afeccions

Afeccions is a noun used primarily in Catalan and, in its Spanish form afecciones, to denote medical conditions or diseases that affect a person. The term is typically used in clinical and health-care contexts to describe a patient’s health problems, often by organ system or more broadly as a set of medical issues.

The singular afecció/afección carries the meaning of a specific condition; the plural afeccions/afecciones refers to multiple conditions. The term is related to, but distinct from, affecte/afecto (emotions) and from terms like malaltia or patologia. In Catalan medical writing, afecció is common in phrases such as afecció cardíaca or afeccions pulmonars. In Spanish medical usage, afección is widely used in clinical notes and patient histories to describe ongoing or chronic conditions; afecciones can denote a cluster of problems, including coexisting diseases.

Origin and scope: the word derives from Latin affectio, meaning influence, condition, or disposition, and entered Romance languages with a specialized medical sense. In medical contexts, afeccions/afecciones function as a broad category that covers a wide range of illnesses, disorders, or pathological states affecting different body systems.

See also: illness, disease, disorder, pathology.