What do Oxford and Webster say?
Two doctors meet for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. Jan is an old hand, crusty, and a bit intolerant of silliness. Jamie is a new intern, just out of university. They’ve been paired together for work, and thus, for lunches. As they sit down, Jamie feels the glow of excitement of becoming a doctor.
“I can hardly wait to start curing people,” Jamie gushes.
“Cure? What do you mean by ‘cure’?” Jan asks sternly.
“You know, to help them get rid of their diseases. To free people from disease.” Jamie is speaking rapidly, enthusiastically.
“Maybe you should check a dictionary.” Jan replies curtly.
“What?“
“Well, if you check your dictionary, you might be surprised at the meaning of ‘cure’. You might take note of ‘disease’ as well. If illness is what the patient has, and disease is our classification system used in diagnosis, not every illness can be diagnosed as a disease. And cured? That’s a real challenge.“
Jamie types into the phone for a moment and reads, triumphantly: “Cure: ‘the act of making someone healthy again after an illness‘ according to Webster.”
“Curing happens after the illness is gone?,” Jan challenges, “I thought that was healing? Doesn’t curing happen when the patient is sick? Are you sure that’s what Webster says?“
“Hmm”, Jamie is flustered, “Google shows the definition from Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary first“, she mumbles a bit, scrolling down.
“So, first we give learners a wrong definition for cure? Do they correct it when people learn better English?” Jan smiles sarcastically. “By the way, we don’t make patients healthy, we treat them for serious medical conditions, and send them home, to heal.“
“Here,” replies Jamie, attempting to move the conversation in a positive direction, “it says… well, it’s complicated.“
Jan provides a bit of support, “There are lots of different meanings for the word cure, in different situations. But you said you want to get busy ‘curing people’. Is there a definition like that?“
“It says ‘to stop (a disease) by using drugs or other medical treatments‘, that’s what I meant.” Jan smiles, then adds, shaking her head, “then it says, once more, ‘the act of making someone healthy again after an illness‘“.
“Curing someone is stopping their disease. That makes some sense, although they’ve switched from illness to disease. Do we cure the illness, or the disease, or the patient, the ‘someone’? What if we stop the disease, but doesn’t make them healthy, is it a cure?” Jan queries.
“You’re just getting technical now, being pedantic.” Jamie grins.
“We could look pedantic up too, but let’s stick to cure. The first definition is simply nonsense- healing after an illness doesn’t cure an illness. Healing is part of growth, always active, before, during and after an illness. Healing progresses irrespective of the illness or disease, also irrespective of the cause, because healing repairs injuries, not diseases. The other definition is OK, except for the medicine restriction.“
“Restriction?” Jamie seems puzzled.
“It is, of course, possible to cure an illness, without a ‘drug or medical treatment‘,” Jan taps a knife on the tray for emphasis. “That definition is clearly medical chauvinism.”
“Medical chauvinism? Like, give me an example!” Jamie challenges.
“How do you cure simple dehydration? ” Jan asks, smiling.
“Hmm…technically, dehydration is cured with water – I guess it’s not a medicine, nor a medical treatment, except, when you are dehydrated, then it’s a medical treatment!” Jamie responds confusedly.
“Well, that’s nonsense. What if you are only partly dehydrated, or undiagnosed dehydration – is it a medicine? What if you self diagnose and self-treat, is it a medicine? Is it a medicine if a doctor prescribes it, or if a medical person recommends it, but otherwise not? Is a bottle of water a medicine if it’s sold in a pharmacy with a label saying “can be used to prevent, treat, or cure dehydration‘, but not if it’s sold in a health food store, with a label saying ‘pure, healthy, spring water?‘ Lots of illnesses are cured without medicines. In addition, although many are cured by the presence of something, others by an absence, or by removing the cause. Obesity, arsenic poisoning, and shin splints are not cured by ‘something’, they are cured by ‘not something’.“
Jan continues, “Of course dehydration diagnosed is usually not a disease – it’s often a symptom of another problem like diarrhea and vomiting, so giving water as a medicine doesn’t address the cause. But it does address a present problem. Severe ongoing dehydration caused by lack of water is rare, because our bodies tell us when we need to drink water. Simple dehydration is normally cured by health, before any diagnosis is required.“
“An illness can be cured by health?” Jamie looks surprised.
“By actions that make you healthier. Lots of things are essential to health. If you don’t get them, or don’t get enough, you get sick – if you get too much, you get sick. Health is about balance and harmony, the ability to maintain and make use of the balances of life.” Jan replies, pausing to collect his thoughts, “Maybe we need a better dictionary.“
“I’ll check Oxford,” Jamie proposes, thumbing the phone again, “The Oxford Dictionary for English Learners: ‘to make a person or an animal healthy again after an illness’, duh – almost exactly the same as Webster’s. Why do dictionaries think curing happens ‘after’ the illness?“
“Dictionaries don’t create language – they attempt to tell us how language is used. Writing a learner’s dictionary is more difficult. They need to simplify, which can easily lead to simple errors. What does the full definition say?” Jan asks.
“I’m reading it, but I’m not liking it,” Jamie replies, “It says ‘relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition‘. But, we cure illness, don’t we – not symptoms?“
“There’s often confusion between the symptoms and disease.” Jan pauses, thoughtfully.
Jamie interrupts, “Then it says ”Eliminate (a disease or condition) with medical treatment‘. Oxford also misses cures without medicines. Is there no logical, scientific, medical definition of cure?“
“Well, lunch is almost over – why don’t you check some medical books. Maybe you’ll find a better definition. Let’s talk more about this tomorrow.” Jan picks up the empty dishes and places them on a tray.
But before they leave the cafeteria, Jan has to ask “What do you think ‘cure’ means now?“
“I think cure means to stop the illness,” Jamie replies.
“That’s a good start,” Jan replies, “Let’s see what tomorrow brings.“
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What do you thing CURE means? Where would you look to find a scientific or medical definition of cure?
to your health, tracy
Author: A New Theory of Cure