1. Mark every instance of a Disease, Disease Class, Symptom or Sign/Diagnostic Sign

    Eg- Ataxia is a type of movement disorder

  2. Use the minimum span needed to encompass multiple terms of a disease, disease class, symptom, or sign/diagnostic sign. If there are multiple, nested terms, mark the minimum span that is needed in order to be able to distinguish your markings as a disease, disease class, symptom, or sign/diagnostic sign without the surrounding text.

    Eg- Mark: incessant jiggling or twitching of the toes, NOT just jiggling or twitching

  3. Mark each instance of a disease, disease class, symptom, or sign/diagnostic sign separately or in a separate span (if an instance has multiple words).

    Eg- Mark: present with heart disease, high blood pressure, and high LDL levels

    Not: present with heart disease, high blood pressure, and high LDL levels

  4. Mark each instance of an abbreviation of a disease, disease class, symptom, or sign/diagnostic sign

  5. Mark specific forms of a disease, disease class, symptom, or sign/diagnostic sign preferentially over more general forms of the disease

    Eg- Familial Alzheimer Disease instead of Alzheimer Disease

    Eg- Early-Onset Alzheimer Disease instead of Alzheimer Disease

  6. When in doubt, search online resources like: http://www.diseasesdatabase.com/begin.asp and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/ or visit our new Wikia forum for help.