More disease definitions

On to my next installment of the Disease Definition Rant. Sorry for the delay.

And, because I may not have made it clear last time-- the opinion I am expressing in this rant is that it makes no sense to try and classify anything as either "a disease" or "not a disease," because the word "disease" is essentially impossible to define.


So in the last installment of this rant, I analyzed a definition of "disease" that turned out to be saying nothing more than "a disease is a condition of a body part; it can be identified by signs and it has a cause." Which could include such things as hair color, skin color, or the length of your fingers, whether unusual or not.

Now let's move on to some more definitions.

dis·ease
Pronunciation: diz-'Ez
Function: noun
: 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 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 : SICKNESS, ILLNESS called also morbus; —compare HEALTH 1 —dis·eased /-'Ezd/ adjective

Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.



So according to this definition, a disease is an "impairment." Impairment" is the noun form of "impair," which is:

im·pair
tr.v. im·paired, im·pair·ing, im·pairs

To cause to diminish, as in strength, value, or quality: an injury that impaired my hearing; a severe storm impairing communications.

The trouble with including "impairment" in the definition of "disease" is that it automatically makes it a matter of opinion whether something is a disease or not. Value and quality are matters of opinion; something that I feel has high value or quality may seem to have low value or quality to another person. Strength is another issue-- a condition that makes my hearing less strong is definitely an impairment to my hearing. But what of our previous examples, homosexuality and Asperger's Syndrome?

I would certainly not consider being gay an "impairment" to anything. It does not reduce any abilities, and does not cause harm to the body or mind. But there are plenty of fundamentalists who would consider it an impairment to morality, mental health and the natural order of things.

What the definition says, however, is "an impairment of the normal state of the living animal or plant body or one of its parts." What does "impairment of the normal state" mean? Does it mean that the organism becomes less able to function in the normal way? If so, how do you define normal?

And that is the problem with this definition. There is no way to define normal.

Try this:

nor·mal
adj.

1. Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical: normal room temperature; one's normal weight; normal diplomatic relations.
2. Biology. Functioning or occurring in a natural way; lacking observable abnormalities or deficiencies.
3. Abbr. n or N Chemistry.
1. Designating a solution having one gram equivalent weight of solute per liter of solution.
2. Designating an aliphatic hydrocarbon having a straight and unbranched chain of carbon atoms.
4. Mathematics.
1. Being at right angles; perpendicular.
2. Perpendicular to the direction of a tangent line to a curve or a tangent plane to a surface.
5.
1. Relating to or characterized by average intelligence or development.
2. Free from mental illness; sane.



Okay, #1 has to resort to using the word "norm" and a bunch of its synonyms; and #2 has to resort to using the word "abnormalities." When you have to use variations on a word in its own definition, you know you've got a problem.

Ignoring the chemistry and math-related definitions, all that's left is one definition that uses the word "average" and one definition that uses the word "illness" (which is disease, which makes the definitions circular.)

You can't define normal as average. Suppose, for example, "a normal human behavior" is defined as "something most people do." Most Americans don't know all of the Bill of Rights. Thus, for an American to know all of the Bill of Rights is abnormal, and if you use "abnormal" in the definition of "disease," then an American who knows all of the Bill of Rights has a mental illness.

I'm getting dizzy now, I have to go lie down. I'll work more on this definition later.