it does not produce significant symptoms, to the point of passing completely unnoticed or being at most attributed to a slight passing malaise or to the weight of years. The paucisintomaticità is typical of the initial stage of many diseases and as such represents a big limit to the care and treatment of the same; in fact we know that early diagnosis is very important to slow down or hinder the progression of many diseases, including tumors. Although the morbid process manifests itself in a paucisintomatic way, in fact, very often it is possible to diagnose it early, even if it is evident that an individual who feels good and healthy after all is unlikely to turn to the doctor to investigate minor health problems. These considerations are based on the so-called screening, clinical procedures that are not intended to diagnose, but simply to identify a subgroup at risk for a given pathology. For the definitive diagnosis, individuals who are "positive" in a screening test must undergo a further assessment, which - if it is positive - allows the adoption of an early treatment, maximizing the therapeutic chances.