高血壓不是病？那得看病是如何定義的。disease =/= disorder?

韓啟德：

第一個問題，高血壓是疾病嗎？

當時全場幾乎人都舉起了手，我說不是，疾病是指人體在一定條件下，由致病因素所引起的有一定表現的病理過程。此時，人體正常生理過程遭到破壞，表現為對外界環境變化的適應能力降低、勞動能力受到限製或喪失，並出現一係列臨床症狀。因為疾病不僅要有前麵的條件，必須要有勞動能力受到限製或者喪失，並且出現了一係列臨床症狀而大多數高血壓病人沒有這些，因此不是疾病，是危險因素。

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高血壓是不是病呢？

美國心髒協會（AHA）：High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a disease.

（俺就崇洋媚外了，你如果說俺就請先留了辮子，換上馬褂；或者裹了小腳, 再來罵俺）

（http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPressure/About-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002050_Article.jsp）

如果肥胖都可以被視為病，高血壓反而不是，那就讓人感到有些標新立異了。

都要成國家領導人了還學標題黨的伎倆，唉。。。

那麽高血壓是disorder沒問題吧？disorder和disease究竟有什麽不同呢？下麵這篇文章有點意思。

http://www.sireninteractive.com/sirensong/disease-versus-disorder-what%E2%80%99s-in-a-word/


Disease versus Disorder: What’s in a Word?

Posted by Soyoon Bolton | 2:37am on Thursday, February 26, 2009
  

The terms “disease” and “disorder” are often used interchangeably.  But a recent conversation among colleagues made me reflect on the use of these words and questioned if there actually is a difference.

NORD doesn’t seem to make the distinction, as seen from the definition of rare disorders listed on their website:

What is A Rare Disorder?
A rare or “orphan” disease affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States.  There are more than 6,000 rare disorders that, taken together, affect approximately 25 million Americans.

The definitions are not clearly differentiated in Dorland’s medical dictionary:

• Disease: a definite pathological process having a characteristic set of signs and symptoms.  It may affect the whole body or any of its parts, and its etiology, pathology, and prognosis may be known or unknown.  See also illness, mal, sickness, and syndrome.
• Disorder: a derangement or abnormality of function; a morbid physical or mental state.

It turns out people in the online community are curious as well and are asking for proper terminology via forums and chat rooms. After reading through threads, I’ve noticed that those who do recognize a distinction often describe that a disease is due to extrinsic factors (e.g., virus, bacteria) and a disorder is due to intrinsic abnormalities (e.g., birth defects, genetic malfunction). Do you agree?

Whether or not this designation is accurate, distinctions are definitely made in certain contexts.  It’s Parkinson disease, not Parkinson disorder; sleep disorder, not sleep disease.  And if you think about it, “heart disease” does have a slightly different connotation from “heart disorder”.  For example, a blocked artery can lead to heart disease, whereas an inherently defective heart valve might be classified under heart disorder.  Then again, maybe that’s just me.

You say disorder, I say disease.  Tomato, tomahto.  Whatever you call it, at least one thing’s for sure—they both share the same goal, which is to prevent it, manage it, treat it and/or find a cure.

What do you think?  Do you consider disorder and disease synonymous?  Or do you think there are apparent differences?  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the section below.