Syncrasia
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
Syncrasia is an obsolete term derived from ancient humoral pathology, referring to the specific composition of bodily fluids. While no longer used on its own, it survives as a component of the term idiosyncrasy, which describes individual hypersensitivity to minor stimuli.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
SYNCRASIA (from the Greek synkrasis—mixture), a specific composition of the body's humors. The term originates from old humoral pathology, when the solution to all kinds of diseases was seen in one or another composition of the humors. As such, it is not used at the present time, but it enters as a component part into another term, which serves to denote a peculiar individual sensitivity or individual predisposition to heightened reactions to negligible, usually almost indifferent, influences on the organism or irritations (see Idiosyncrasy).
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Cite this page
“Syncrasia.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.com/article/syncrasia/