h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I teach English to Spanish people and the other day one of my students was telling me she had an illness called psoriasis. I explained to her that this would be considered a disease, not an illness, and when she asked me what the difference was I went . . .

Now, either I was wrong and disease and illness are total synonyms, but somehow certain things just don't sound right - like calling a cold or flu a disease. Or calling psoriasis an illness. A look in my dictionary has not helped (it makes no distinction) and so I thought I'd ask here because I told Carmen I would get back to her about this tomorrow. So - help!

My guess is that a disease is not contageous. Anyone else?

azahar

Hello

Although i dont suffer from it my self i have some family members that do. so know a little about the Disease.


Psoriasis is a chronic (long-lasting) skin disease of scaling and inflammation that affects 2 to 2.6 percent of the United States population, or between 5.8 and 7.5 million people. Although the disease occurs in all age groups, it primarily affects adults. It appears about equally in males and females. Psoriasis occurs when skin cells quickly rise from their origin below the surface of the skin and pile up on the surface before they have a chance to mature. Usually this movement (also called turnover) takes about a month, but in psoriasis it may occur in only a few days. In its typical form, psoriasis results in patches of thick, red (inflamed) skin covered with silvery scales. These patches, which are sometimes referred to as plaques, usually itch or feel sore. They most often occur on the elbows, knees, other parts of the legs, scalp, lower back, face, palms, and soles of the feet, but they can occur on skin anywhere on the body.

The disease may also affect the fingernails, the toenails, and the soft tissues of the genitals and inside the mouth. While it is not unusual for the skin around affected joints to crack, approximately 1 million people with psoriasis experience joint inflammation that produces symptoms of arthritis. This condition is called psoriatic arthritis.


Individuals with psoriasis may experience significant physical discomfort and some disability. Itching and pain can interfere with basic functions, such as self-care, walking, and sleep. Plaques on hands and feet can prevent individuals from working at certain occupations, playing some sports, and caring for family members or a home. The frequency of medical care is costly and can interfere with an employment or school schedule. People with moderate to severe psoriasis may feel self-conscious about their appearance and have a poor self-image that stems from fear of public rejection and psychosexual concerns. Psychological distress can lead to significant depression and social isolation.


Psoriasis is a skin disorder driven by the immune system, especially involving a type of white blood cell called a T cell. Normally, T cells help protect the body against infection and disease. In the case of psoriasis, T cells are put into action by mistake and become so active that they trigger other immune responses, which lead to inflammation and to rapid turnover of skin cells. In about one-third of the cases, there is a family history of psoriasis. Researchers have studied a large number of families affected by psoriasis and identified genes linked to the disease. (Genes govern every bodily function and determine the inherited traits passed from parent to child.) People with psoriasis may notice that there are times when their skin worsens, then improves. Conditions that may cause flareups include infections, stress, and changes in climate that dry the skin. Also, certain medicines, including lithium and betablockers, which are prescribed for high blood pressure, may trigger an outbreak or worsen the disease.

Doctors generally treat psoriasis in steps based on the severity of the disease, size of the areas involved, type of psoriasis, and the patient's response to initial treatments. This is sometimes called the "1-2-3" approach. In step 1, medicines are applied to the skin (topical treatment). Step 2 uses light treatments (phototherapy). Step 3 involves taking medicines by mouth or injection that treat the whole immune system (called systemic therapy).

Over time, affected skin can become resistant to treatment, especially when topical corticosteroids are used. Also, a treatment that works very well in one person may have little effect in another. Thus, doctors often use a trial-and-error approach to find a treatment that works, and they may switch treatments periodically (for example, every 12 to 24 months) if a treatment does not work or if adverse reactions occur


Hope that helps you.


M~A Ace

hi Midnight Angel,

Wow - that was *very* informative. Thank you for taking the time to write it. Unfortunately it wasn't my question! I was asking about whether the words 'disease' and 'illness' were interchangable. I don't think they are but my dictionary makes no distinction.

Well, at least you seem to agree with me that psoriasis is a disease and not an illness.

az

Hello az.

You are welcome,
It was no bother at all,Although i do know a little about the disease i did actually do a little research on the net for more information that i thought may be of some use.
Lease yoiu can go back now and cinfirm it is actually a disease and not a illness.


M~A

I think the problem is that, while not identical, the meanings do overlap, and for many purposes the words are interchangeable, and I don't think there are any hard and fast rules - it's more a question of "what sounds right" in a given context. Not very helpful I'm afraid, but that's English for you.

Noggin

Illness seems to be an umberella term for things that make you unwell, including diseases, which seem to be more specific conditions.

hi Noggin,

Yes, you are right that English is full of these 'no rule' use of language things. For instance, you can say a 'tall person' but not a 'tall mountain', it would be a 'high mountain'. And if you said a person was high it would mean something totally different

So I guess it is the same with disease and illness. That although they are synomyms they are used differntly because . . . well, just BECAUSE.

az

Synomyms? differntly? Well, it's pretty obvious that I TEACH ENGLISH.

oops,
az

Maybe an illness is something you can recover from (I got ill, I got better) and a disease is something you can't recover from, more like a condition?

I can already think of lots of exceptions though.

Is cancer an illness or a disease?

hi Marj,

Well, that was sort of my thinking earlier. An illness is something you can catch from someone else, a disease is more like something chronic. But yes, I've heard cancer called both things.



az

I can remember Lou Grant (U.S tv series c.1975) where someone is told they have cancer by the phrase "you have a degree of disease"
I think they have taken on the same meaning now though

Probably doesn;t help, but I've always thought of an illness as something not that serious. And a disease is usually a bit more serious. Be that because it is immediately more life threatening, or because it is long lasting.

but oddly, someone who was seriously affected by a disease would be termed 'seriously ill' rather than 'seriously diseased' when talking about them. So perhaps there is an unofficial ranking here. Whatever it is, you are ill, but if it is serious or long lasting then it is a disease?

And likewise, say if you have a cold, you would say 'I'm sick' or 'I'm ill' and not 'I'm diseased'.

az

Mind you, when *would* one ever say 'I am diseased'?

az

I am at great dis-ease with myself(in that way maybe )

Bizarrely - you can 'have' a disease, and 'be' ill, but you can also 'have' an illness

I remember having a lecture in my first year about this - I think the lecturer came to the conclusion that you can have a disease but not necessarily be ill, as being ill is more behaving as if you're ill (they call it the 'sick role'). So you can behave as if you are ill, but you cannot behave a disease

Huge, huge grey area here methinks.

Stay ,
WD

Well, apart from trying to get out of an unwanted date perhaps?

Unclean! unclean!

Also, ill seems to imply a certain amount of vagueness. I am unwell, or ill, and usually list symptoms, nausea, coughing, headaches, lethargy etc. Whereas a Disease is a definite, I have X if you like.

Acid test: which sounds more convincing if you want to (god forbid!) skive a day off work?

'Sorry, can't come in today, I'm really really ill...'

'Sorry, can't come in today, I'm really really diseased...'

Ok - a bit of sillyness...

WD

You can't really say 'a disease isn't contagious' - think about STDs - Sexually *Transmitted* Diseases...

I agree, saying you're diseased conjours up images of leprosy'.

My dictionary defines illness as "a disease or indisposition; sickness", so I guess in most ways they are synonymous - it's just a matter of conventions of usage.

Possibly that disease is a condition, something you have (cold, typoid, chickenpox) and illness is a state of being, how you are.