symptom

Are you familiar with the word “symptom”?

A symptom is a sign that you have an illness. For example, if you sneeze a lot, if your nose is runny, or if your eyes are itchy, it’s likely that you have hay fever. These are common symptoms of hay fever.

Likewise, a cough is a symptom of a cold, the sign that tells you that you may have a cold.

Most cold symptoms go away after a few days. A lingering cough may mean something else. It could be the symptom of pneumonia.

If you have a high fever and body aches, in addition to coughing and sneezing, you should suspect that you’ve got the flu because a high fever and severe pain throughout your whole body are the symptoms of influenza.

If your tooth aches, you know you have a cavity. A toothache is one of the most common cavity symptoms.

Now. Would you like to try a quiz? You’ll be given three options. Please listen carefully and choose the one that is NOT true. Ready?

(1) A cough is a symptom of a cold.
(2) A toothache is a symptom of a cavity.
(3) Pneumonia is a symptom of a cold.

NOTE: The original story was first published in March 2018.

(3) Pneumonia is a symptom of a cold.

症　状

symptom という単語を知っていますか？

symptom は何かの病気に罹っているという兆候（症状）です。例えば、くしゃみが止まらない、鼻水が出る、目がかゆいという場合、おそらくこの人は花粉症です。くしゃみ、鼻水、目のかゆみはいずれも花粉症によくある symptoms、症状です。

同様に、咳は風邪のsymptomです。咳という症状があるから「風邪かな？」と思うわけです。

風邪の symptoms、諸症状のほとんどは2、3日もすれば収まります。咳が長引くときは風邪以外の病気かもしれません。肺炎の symptom、症状ということもあるでしょう。

咳やくしゃみに加えて高熱が出る、全身がひどく痛むというときはインフルエンザを疑うべきです。高熱と全身の痛みはインフルエンザの symptoms、症状です。

では歯が痛いときは？虫歯ですね。歯痛は最も一般的な虫歯の symptom、症状のひとつです。