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Glossary Index

Malignant

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Definition

Malaise is a non-specific (general), sometimes vague, feeling of unease, discomfort, fatigue, general ill feeling, or "being run down". It is usually associated with a disease state

Compare this to fatigue or lethargy.

SDS Relevance

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Malaise is a symptom of many different types of diseases, including the common cold and flu, as well as heat exhaustion. It may be difficult to determine if malaise is from an occupational exposure to a chemical or a general illness. See if there is a correlation between exposure to a chemical at work and your malaise...do you feel better on weekends, for example?

Check the Safety Data Sheets of the chemicals that you are working with and see if any other symptoms of exposure are listed in Section 11 (toxicological information). Many chemicals are known to induce malaise including carbon dioxide, styrene, carbon monoxide, various solvents, and even wood chips!

Further Reading

• Malaise at the NIH/NLM's Medline Plus Medical Encyclopedia.
• What Causes Malaise? at Healthline.
• Why Do I Feel Malaise? at WebMD.
• Acute Respiratory Illness Following Occupational Exposure to Wood Chips -- Ohio from the CDC's Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report 1986, 35(30), pp 483-4,489-90
• Assessing and managing workplace exposure to chemicals at BPAC.
• Malaise at Mount Sinai.
• The Trans-NIH Working Group on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at the US CDC's National Center For Infectious Diseases.

See also: emphysema, lethargy.

Additional definitions from Google and OneLook.

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