疾病得定义与争议
内科医生就是如何认识“疾病”这个专业术语得?这可难为了临床医生们,因为这种哲学问
题可能更应该由中世纪经院哲学家们来回答。但最近医学研究院(IOM)得一篇235页报告,
就“系统性劳累不耐受疾病"(SEID)提出了新得见解。这项报告也对患者,医生以及第三支付
方有很多具有临床启示、
对“疾病”得定义自临床医学建立以来,一直都就是争论得焦点。例如,古希腊Knidos学派
与Kos学派对疾病得观点就不同。Knidos学派(Aesculapius学院为代表)认为,散在病态实
体(如脓肿或肿瘤)就是疾病得定义特征,从属于病理学得一般规律。以希波克拉底为代表得偏
经验主义Kos学派,强调病人具有特定得痛苦。事实上这两种观点或将疾病视为一种特殊得
病理学进程,或将它瞧成就是以患者得自述方式决定其特征得一种特殊得人类体验。
19世纪,德国病理学家RudolfVirchow得一项著名声明在医学科学领域引发了一场
革命。她提出:“没有广泛疾病,只有局部得疾病。”但就是Virchow得同事,LudwigAschoff
却不认同,她认为Virchow仅仅就是希望将病灶局部化,而不就是疾病[3]。我们确实有理由
相信Virchow将疾病概念化为生物体得广义状况,也就就是说会随着机体得死亡而消失,
不像损伤那样、
当代,人们对疾病得定义仍然存在争议。近期,AMA要求科学与公共健康委员会在肥胖得审
议中出具一份顾问意见、而委员会面临得一个问题就是,“肥胖算就是疾病不?”委员会审
慎得回答让我们见识了什么叫语言与谦逊:“因疾病没有统一、明确、权威以及被广泛认可
得定义,所以难以最终确定肥胖就是否就是一种内科疾病。[4]”
不幸得就是,在过去得50年间,对Virchow观点得狭义解释(比如近代精神病学家Th
omasSzasz)占据了“疾病”讨论得主流。这也使一种观点出现(在我瞧来就是种误解):
只有特定得,可识别得病理生理学或解剖学异常“称为"疾病、
然而,这些标准全然不顾古往今来得临床诊断,并且也与许多神经病学、精神病学、疼痛医学
得当代诊断不一致。该领域得医生认为许多严重痛苦与失能不能用特定得生化或解剖学发现
去解释[5]。例如:偏头痛,三叉神经痛,甚至就是癫痫仍然就是基于患者得历史与自述进行临
床诊断得。当然,身体检查与影像学研究在排除特定损伤上具有重要作用(例如脑肿瘤)。
对绝大多数得精神障碍也就是如此。就是依据患者得痛苦与失能程度(或悲伤与功能障碍程
度)来定义疾病得状态、当然,病理生理相关性、影像学研究、与生物指标可以帮助我们鉴定
特定疾病进程得潜在生物学本质,并依此设计合适得治疗方案。但“疾病”作为一种麻烦又
影响广泛得人类体验,检测到得这些异常对于疾病得识别既不充分,也不必要。
在《哈里森内科学》中,对疾病得广泛定义如下:
临床法将其目标定为:收集以人类为主体得所有疾病得准确数据,也就就是说,所有对生命得
权利、乐趣,与持续时间造成限制得情况。[下划线为新增][6]、
该书作者继续解释医生得“主要、传统得目标就是功利主义得——预防与治疗疾病,减轻身
体或精神得痛苦……[下划线为新增][6]”
我们再分析IOM报告,该报告将慢性疲劳综合症(也被称为“肌痛性脑脊髓炎”)更名为“系
统性劳累不耐受疾病”(SEID),并且对此种疾病得诊断提出基本得临床标准、(我们提到得“C
linical(临床)”源自希腊语klinikē“床边”得意思—-即就是床边得诊断)。简要得说,SE
ID标准必需具有:
●可影响职业、教育、社会或个人活动前驱疾病水平得实质性下降或损伤;
●活动后疲倦
●不能恢复精神得睡眠
●认知损伤或直立不耐受(或两者都有)
注意,SEID标准不需要任何特定得生物学,生化或神经解剖学异常、当然,还需要存在相当
程度得悲痛与损伤。必须明确:报告确实发现强有力得证据证明SEID与自然杀伤细胞得功
能减弱、Epstein—Barr病毒感染、心肺功能减弱以及神经精神病学异常有关。但这些
相关性对SEID诊断来说不就是必要条件[1]。研究人员也在许多精神障碍中发现相似得生
物指标与相关异常、例如,异常眼球运动可以准确得区分精神分裂症患者与正常人[7]。不
过,当前得精神分裂症诊断标准跟SEID一样,仍然就是基于临床得。
IOM报告一出,已经引发了尖锐得批评。某些医生质疑SEID标准缺乏特异性,并且担心存在
过度诊断得可能,乃至明目张胆得欺诈行为、这些风险也应该得到重视,但本文作者认为,作为
医生,我们得第一责任就是识别并缓解人类得病痛与失能,不管我们就是否能识别出患者得病
理生理学潜因。至于SEID,IOM报告将它明确为:这种状况对患者得社会与职业功能有严重
得负面影响[1]、
无疑,我们应该继续研究SEID得潜在生物学机制,就像我们处理精神分裂与非典型性面部疼
痛一样、当我们得患者由于体内得原因承受痛苦与失能时,我们有临床与伦理得理由去相信
确实存在疾病,并且尽我们所能得去治疗患者。
原文:
WhatIs"Diase”?ImplicationsofChronicF
atigueSyndrome
Whatdophysiciansintendbytheterm”dia"?Thismaystrike
manycliniciansasaphilosophicalquestionmoresuitedtomedieva
lscholasticsthantopracticingphysicians、Buttherecent235—pagerep
orton”systemicexertionintolerancedisease"(SEID)fromtheInstitu
teofMedicine1(IOM)caststhisquestioninanewlightandhas
manypracticalimplicationsforpatients,physicians,andthird-partypayers、
Thedefinitionof”dia"hasbeenamatterofcontentionsincethed
awnofclinicalmedicixample,theancientGreeka
cademiesofKnidosandKoshaddifferingviewsofdia。2Knidos,
theschoolofAesculapius,recognizedthediscretemorbidentity—such
asanabscessortumor-asthedefiningfeatureofdiase,subr
vienttothegeneralrulesofpathology、Themoreempiricalschoolo
fKos,associatedwithHippocrates,emphasizedthesickindividu
alwithhisparticularkindofmisery、Ineffect,thetwoschoolssaw
diseaeitherasaspecificpathologicalprocessorasaparticula
rhumanexperiencewhocharacterwasdeterminedbythepatient’smannerof
presentation、
Inthe19thcentury,medicalsciencewasrevolutionizedbytheGermanp
athologistRudolfVirchowandhisfamouspronouncement:EsgibtkeineA
llgemeinkrankheiten,esgibtnurLocalkrankheiten—"Thereisnogene
ral,onlylocal,dia。”ButLudwigAschoff,Virchow’scolleague,arg
uedthatVirchowwishedmerelytolocalizelesions,notdiases、3
ThereareindeedreasonstobelievethatVirchowconceptualizeddisea
asageneralizedconditionofthelivingorganism,which,unlikeles
ions,disappearswhentheorganismdies。
Tothisday,thedefinitionofdiaremainscontroversial.Recently,in
itsdeliberationsonobesity,theAMArequestedanadvisoryopinion
fromitsCouncilonScienceandPublicHealth.Thequestionbeforethe
Councilwas,"Isobesityadia?”TheCouncil’sconsideredrespo
nwasalessoninboththelimitsoflanguageandthemeritsof
humility:"Withoutasingle,clear,authoritative,andwidelyacce
pteddefinitionofdiase,itisdifficulttodetermineconclusivelywhe
therornotobesityisamedicaldiasestate."4
Unfortunately,inthepast50years,narrowinterpretationsofVirchow,s
uchasthoseofthelatepsychiatristThomasSzasz,havedomin
ateddiscussionsofwhatconstitutes”dia。"5Thishasledtotheclaim—mi
staken,inmyview-thatonlythoconditionswithspecificandidentifia
blepathophysiologyoranatomicalabnormalities”count"asdi
a、
Yetthecriteriaflyinthefaceofmedicaldiagnosisthroughoutthe
agesandarenotconsistentwithveralmodern-daydiagnosesint
hefieldsofneurology,psychiatry,andpainmedicine、Physiciansin
thefieldsrecognizethatmanystatesofseveresufferingandinca
pacitycannotyetbecausallylinkedwithspecificbiochemicalora
natomicalfindings。5Forexample,migraineheadache,trigeminalne
uralgia,andevenepilepsyremainclinicaldiagnos-madeprimarily
onthebasisofthepatient’shistoryandsubjectivereports、(Physic
alexaminationandimagingstudies,ofcour,areimportantinruling
outcertainlesions,suchasabraintumor。)
Thisisalsotrueforthevastmajorityofpsychiatricdisorders、Itisthep
atient'sdegreeofsufferingandincapacity—ordistressanddysfunc
tion-thatdefinesastateofdisea(etymologically,di—sease)、Ofcour,
pathophysiologiccorrelates,imagingstudies,andbiomarkerscanhelp
usunderstandtheunderlyingbiologicalnatureofthespecificdia
processanddeviseappropriatetreatmwever,sucha
bnormalitiesareneithernecessarynorsufficientfortherecognition
of"disea"asaprofoundandtroublinghumanexperience。5
Indeed,intheeditionofHarrison'sPrinciplesofInternalMedici
nethatIudwhenIwasaresident,thefollowingbreathtakinglybro
addefinitionofdiasewasputforth:
Theclinicalmethodhasasitsobjectthecollectionofaccurate
dataconcerningallthediseastowhichhumanbeingsaresubject;na
mely,allconditionsthatlimitlifeinitspowers,enjoyment,and
duration[italicsadded]。6
Theeditorswentontosaythatthephysician's”。、。primaryand
traditionalobjectivesareutilitarian-thepreventionandcureofdiaandt
hereliefofsuffering,whetherofbodyorofmind..、[italicsadded]
"6
NowestheIOMreport,whichhasrenamedso—calledchronicfatigue
syndrome(alsocalled"myalgicencephalomyelitis")as"systemicexertioni
ntolerancediase"(SEID)andproposedessentiallyclinicalcri
teriaforitsdiagnosis。(Ourword”clinical"isderivedfromthe
Greekklinikē”bedside”-so,diagnosismadeatthebedside)。Inbrief,the
SEIDcriteriaentailthefollowing:
oSubstantialreductionorimpairmentintheabilitytoengageinpre
-illnesslevelsofoccupational,educational,social,orpersonal
activities
oPostexertionalmalaise
oUnrefreshingsleep
oEithercognitiveimpairmentororthostaticintolerance(orboth)
NotethattheSEIDcriteriadonotrequiretheidentificationofan
yspecificbiological,biochemical,orneuroanatomicalabnormality、Rath
er,theyentailasubstantialdegreeofdistressandimpairment、T
obeclear:thereportdidfindevidenceofastrongassociationofSE
IDwithdiminishednaturalkillercellfunction;Epstein—Barrvirusinfe
ction;decreasedcardiopulmonaryfunction;andneuropsychiatrictestingab
normalities—butthesecorrelatesarenotrequiredfordiagnosisofSEI
D。1Similarbiomarkersandassociatedabnormalitieshavebeenfou
ndinveralpsychiatricdisorders、Forexample,abnormaleyemovem
entscandistinguishpersonswithschizophreniafromnormalpersonswi
thconsiderableaccuracy。7Nevertheless,currentdiagnosticcriteriaf
orschizophreniaremainclinical,aswithSEID、
Already,theIOMreporthasattractedsharpcriticism,withsomephysi
ciansquestioningthelackofspecificityintheSEIDcriteriaandworrying
aboutthepotentialforoverdiagnosisandevenoutrightfraud.Therisk
sarenottrivial,butIwouldarguethatasphysicians,ourfirst
dutyistherecognitionandreliefofhumansufferingandincapacity,whet
herwecanidentifythespecificpathophysiologyunderlyingthe
patient'scondition。WithrespecttoSEID,theIOMreportmake
sitabundantlyclearthatthisconditioncanhaveprofoundlyadverseef
fectsonthesufferer’ssocialandvocationalfunction。1
Tobesure,wemustcontinuetoinvestigatethebiologicalunderpinnings
ofSEID,justaswemustindiastatessuchasschizophreniaand
atypicalfacialpain。Whenourpatientsaresufferingandincapacitated
owingtosomeinternalprocess,however,wehavebothclinicalan
dethicalreasonstorecognizethatdiseaseispresent,andtodoour
utmosttotreatit.
IOM’sclinicalcriteriaforSEIDdiagnosis:
”ﻩSubstantialreductionorimpairmentintheabilitytoengageinpre-illness
levelsofoccupational,educational,social,orpersonalactivities
”Postexertionalmalaise
"Unrefreshingsleep
”Eithercognitiveimpairmentororthostaticintolerance(orboth)
NotethattheSEIDcriteriadonotrequiretheidentificationofany
specificbiological,biochemical,orneuroanatomicalabnormality。Rather,the
yentailasubstantialdegreeofdistressandimpairment、
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