the organs

[Birne]

Hello

I have recently encountered a sentence explaining the difference between illness and disease.
The rule says: disease is used for illnesses affecting the organs, e.g. she has heart disease.

I am going nuts trying to figure out why there is: the organs (why the is used there?). Any clue? I would say just organs without the

thanks a million

 

[MikeNewYork]

Either would work. One could use "the" organs if one saw them as a finite number of body parts.

 

[Tdol]

Is it a correct definition BTW?

 

[Raymott]

Is it a correct definition BTW?

No.
Well, I'll qualify that. 'Disease' is certainly used for an illness of the organs. But that's not a comparison. And I'm trying to think of an illness that doesn't affect an organ.

 

[MikeNewYork]

In most cases, the words are used interchangeably. And it is difficult to come up one of either that does not affect at least one of the body's organ systems. A few people have tried to create a difference between actual disease (involves body pathology) and illness, which includes disease, but can also include the perception of illness even where there is no disease. In my view, this as usually a distinction without a difference.

 

[5jj]

In most cases, the words are used interchangeably.

As a speaker of BrE, I have to disagree. As a non-expert in medicine (unlike Raymott), I think we use 'disease' for something caused by germs/virus/bacteria (we non-experts can't tell the difference) that we can put a name to. Illness can cover a multitude of things including, at the basic level, simply feeling unwell.

I could not begin to refine those fairly crude ideas. I am simply making the point that, in BrE at least, the two words are not often interchangeable.

 

[MikeNewYork]

So in BrE, an autoimmune disease such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus would be an illness but not a disease?

 

[5jj]

I am not sure what I said that makes you think that.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I thought you were confining "disease" to something infectious. You mentioned germs, virus, bacteria.

 

[emsr2d2]

So in BrE, an autoimmune disease such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus would be an illness but not a disease?

I'm sure there's a great reason you picked an illness/disease which 99.9% of the users of the forum haven't heard of, but for the life of me I can't work out what it might be. If anyone mentioned that illness/disease to me, I would make no attempt to decide/ascertain which camp it falls in, I would simply say "I've no idea what that is" and probably head off to a more interesting and comprehensible conversation.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I chose that disease because it has an immune cause, not an infectious one. I may have misunderstood what 5jj meant, but I am interested in the differences of terminology in AmE and BrE. No nefarious intent.

 

[5jj]

I thought you were confining "disease" to something infectious.

I didn't actually say that.

You mentioned germs, virus, bacteria.

Did you actually read post #6? That's the post in which I said of myself, "As a non-expert in medicine", and speaking of germs/viruses/bacteria, etc, "we non-experts can't tell the difference". I added, "I could not begin to refine those fairly crude ideas". I genuinely have no idea what an autoimmune disease is, and did not know what Systemic Lupus Erythematosus was until I googled it.

I know nothing about how doctors classify 'illnesses' and 'diseases', and admitted this. I have much in common with 95+% of the population in that respect. I wrote as someone who knows something about English, but next to nothing about medical terminology. The main point of what I wrote was this: I am simply making the point that, in BrE at least, the two words are not often interchangeable.

Do you have a problem with that?

 

[MikeNewYork]

None.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

I agree with the distinction that 5jj made, but I am fairly sure that this is not a difference between American English and British English. I think that any American medical practitioner or scientist will recognize that one may be ill but not be suffering from a disease. The reverse is also possible: one may be suffering from a disease without being ill.

This article from The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners does a nice job of illustrating the difference between 'disease' and 'illness'. Here are two relevant passages:

In the scientific paradigm of modern medicine, disease
refers to abnormalities of the structure and function of
body organs and systems (Eisenberg, 1977). Diseases are
the named pathological entities that make up the medical
model of ill-health, such as diabetes or tuberculosis,
and which can be specifically identified and described
by reference to certain biological, chemical or other
evidence.

Cassell (1978) uses illness to mean "what the patient
feels when he goes to the doctor", and disease to mean
"what he has on the way home from the doctor's office.
Disease, then, is something an organ has; illness is
something a man has." Illness refers to the subjective
response of the patient to being unwell; how he, and
those around him, perceive the origin and significance
of this event; how it effects his behaviour or relationships
with other people; and the steps he takes to
remedy this situation (Eisenberg, 1977; Kleinman et al.,
1978, 1980).

 

[5jj]

Cassell (1978) uses illness to mean "what the patient feels when he goes to the doctor", and disease to mean "what he has on the way home from the doctor's office".

That is wonderful!

 

[MikeNewYork]

And there many who find no such clear distinction.

Disease - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are many opinions on this, but none are generally accepted as "'the one".

 

[Raymott]

In most cases, the words are used interchangeably.

I'd have to disagree with you.
- I can't think of any disease which is labelled medically as Illness X. You'll rarely be diagnosed with Heart Illness, Chronic Lung Illness, Cushing's Illness, etc. Even if the words mean the same thing, they are not used interchangeably.
- On the other hand, people who want to claim that alcoholics, drug addicts, gamblers, etc. are ill, will claim that these things are illnesses - "It's an illness" much more frequently than "It's a disease."
- Statistics are given for days off work "due to illness", not "due to disease". Similarly, parents might get time off if their children are "ill", not if they're 'diseased'.
There are many usage differences which I won't bother thinking of.

 

[MikeNewYork]

You're correct, interchangeably was a poor choice of words. What I meant was that the definitions overlap significantly.