The darkness, or rather the general misunderstanding, that prevails on this subject is a terrible source of disease and misery. These are words that are often used in combination with illness. With respect to the population size of a species and the factors it may influence, two factors have been identified. These are the density-dependent factors and the density-independent factors. Find out the differences between the two in this tutorial. Know how these factors affect the populations of an ecosystem. In many cases, terms such as disease, disorder, morbidity, disease and disease are used interchangeably; However, there are situations where certain terms are considered preferable. [4] Sometimes conditions that were once considered a natural part of aging have become diseases. For example, osteoporosis was considered a normal part of aging until 1994, when the WHO officially recognized it as a disease. Given the link between osteoporosis and an increased risk of fracture and the devastating effects bone fractures can have on older adults, this seems like a justified change in definition. A scientist`s response to all of this could reasonably be, “So what?” While it is true that a medical model does not sufficiently take into account the experience of disability, biomedical science does not deal with the experiences of illness or even ethics: its goal is to understand pathological processes.
But science is not above the culture in which it operates, and influences go both ways. It is the cultural framework that tells scientists where to focus their attention, and in this article I have suggested that the contemporary power of biomedicine means that it can no longer adopt environmental ideas about disease and disability without encountering delicate areas of ambiguity and possibly ethical difficulties. There is a heated debate going on among medical professionals about whether obesity is a disease or not. The differences between those who argue it`s a disease and those who argue it`s simply a risk factor for diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. However, the debate raises other questions, such as, what exactly is a disease and who decides? Some diseases, such as most (but not all) forms of cancer, heart disease, and mental disorders, are non-infectious diseases. Many non-infectious diseases have a partial or complete genetic basis (see genetic disease) and can therefore be passed down from generation to generation. [24] The study of the disease is called pathology, which involves the study of the etiology or cause. How can we properly distinguish real diseases from human behaviors or traits we find disturbing? Lepers were people who were historically rejected because they had an infectious disease, and the term “leper” still evokes social stigma. Fear of illness can still be a widespread social phenomenon, although not all diseases cause extreme social stigma. The definition of health seems broad and inclusive, but the definition of disease seems more difficult than the definition of its opposite. Few people would deny that measles is, say, a disease.
But what happens when society decides to classify a particular behavior or human trait that some groups find disturbing as a disease? Without them, they say, the disease would surely kill them within two years. At the global level, diseases are listed by international expert groups for the World Health Organization (WHO). This catalogue, the International Classification of Diseases, is now in its tenth revision (ICD-10). Despite its name, the classification does not stop at diseases, but includes related health problems that may be related to a particular disease or may be a symptom as part of a syndrome or even a consequence of a medical intervention. For example, even dehydration occurs in ICD-10, where it is also referred to as “volume exhaustion.” So maybe there`s not even agreement on what is meant by disease. And what is classified as a disease is essentially due to the consensus of experts. Some metaphors are specific to a disease. Slavery is a common metaphor for addictions: the alcoholic is enslaved by alcohol consumption and the smoker is trapped in nicotine. Some cancer patients treat their hair loss due to chemotherapy as a metonymy or a metaphor for all the losses caused by the disease. [38] How a society responds to disease is the subject of medical sociology.
A major difficulty of nosology is that diseases often cannot be clearly defined and classified, especially when the cause or pathogenesis is unknown. Therefore, diagnostic terms often reflect only one symptom or set of symptoms (syndrome). Some diseases are used as metaphors for social ills: “cancer” is a common description of everything endemic and destructive in society, such as poverty, injustice or racism.
