Definition
When a patient's body gives up maintaining balance and starts failing—basically medical surrender in real-time.
Example Usage
The heart failure patient began to decompensate after missing three days of diuretics.
Origin
From Latin 'de' (down) and 'compensare' (to balance); emerged in modern medicine.
Fun Fact
Decompensation can be slow or sudden, but always signals that the body's compensatory mechanisms have been exhausted.
Source: Clinical medicine and critical care
Related Terms
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