How many different diseases are there?

[RetardedBastard]

I am wondering if anyone knows how many disesases have been identified/diagnosed throughout the world. I tried searching the NIH sites but, well, good god there is so much information I don't even know where to start or what search terms to use for this question! I would think that different medical bodies world-wide have differing opinions on the number of diseases there are, so any information about how the total number of diseases is arrived at would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

[jaseh86]

Are you looking for an exact number? I have no idea but you are welcome to be the first to count it and possibly take an average across many different databases! (which as you said, will arrive at different opinions regarding categorisation of a disease).

As an educated guess from the ICD:
http://www.who.int/classifications/apps/icd/icd10online/
They've managed to group everything into the alphabet A-Z, each letter with 0-99 entries.
Thus 26 * 99 = 2178.I know this doesn't help at all, but I found it very amusing :
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_diseases_are_in_the_world

 

[RetardedBastard]

Are you looking for an exact number? I have no idea but you are welcome to be the first to count it and possibly take an average across many different databases! (which as you said, will arrive at different opinions regarding categorisation of a disease).

I think I know what I'll be doing this week!

As an educated guess from the ICD:
http://www.who.int/classifications/apps/icd/icd10online/
They've managed to group everything into the alphabet A-Z, each letter with 0-99 entries.
Thus 26 * 99 = 2178.

Geez Luiz! Life's not as diseased as I thought! 2178 sounds about an order of a magnitude less than what I would have guessed. Guess there's only one way to know for sure... I'll count starting with the A's... see you all next year! :)

 

[swissmiss]

hi guys,
the WHO distinguish 12,420 disease categories in ICD-10 (2007). note this includes injuries such as knee dislocation, but not external causes of morbidity and mortality (car crash)
(see their 'FAQ on ICD' page-
http://www.who.int/classifications/help/icdfaq/en/index.html )
hope you got the same number from counting 'em

 

[purrin]

I'm wondering that too. And I want the answer to include all illnesses, disorders and injuries ie things that can go wrong. Please help me, I'm so curious!

 

[rhody]

Hi, Retarded Bastard,

Have a look at this thread I posted awhile ago, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=378303"

I reprinted the highlights of the video below:

Highlights:

00:40 Single diagnostic assay to screen for all pathogens simultaneously
01:20 Evolution is a balance, fast change versus ultra conservation
03:00 Grad school, making DNA on chips, thousands
03:50 For the cost of a Camry, (off the shelf parts) you can build a DNA array machine in your garage
04:20 All human respiratory viruses on one chip
06:35 Rhino viruses that have never seen a genetic sequencer
07:50 Testing the detection mechanism, day 2, strong signature
09:30 Made a chip: 22000+ viral sequences in Gen Bank as of June 2004
10:20 Undiagnosed virus used with the new Chip
11:20 Patient on ventilation from ravages of unknown viral agent
11:45 Open lung biopsy performed in trying to isolate the virus
12:30 Ran sample on the Viral Chip saw parainfluenza-4, no data to support how parainfluenza-4 causes lung failure
14:00 Viral signature revealed on samples of men with prostate cancer, and a mutation in antiviral defense enzyme, have a signature for a new retro virus 40% of the time
14:50 Cloned whole virus closely relates to mouse virus, xenotropic virus
15:15 From tumor samples the virus can be located

Summary: Raises more questions than answers, but that's how science works

You will note as of June 2004 GenBank has categorized over 22,000 disease categories based on their DNA signature. I am sure the number categorized since then has grown. I would suggest a search of the GenBank site. Please report back on what you find, I would like to know too. Good luck.

Rhody...