Santé et maladie (document en anglais)

You may have heard about the terms illness and disease on a regular basis. Do the terms mean the same things? Well, almost, but not quite. There is some difference between the usages of the terms, so you should be careful while using them.

Illness and disease both cause the same feelings of discomfort, pain or unease in people. However, an illness is more of a subjective feeling. This means that there is really no identifiable reason behind the condition. Of course, if the condition behind the illness is identified, it is more often referred to as a disease. However, in more generalized terms, we can define an illness as a state where the person has feelings of pain or discomfort that does not have an identifiable reason.

A disease refers to a condition where the body or the parts of the body of a person does not work properly. There is usually a pathological reason behind the condition.

It is important to note that both illness and disease result in more or less the same symptoms. However, an illness can be cured in most cases. For instance, cold, flu or gastrointestinal diseases can be cured by treatment. However, there are a number of diseases that cannot be cured. In medical terms, both are undesirable, as they interfere with the state of homeostasis.

...