Disease: Difference between revisions

In many cases, terms such as ''disease'', ''disorder'', ''morbidity'', ''sickness'' and ''illness'' are used interchangeably; however, there are situations when specific terms are considered preferable.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/mental/other/glossary.htm |title = Mental Illness – Glossary |publisher = US [[National Institute of Mental Health]] |access-date = 18 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100528085547/http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/Mental/other/glossary.htm |archive-date = 28 May 2010 }}</ref>

 

;Disease

:The term ''disease'' broadly refers to any condition that impairs the normal functioning of the body. For this reason, diseases are associated with the dysfunction of the body's normal [[homeostasis#Examples of some of the better understood physiological homeostats|homeostatic processes]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://regentsprep.org/regents/biology/units/homeostasis/index.cfm |title = Regents Prep: Living Environment: Homeostasis |publisher = Oswego City School District Regents Exam Prep Center |access-date = 12 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121025044155/http://regentsprep.org/Regents/biology/units/homeostasis/index.cfm |archive-date = 25 October 2012 }}</ref> Commonly, the term is used to refer specifically to [[infectious disease]]s, which are clinically evident diseases that result from the presence of [[pathogenic]] microbial agents, including viruses, [[bacteria]], [[Fungus|fungi]], protozoa, multicellular organisms, and aberrant proteins known as [[prion]]s. An [[infection]] or [[colony (biology)|colonization]] that does not and will not produce clinically evident impairment of normal functioning, such as the presence of the normal [[gut flora|bacteria and yeasts in the gut]], or of a [[passenger virus]], is not considered a disease. By contrast, an infection that is asymptomatic during its [[incubation period]], but expected to produce symptoms later, is usually considered a disease. [[Non-infectious disease]]s are all other diseases, including most forms of [[cancer]], [[heart disease]], and [[genetic disease]].