Wherein is the concept of disease normative? From weak normativity to value-conscious naturalism

In this paper we focus on some new normativist positions and compare them with traditional ones. In so doing, we claim that if normative judgments are involved in determining whether a condition is a disease only in the sense identified by new normativisms, then disease is normative only in a weak sense, which must be distinguished from the strong sense advocated by traditional normativisms. Specifically, we argue that weak and strong normativity are different to the point that one ‘normativist’ label ceases to be appropriate for the whole range of positions. If values and norms are not explicit components of the concept of disease, but only intervene in other explanatory roles, then the concept of disease is no more value-laden than many other scientific concepts, or even any other scientific concept. We call the newly identified position “value-conscious naturalism” about disease, and point to some of its theoretical and practical advantages.

Scope of Homoeopathic Management in Common Skin Diseases

To look attractive our skin must look healthy because the best foundation you can wear is healthy, glowing skin. Skin is the first line of defence in our body against the external environment. Homoeopathy has wide range of scope for the treatment of skin diseases. The homoeopathy believes in holistic concept of disease i.e., not only the part is diseased but a person as a whole. When the vitality is disturbed by any inimical dynamic morbific agent, it makes its appearance by morbid sign and symptoms. They assume all parts of organism are connected together to form an invisible whole in sensations and functions. Homoeopathy does not recognize diseases with their names but every disease as a whole new individual personality. The scope of homoeopathy in the cure of skin diseases based on its constitutional and individualizing concept. Keywords Skin Diseases; Homoeopathy; Individualization; Constitution; Vital Force

How to Be a Naturalist and a Social Constructivist about Diseases

Debates about the concept of disease have traditionally been framed as a competition between two conflicting approaches: naturalism, on the one hand, and normativism or social constructivism, on the other. In this article, we lay the groundwork for a naturalistic form of social constructivism by (1) dissociating the presumed link between value-free conceptions of disease and a broadly naturalistic approach; (2) offering a naturalistic argument for a form of social constructivism; and (3) suggesting avenues that strike us as especially promising for filling in the details of an alternative approach and addressing the most obvious objections.

Disease monitoring programs of rare genetic diseases: transparent data sharing between academic and commercial stakeholders

It has recently been suggested that registries for rare neuromuscular diseases should be formed and governed exclusively by physicians and patients in an effort to limit conflicts of interest. Enacting such an approach would not only be challenging logistically and financially, but it would also exclude the involvement of sponsors, who are an integral component of drug development within the current compliance framework. Therefore, as an alternative to traditional registries, we propose the use of a better collaborative model for post-marketing follow-up that includes all stakeholders. We developed the concept of Disease Monitoring Programs (DMPs), which are designed to monitor disease manifestations over a 10-year period whether on a sponsored drug or not, and ensure consistent collection, ownership sharing and governance of data.

Three Premodern Concepts of Disease

The concepts of health and disease have an impact on the efficiency of the medical system. Currently, there are no unanimously accepted definitions of health and disease, despite the fact that many investigations have attempted to capture their essence. Most of the available research about the concept of disease relies on the evidence-based disease concept of the modern medicine. That concept differs from the lay concept of disease or illness. In this research we use the cognitive linguistic approach to concepts, taking into consideration the way in which human mind processes the surrounding reality. Those processes are based on the universal principles because of the embodiment of cognition. Consequently, concepts are to some extent independent of time and culture. We have selected three premodern sources with sufficient information about disease to ascertain whether they have similarities in the comprehension of the disease. The first source is “Huangdi Neijing” “Suwen” part, from Chinese ancient medicine, the second one is “Hippocratic Corpus” from ancient Greece, and the third is “Otok” by Josip Lovretić from 19th century eastern Croatia. They are products of very different cultures and historical periods. Conducting comparison of features related to disease in the three sources, we have recognized that body, change, process and control are related to the common shared attributes critical for the concept of disease.

The concept of a positive body image in modern foreign psychology

Research into the problem of body image has more than a century of history, most of which is associated with the study of negative attitudes towards the body and related psychopathology - eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorders, etc. In the last decade there has been a growing tendency in this area to shift the emphasis to the study of a positive body image, just as in psychology in general there are more and more works performed in the paradigm of positive psychology, which calls for abandoning the concept of disease and searching for new approaches based on the positive potential of the individual. This review presents the main stages in the study of the problem of body image in foreign psychology, the origin and development of ideas about a positive body image as a special construct that is not the opposite pole in the general “negative-positive” continuum, the key works of leading researchers who have formed the concept of a positive body image as an independent entity, the main components of a positive body image, methodological tools used to assess a positive body image, and the results of studies of a positive body image in various social groups. The modern perspectives of research in the field of body image are presented in accordance with the views of leading foreign experts.

The concept of disease in the time of COVID-19

Philosophers of medicine have formulated different accounts of the concept of disease. Which concept of disease one assumes has implications for what conditions count as diseases and, by extension, who may be regarded as having a disease (disease judgements) and for who may be accorded the social privileges and personal responsibilities associated with being sick (sickness judgements). In this article, we consider an ideal diagnostic test for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection with respect to four groups of people—positive and asymptomatic; positive and symptomatic; negative; and untested—and show how different concepts of disease impact on the disease and sickness judgements for these groups. The suggestion is that sickness judgements and social measures akin to those experienced during the current COVID-19 outbreak presuppose a concept of disease containing social (risk of) harm as a component. We indicate the problems that arise when adopting this kind of disease concept beyond a state of emergency.