English

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Senile warts on a human back

Etymology

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From the fact that the condition is more common with old age and the wart-like appearance of the growths. In spite of its name, the senile wart is not, in fact, a wart at all, but merely a growth that somewhat resembles a wart.

Noun

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senile wart (plural senile warts)

  1. Seborrheic keratosis.
    • 1919, Medical Review of Reviews - Volume 25, page 548:
      The origin is a diagnostic point when the keratoma begins as a slightly elevated plaque, but it usually begins in the same way as the senile wart, as a slightly elevated papillomatous structure with a granular feel.
    • 1966, The British Journal of Dermatology - Volumes 1-3, page 201:
      The senile wart is, however, not limited to people of this class, though its appearance is much modified by the habits of the patient.
    • 1979, Norman L. Browse, An introduction to the symptoms and signs of surgical disease, →ISBN, page 35:
      . Senile warts occur in both sexes but, as the name implies, they become more common with advancing years.
    • 2002, F. M. Dearborn, Diseases of the Skin with Illustrations, →ISBN, page 286:
      Most warts are due to microorganisms, and are feebly autoinoculable and contagious. However senile warts are due to nutritional changes in the skin incident to old age, while veneral warts are caused by contact with a local irritating secration which may contain a causal germ.

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