Baseline (medicine)
Encyclopedia
A baseline in medicine
is information found at the beginning of a study
or other initial known value which is used for comparison with later data. The concept of a baseline is essential to the daily practice of medicine in order to establish a relative rather than absolute meaning to data. The meaning of baseline in medicine is very similar to that of the running baseline (baseball) being the direct path that a baserunner is taking to the base he is in route to. If the baserunner is outside the 3 foot margin around his running baseline, then he is considered out. Whereas if a patient with kidney failure (whose creatinine is usually 3.0 mg/dL) suddenly has a creatinine
of 5.0 mg/dL, then his creatinine is out of his normal. For that person with kidney failure, absolute normal no longer applies because he will never again be able to obtain an absolutely normal creatinine level (0.5-1.2 mg/dL) with kidneys that no longer function properly.
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
is information found at the beginning of a study
Clinical trial
Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...
or other initial known value which is used for comparison with later data. The concept of a baseline is essential to the daily practice of medicine in order to establish a relative rather than absolute meaning to data. The meaning of baseline in medicine is very similar to that of the running baseline (baseball) being the direct path that a baserunner is taking to the base he is in route to. If the baserunner is outside the 3 foot margin around his running baseline, then he is considered out. Whereas if a patient with kidney failure (whose creatinine is usually 3.0 mg/dL) suddenly has a creatinine
Creatinine
Creatinine is a break-down product of creatine phosphate in muscle, and is usually produced at a fairly constant rate by the body...
of 5.0 mg/dL, then his creatinine is out of his normal. For that person with kidney failure, absolute normal no longer applies because he will never again be able to obtain an absolutely normal creatinine level (0.5-1.2 mg/dL) with kidneys that no longer function properly.
See also
- 1970 ascariasis poisoning incident1970 ascariasis poisoning incidentThe 1970 ascariasis poisoning incident was a poisoning incident that took place in Quebec in February, 1970. At least seven people were infected with parasitic worm eggs by Eric Kranz, a disgruntled postgraduate student from Hempstead, New York...
- Patient Zero
- Wilder's law of initial valueWilder's law of initial valueWilder's law of initial value states that "the direction of response of a body function to any agent depends to a large degree on the initial level of that function", proposed by Joseph Wilder...
- CreatinineCreatinineCreatinine is a break-down product of creatine phosphate in muscle, and is usually produced at a fairly constant rate by the body...