1answer.
Ask question
Login Signup
Ask question
All categories
  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Social Studies
  • Business
  • History
  • Health
  • Geography
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Computers and Technology
  • Arts
  • World Languages
  • Spanish
  • French
  • German
  • Advanced Placement (AP)
  • SAT
  • Medicine
  • Law
  • Engineering
e-lub [12.9K]
2 years ago
6

What is a disease?

Health
2 answers:
Makovka662 [10]2 years ago
4 0

Answer:

A. medical condition that stops the body from working normally

Explanation:

There is an ongoing lively debate among healthcare professionals about whether or not obesity is a disease.

 

Differences between those who argue that it’s a disease and those who argue that it’s just a risk factor for conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease are unlikely to be resolved any time soon. The debate, however, raises other questions, such as, what exactly is a disease and who gets to decide?

 

A simple definition of disease is an ‘illness or sickness characterised by specific signs or symptoms’. But it is interesting that some dictionaries suggest that diseases are caused by ‘bacteria or infections’, seemingly dismissing psychological and non-communicable conditions as diseases, which is odd given that non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, make up most ill health in the world today.

 

Official catalogue of disease

On a global level, diseases are catalogued by international groups of experts for the World Health Organization (WHO). This catalogue, the International Classification of Disease (ICD), is now in its tenth revision (ICD-10). Despite its name, the classification doesn’t stop at diseases but includes related health problems, which may be linked to a particular disease, or may be a symptom as part of a syndrome, or even a consequence of a medical procedure.

 

For example, even dehydration appears in ICD-10, where it is also called ‘volume depletion’. So perhaps there is not even agreement on what is meant by disease. And what is classified as disease is essentially down to expert consensus.

 

While the WHO doesn’t seem to have a clear definition of disease, it does at least have a definition of health. It is defined as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’.

 

The definition of health appears to be broad and inclusive, but defining disease appears to be more challenging than defining its opposite. Few people would disagree that measles, say, is a disease. But what happens when society decides to classify a certain human behaviour or characteristic, which some groups happen to find disturbing, as a disease.

 

Sin as a source of disease

Examples of classifying characteristics as diseases can be seen throughout human history. Many of these might be grounded in traditional beliefs and views of health, disease and their links to sin.

 

The development of psychology as a science potentially led some perceived ‘sins’ to be translated into mental health disorders. Perhaps the best example of this is homosexuality. Homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 1968. This was later challenged by a vote among APA members in 1973, where a majority of 58% chose to remove it from the diagnostic manual. Homosexuality was not fully removed from the diagnostic manual for another decade and is now considered to be a normal characteristic within the diversity of human nature.

 

This disturbing episode raises further questions: on what basis and in whose interests are diseases classified?

 

In 2013, researchers at Bond University in Australia looked at who gets to classify diseases. They found that common diseases often had their definitions widened by expert groups, without considering the potential risks or challenges of increasing the number of people living with disease.

 

They also noted that experts who widened definitions of diseases often have conflicts of interests in the form of funding from pharmaceutical companies.

 

On the spectrum

Sometimes, risk factors for a disease – such as high blood pressure – eventually get defined as a disease in their own right. And once these risk factors are reclassified as a disease, their targets or ranges tend to shift over time, increasing the number of people who have the disease. For example, high blood pressure used to be anything over 140/90. But in 2017, the US changed the threshold to 120/80.

 

Distinguishing a disease from a risk factor is not easy, especially when it comes to chronic diseases, which tend to be a spectrum from health to illness. Blood glucose (sugar) is a clear example as levels move from healthy through pre-diabetes into type 2 diabetes. So spotting where health finishes and disease begins is difficult, to the point that the WHO and International Diabetes Federation suggest there is no such thing as a normal level of blood glucose.

 

Nevertheless, the definition of gestational diabetes (diabetes in pregnancy) changed in 2014, when the blood glucose threshold was lowered. The change increased the incidence of gestational diabetes by 74% with no improvement in short-term outcomes, such as the mother needing a caesarean section, according to one Australian study.

 

Many clinicians are critical of this trend, calling it over-medicalisation.

RideAnS [48]2 years ago
4 0

Answer:

A. Medical condition that stops the body from working normally

You might be interested in
What is the name of the principle in which force from the ground is concentrated on an object through linking together body segm
jonny [76]

Answer:Adhesion of water by hydrogen bonds to molecules with lots of partial ... The faster a molecule moves, the greater its kinetic energy. ... All bodies of water would eventually freeze solid, making life as we know it ... Consist mostly of hydrocarbon regions. Fats ... When three fatty acids are joined to a glycerol by an ester linkage.

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU

6 0
3 years ago
Read 2 more answers
Jana is a nursing assistant who knows she may observe emergencies. Which are appropriate actions in emergency
Ksenya-84 [330]
Inserting an IV, using an AED, performing CPR, and administrating medicine. I know it isn’t my fault your question wasn’t answered until know, but I still apologize for having you wait almost 3 weeks.
6 0
3 years ago
An advertisement claims that a package of macaroni and cheese contains no additives. Explain what this means. Do you think the a
iris [78.8K]

Answer:

Yes

Explanation:

3 0
2 years ago
A viral STD that does not have a cure is
faltersainse [42]
An example of a viral STD that's uncurable is HIV.
8 0
3 years ago
Read 2 more answers
A person who is overweight is to percent over his or her ideal body weight
Solnce55 [7]

a person who is overweight is 10 to 20 percent over his or her ideal body weight Is what i was taught


4 0
3 years ago
Read 2 more answers
Other questions:
  • _____ are naturally-occurring or synthetically-produced drugs that can cause hallucinations. diuretics tranquilizers hallucinoge
    11·1 answer
  • Jing is faced with a decision about drinking alcohol while at a party with some friends. Which area(s) of her health could be af
    7·2 answers
  • Please read the case scenario and develop an “I” statement. Be sure to use one of the patterns found in the directions. Remember
    13·1 answer
  • Two people are negotiating to resolve a conflict. They both have their own ideas about what caused the conflict, but their ideas
    7·2 answers
  • The imaginary psychological space between what children can do on their own and what they could achieve with another person's as
    12·1 answer
  • Which best describes acceptance?
    8·1 answer
  • Alcohol effects all of the following physical aspects of health except
    12·1 answer
  • Describe the major events that occur during childbirth
    6·1 answer
  • TRUE / FALSE<br> Failing to diagnose a disease early enough can interfere with effective treatment.
    6·2 answers
  • hey guys my cats hissing at me when i try to hold her she went outside for a couple hours and came back hissing at me when i pet
    6·2 answers
Add answer
Login
Not registered? Fast signup
Signup
Login Signup
Ask question!