DISEASE AND ILLNESS

Disease and illness are commonly used as synonyms and clearly highlight the lack of conceptual clarity. Medical definitions of disease emphasize the pathological process and the deviation from the biological norm. Diseases are pathological entities conceptualized by physicians who offer scientific casual explanations and prescribe treatments with the aim to cure. Illness, on the other hand, is the patient’s experience of ill health, is influenced by culture and focuses on the relief of suffering. Where there is an overlap between disease and illness, the divide persists because of the absence of a one-to-one relationship between disease and illness. Similar degrees of pathology generate different amounts of pain and distress. The course of a disease can be different from the trajectory of an illness. In addition, illness can also occur in the absence of disease (for example, medically unexplained physical symptoms causing distress). These result in differences in perspectives about the condition between doctors and their patients.