Veterinary Clinical Medicine-I (General and Systemic)

WHAT DOES DISEASE MEANS?

Disease is defined as an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is also a pathological condition of a part, organ or system of an organism that results from different causes like infection, genetic defect or environmental stress.

The term disease have a variety of definition, but it has a common concept. It is a term for any condition that impairs normal functioning of an organism or body. Not just human beings alone; but also the Plants and animals have diseases.

Diseases are classified into three categories:

• Intrinsic,
• Extrinsic and
• Unknown origin.

Intrinsic is defined as coming from within the body and is more familiar to us now a days. Examples of intrinsic diseases are autoimmune disorders, cancers, stress-related, hereditary and conditions resulting from malnutrition.

Extrinsic or infectious simply means coming from the outside or external organism such as parvovirus, distemper and many others. Extrinsic diseases are diseases that are triggered by external factors like bacterial organisms, which entered into body and affect the normal function of healthy organisms inside.

The third category is of unknown origin, like Alzheimer's disease in Human beings. Until now doctors and scientist failed to know the main cause of Alzheimer's disease and this is greatly affecting elderly human population. Some of the animal examples included Pyrexia of Unkown Origin(PUO).