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Physical disorder, as a medical term, is poorly defined, and typically used in contrast to amental disorder or agenetic disorder. The termmental disorder is heavily used inpsychiatric medicine, and is defined in some psychiatric medicine texts, most notably theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).[1] However, the more generic term ofmedical disorder is poorly defined, and is not mentioned in theWorld Health Organization'sInternational Classification of Diseases, nor many common medical textbooks. Attempts have been made to adopt a more universal definition, but there is no widely agreed upon definition.[2]
A physical disorder is not easily defined as the term "disorder" itself has not yet been defined by any authoritative medical body. The term "disorder" bears no special clinical relevance, and could be used interchangeably withdisease. The use of the term "disorder" likely rests on historical precedent as well as the preference of the field. For example, it is common to find examples of diseases named "disorders" in psychiatry and genetics, such asautosomal dominant disorders, but uncommon incardiology. In general, diseases called "disorders" have a relatively well understood, narrowpathophysiology, such asbipolar disorder, compared to something more generic, such asheart disease. Similarly, disorders are typically not acquired, or the result of environmental factors, such aslung disease.
A disease or illness described as aphysical disorder likely impacts themusculoskeletal system and lacks an incitinginjury. Examples may includewebbed toes,peau deficit disorder,arthritis, orataxia, though the latter two may also reasonably be called animmune disorder and aneurological disorder, respectively.