As Jackie Leach Scully (who is a Senior Research Fellow at the Unit for Ethics in the Biosciences, University of Basel, Switzerland, and the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Institute at the Centre for Life, Newcastle, England), has suggested in his famous article called What is a disease? at first sight it is straightforward to give a definition of what a disease is but as you look through medical articles and dictionaries it is clear that it becomes more difficult to convey what a disease really is. Throughout these years the perception of what a disease is has changed completely over time, as due to greater research and medical advancements what counts as disease depends on its significance on health because of a change in the individuals analytical and physical abilities. In addition, its also dependent on its impact on the individual: mentally.
To gain a better understanding of what a disease is, I researched the many definitions of disease from different sources (both medical and non-medical). These are some of my findings. The Cambridge Dictionary has suggested that disease is (an) illness of people, animals, plants, etc., ca
used by infection or failure of health rather than by an accident. However, in contrast, it is defined as an impairment of the normal state of the living animal or plant body or one of its parts that interrupts or modifies the performance of the vital functions, is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, and is a response to environmental factors (as malnutrition, industrial hazards, or climate), to specific infective agents (as worms, bacteria, or viruses), to inherent defects of the organism (as genetic anomalies), or to combinations of these factors. Through my research, I became conscious of a common detail in all the definitions of a disease. The focal point in all the definitions of a disease conveys the perception that its a disorder or an abnormal condition that affect or disrupts the functioning of the mind and the body. However, considering that there are many factors that can affect the functioning of the mind and the body; it very difficult be able to articulate what disease really is, therefore its vital to understand the characteristics of a disease. The following are the main common characteristic of diseases: