BMJ 2002;324:883-885 ( 13 April )

Clinical review

In search of "non-disease"

Richard Smith, editor. 

BMJ, BMA House, London WC1H 9JR

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The BMJ recently ran a vote on bmj.com to identify the "top 10 non-diseases."¹ Some critics thought it an absurd exercise,² but our primary aim was to illustrate the slipperiness of the notion of disease. We wanted to prompt a debate on what is and what is not a disease and draw attention to the increasing tendency to classify people's problems as diseases.

Table Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)

In 1979 the BMJ published a study that did something similar.³ Non-medical academics, medical academics, general practitioners, and secondary school students were invited to say whether 38 terms did or did not refer to a disease. Almost 100% thought that malaria and tuberculosis were diseases, but less than 20% thought the following to be diseases: lead poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning, senility, hangover, fractured skull, heatstroke, tennis elbow, colour blindness, malnutrition, barbiturate overdose, drowning, or starvation (figure). People were split 50:50 over whether hypertension, acne vulgaris, or gall stones were diseases. . . . [Full text of this article]

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