dyscrasia
Meaning of dyscrasia: Dyscrasia refers to an abnormal condition of the blood, most often involving the cells or proteins that circulate within it.
Definition of dyscrasia
Dyscrasia is a general term for an abnormal condition, most commonly used in modern medicine to describe a disorder affecting the blood, such as an abnormality in the number, structure, or function of blood cells or blood proteins. The term appears in the names of several conditions, including plasma cell dyscrasias, a group of disorders involving abnormal antibody-producing cells.
Because dyscrasia is a broad descriptive term rather than a single diagnosis, it is usually paired with additional detail specifying which blood component is affected and how, such as a particular type of cell or protein abnormality identified through laboratory testing. Historically, the word had a wider meaning describing any imbalance thought to underlie disease, a usage that has largely been replaced by more specific modern terminology.
A blood dyscrasia is identified through laboratory testing, including blood counts and, when needed, examination of bone marrow tissue.
Used in a sentence
Laboratory findings raised concern for an underlying blood dyscrasia requiring further evaluation.
Good to know
Dyscrasia is a broad descriptive term for a blood abnormality rather than a specific diagnosis, so it is typically used alongside a more precise description of the particular cell or protein affected.
Word origin
Where “dyscrasia” comes from
Formed from dys- (Greek, meaning "bad" or "difficult") and krasis (Greek, meaning "mixture" or "blending.")