Have you ever wondered how diseases get defined?
How “high” does your blood pressure have to be before it’s called “high blood pressure”? How “low” does bone density have to be before it’s “osteoporosis”? How big does the “deficit” have to be before a small child is labelled as having “attention deficit disorder”?
Most people would rarely give these questions much thought, but for some of us nerdy researcher types, they’re fascinating.
Why Ask?
In 2012, a team of colleagues and I based at Bond University in Australia designed a study to examine the expert panels that review and change the definitions of diseases. These are the definitions used by your doctor to diagnose and label you and your loved ones.
We wanted to find out a little more about the people who actually gather around a table somewhere and decide where to draw the line between “normal” and “abnormal,” between healthy and diseased. We focused in on panels in the United States because of their global influence in the world of medicine.
