predisease

/P R IY1 D AH0 S IY1 Z/
noun
  1. 1

    (medicine) A condition, albeit consisting of only one or two signs, that is identifiable as, or believed to be, a subclinical prelude to a disease, with greatly increased predisposition thereto (for example, prediabetes or prehypertension); the operational definition of such a state or the clinical value of asserting it may be contentious (as with purported preobesity).

adjective
  1. 1

    Of or relating to a predisease (such as prediabetes or prehypertension), as with predisease states or predisease stage.

  2. 2

    Before a disease began, as with predisease cognitive performance as a baseline in dementia or predisease motor function as a baseline in multiple sclerosis.