DISEASE

(Dis, and ease.) Any morbid state of the body generally, or of any "particular organ or part of the body, is called a disease. By medical writers the term disease is defined as implying " a deviation from the natural and healthy actions of the whole system or of any individual part;" and they are in the habit of designating certain forms of disease by the following terms, namely: — Acquired, which are not congenital or hereditary, but derived from causes evidently operating after birth. Acute, which are severe, but of comparatively short duration. Asthenic, attended by manifest depre ion of the vital powers. Chronic, which are ot long duration. Congenital, which are born with the individual. Constitutional, which more or le affect the whole systeip. Contagious; this term should be confined to those diseases only which are communicable from one to another by contact, either personal or intermediate: it is presumed, for instance, that the plague is a truly contagious disease, and that it can only be transferred from one individual to another by actual bodily contact, or through the medium of bedclothes or articles of apparel. The term " contagious disease " is, however, often misapplied to those which are infectious, or communicable through the medium of the atmosphere. Endemic, diseases which are either peculiar to particular places, or which are especially prevalent in certain dis. tricts only. Epidemic, diseases which are generally diffused over a whole country; they may generally be traced to atmospheric causes, and are commonly of an infectious character: influenza and cholera often prevail in this way. Exanihematous are those diseases which are accompanied by an eruptive fever, such as measles, small-pox, . Hereditary diseases are such as prevail in families, and are transmitted by parents to their offspring; gout and scrofula furnish examples. Idiopathic or primary diseases are those which are not dependent upon or symptomatic of others; certain affections of the head, for instance, may arise immediately from disease of the brain, or they may be mediately connected with disordered states of the stomach: the lormer are idiopathic, the latter symptomatic. Intercurrent diseases are tliose which arise in individuals from incidental causes during the prevalence of endemic or epidemic sickne Intermittent diseases are marked by a regular ce ation and recurrence of symptoms; the patient, during the interval being, to all appearance, free from disorder: the various forms of ague are characteristically intermittent. Local diseases are opposed to those which are constitutional; they are presumed to be limited to some particular organ: the term " chronic disease " is sometimes misapplied in this sense. Malignant diseases are those which are of a highly dangerous and intractable character, and the symptoms of which are generally very formidable fr.m the first; various forms of fever, rapidly depre ing the vital energies, are said to a ume a malignant tjpe: hence also the term malignant, as generally applied to the Asiatic cholera. Local diseases are frequently malignant, such as cancer and ill-conditioned ulcers: all these are opposed to the mild forms of the same maladies. Periodical, diseases which recur at fixed periods, as in autumn, winter, . Puerperal, diseases incident to women soon after child-birth. Specific diseases are those which are marked by some disordered vital action not belonging to disease in general, but peculiar to the [s. 363]