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Two Words Two Definitions 2 (or Three in this case)

I am reincarnating a series I started a couple of months ago, called 2 words 2 definitions where I provide the definitions of words that seem like they have similar meanings and can be confused with each other. This posts words are: Disease, Disorder & Syndrome. All three of these words have different meanings but they may sound like they all have the same meaning, if you don’t know the difference.

Disease is an impairment of the normal state of the living animal or plant body or one of its parts that interrupts or modifies the performance of the vital functions, is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, and is a response to environmental factors (as malnutrition, industrial hazards, or climate), to specific infective agents (as worms, bacteria, or viruses), to inherent defects of the organism (as genetic anomalies), or to combinations of these factors. The cause or causes of which are known.

Example: Parkinson's Disease

Disorder is an abnormal physical or mental condition.

Example: ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder


Syndrome is the association of several clinically recognizable features, signs, symptoms, phenomena or characteristics which often occur together, so that the presence of one feature alerts to the presence of the others. In recent decades the term has been used outside of medicine to refer to a combination of phenomena seen in association.

Example: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

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