visagrunt wrote:
The term, "disease," is actually rarely used in a medical context, except in the particular internal medicine discipline of infectious disease. Non pathogenic conditions that are sometimes referred to as diseases (e.g. cancer, 'heart disease', diabetes mellitus) are not usually described as such in a clinical setting. Genopathic conditions (e.g. cystic fibrosis) are sometimes referred to as diseases, but considerably less often than previously.
However, it is a slippery word, and it frequently appears in non-clinical contexts, and may slip into doctor-patient conversation where there is a focus on trying to keep to "plain english."
Although I am not a psychiatrist, in my opinion it is inaccurate to refer to autism spectrum disorders as diseases. They are more properly classified as disorders, in so far as they demonstrate a functional abnormality. (Leaving aside entirely the question of clinical significance of presentations).
Very well put
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"Read a f#@^ing book" - Nucky Thompson, "Boardwalk Empire"
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"We have neither of us anything to tell; you, because you do not communicate, and I, because I conceal nothing." - Marianne, "Sense and Sensibility&