THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DISORDER AND DISEASE

A disorder is a disturbance in physical or mental health. It is when the body simply stops working the way it should. A disease is an illness caused by certain bacteria or pathogens. A disorder and a disease are very similar. In the medical world they can be interchangeable. This is because a disease can cause a disorder. A disease is used more often for the physical disorders, where as, the word disorder will be used more often to refer to psychological problems. The older term of the two is disease. Historically, disease implies a relative permanence and a variety of symptoms and causes beyond psychiatric illness. "Disorder" is preferred by those wishing to avoid negative stigma. Disorder is a newer term. It is often used for illnesses where the origin, duration or physiological basis of an illness is relatively unknown. Disorder is also used when there is a clear underlying cause, but symptoms have an unusually wide range. One term is not more medically accepted over the other. Disease can include but does not require infection. Disorders can be caused by infection. Doctors use both terms freely. You can catch a disease. However, you can not catch a disorder. A disorder is inherited. A disease can be caught by anyone that is not immune to it. Although they have a few differences, disorder and disease are 2 different words that mean about the about the same.