A Cascade Effect is an unforeseen chain of events due to an act affecting a system

System

System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....

. If there is a possibility that the cascade effect will have a negative impact on the system, it is possible to analyze the effects with a consequence/impact analysis. Cascade effects are commonly visualised in tree structures, also called event trees.

In aeronautics

Cascade effects seen in the perspective of space travelling are theoretical possibilities that "space junk" or a satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 destroyed by a meteor

METEOR

METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...

 will send debris throughout the orbits of most telecommunication satellites

Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...

 destroying them in the process and subsequently sending that debris into all possible orbits, destroying everything in orbit around the Earth, known as the Kessler syndrome

Kessler syndrome

The Kessler syndrome , proposed by NASA scientist Donald J...

. It is theorized that if this occurs, space flight beyond Earth will become very difficult if not impossible.

In medicine

In medicine, cascade effect refers to a chain of events initiated by an unnecessary test, an unexpected result, or patient or physician anxiety, which results in ill-advised tests or treatments that may cause harm to patients as the results are pursued. The cascade effect can lead to a "chain of events (which) tends to proceed with increasing momentum, so that the further it progresses the more difficult it is to stop." An example would be ordering a full body CT scan without a clear reason, finding an incidentaloma

Incidentaloma

In medicine, an incidentaloma is a tumor found by coincidence without clinical symptoms or suspicion. It is a common problem: up to 7% of all patients over 60 may harbor a benign growth, often of the adrenal gland, which is detected when diagnostic imaging is used for the analysis of unrelated...

, and undergoing a debilitating surgery to remove it, despite the fact that the condition was asymptomatic

Asymptomatic

In medicine, a disease is considered asymptomatic if a patient is a carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. A condition might be asymptomatic if it fails to show the noticeable symptoms with which it is usually associated. Asymptomatic infections are also called subclinical...

 and possibly benign

Benign

A benign tumor is a tumor that lacks the ability to metastasize. Common examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.The term "benign" implies a mild and nonprogressive disease. Indeed, many kinds of benign tumors are harmless to human health...

.

In ecology

There is also an ecological definition of cascade effects

Cascade effect (ecology)

An ecological cascade effect is a series of secondary extinctions that is triggered by the primary extinction of a key species in an ecosystem. Secondary extinctions are likely to occur when the threatened species are: dependent on a few specific food sources, mutualistic, or forced to coexist...

, in which the death of one key species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in an ecosystem triggers the extinction

Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...

 of other species.

See also

• Adverse drug reaction
  Adverse drug reaction
  An adverse drug reaction is an expression that describes harm associated with the use of given medications at a normal dosage. ADRs may occur following a single dose or prolonged administration of a drug or result from the combination of two or more drugs...
  
  
• Adverse effect (medicine)
  Adverse effect (medicine)
  In medicine, an adverse effect is a harmful and undesired effect resulting from a medication or other intervention such as surgery.An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. If it results from an unsuitable or incorrect dosage or...
  
  
• Bedsore
  Bedsore
  Bedsores, more properly known as pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers, are lesions caused by many factors—such as unrelieved pressure, friction, humidity, shearing forces, temperature, age, continence, and medication—to any part of the body, especially portions over bony or cartilaginous areas such...
  
  
• Bioethics
  Bioethics
  Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
  
  
• Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals
  Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals
  The Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals is a taxonomy focused to define and group together situations requiring a referral from pharmacists to physicians regarding the pharmacotherapy used by the patients. It has been published in 2008...
  
  
• Complication (medicine)
  Complication (medicine)
  Complication, in medicine, is an unfavorable evolution of a disease, a health condition or a medical treatment. The disease can become worse in its severity or show a higher number of signs, symptoms or new pathological changes, become widespread throughout the body or affect other organ systems. A...
  
  
• Cumulative effect
• Iatrogenesis
  Iatrogenesis
  Iatrogenesis, or an iatrogenic artifact is an inadvertent adverse effect or complication resulting from medical treatment or advice, including that of psychologists, therapists, pharmacists, nurses, physicians and dentists...
  
  
• Juan Gérvas
  Juan Gérvas
  Juan Javier Gérvas Camacho born in Lorca in 1948, is a general practitioner, teacher and researcher in primary care and public health.- Personal :...
  
  

• Kessler syndrome
  Kessler syndrome
  The Kessler syndrome , proposed by NASA scientist Donald J...
  
  
• Medical error
  Medical error
  A medical error may be defined as a preventable adverse effect of care, whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other ailment.-Definitions:As a general...
  
  
• Nocebo
  Nocebo
  In medicine, a nocebo reaction or response refers to harmful, unpleasant, or undesirable effects a subject manifests after receiving an inert dummy drug or placebo...
  
  
• Patient safety
  Patient safety
  Patient safety is a new healthcare discipline that emphasizes the reporting, analysis, and prevention of medical error that often leads to adverse healthcare events. The frequency and magnitude of avoidable adverse patient events was not well known until the 1990s, when multiple countries reported...
  
  
• Placebo
  Placebo
  A placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient...
  
  
• Polypharmacy
  Polypharmacy
  Polypharmacy is the use of multiple medications by a patient, especially when too many forms of medication are used by a patient, when more drugs are prescribed than is clinically warranted, or even when all prescribed medications are clinically indicated but there are too many pills to take ....
  
  
• Quaternary prevention
  Quaternary prevention
  The quaternary prevention, concept coined by the Belgian general practitioner , are the action taken to identify patient at risk of overmedicalisation, to protect him from new medical invasion, and to suggest to him interventions, which are ethically acceptable...
  
  
• Medical harm
  Medical harm
  Medical harm refers to any systemic failure in the health care system that results in a negative psychological or physical consequence. Medical harm is not limited to iatrogenic illness....