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Welcome to Diseases Home Page
Diseases are anomalies in the normal functioning of the body. It may be due to any infection, poisoning, genetic defects or other such reasons, which may cause some discomfort to the afflicted person. It is a term that encompasses illnesses of all sorts that affect a person's mind or body.
From allergies, common colds, skin rashes, fungal nail infections to cancer, Parkinson's disease and AIDS are all considered as diseases. To make it simple, any mind or body dysfunction, which has a specific cause, is referred to as a disease. As mentioned earlier, some diseases are genetic and hence may be passed on from one generation to the other. Other diseases may be due to microbes, change in environmental factors, nutritional factors etc.
Nearly all parts of the human body are susceptible to some disease or another. Diseases can afflict your nervous system, cardiovascular system, digestive system, excretory system, endocrine system, reproductive system etc. Even a fetus is susceptible to abnormalities or diseases, depending on the health and the genes of both parents, and the condition during birth.
Diseases can be broadly classified as intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic meaning of "from within" refers to diseases that originate within an individual and are not infectious. These include diseases which are hereditary, stress-related, nutrition-related, cancer etc. Hypertension (high blood pressure), leukemia, arthritis etc. are intrinsic diseases, which cannot be transmitted to another individual.
Extrinsic diseases are those that are infectious and are generally caused by microbes. Influenza is a common example for an infectious disease. Extrinsic diseases can be further classified as Exogenous and Endogenous. Exogenous is when a disease is brought upon by infection from another individual - this may be from other adults or even to and from the fetus. Endogenous refers to diseases that are caused when a latent virus within a body acts up when the immune system is weakened. For instance a person who gets shingles is one in whom the chickenpox virus has lain dormant; if the body is weakened severely this virus acts up again causing shingles.
It is interesting to note that a disease may exist without a person's knowledge of it. This may be due to the lack of diagnosis or just denial on part of the individual. For instance, a person may live with cancer for several years before it is diagnosed if the person has not been troubled by the symptoms. Denial of a disease is most commonly seen in alcoholism. Where the common man may brush alcoholism as just a "defect in character", in medical terms it is perceived as a disease, which requires attention especially as it leads to other health problems.
Gathering information and getting a basic idea of ailments may be the first step to arm yourself against any unforeseen surprises. Unless you know the cause for your headache, you may not be able to cure it suitably. An aspirin may alleviate a rare headache or any other over-the-counter drugs for common ailments may help. But if a problem persists or unusual symptoms appear, it is best that you consult a doctor.
For information on any disease, you may select it from the left hand side menu.
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