taw comments on Shortness is now a treatable condition - Less Wrong

9 Post author: taw 20 October 2009 01:13AM

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Comment author: Nick_Tarleton 20 October 2009 04:52:09AM 9 points [-]

Yes, redefining large parts of normal human variability as illness is a lie

Is there a fact of the matter for it to be a lie about?

Comment author: taw 20 October 2009 08:58:38AM 3 points [-]

Wikipedia says:

A "disease" or "medical condition" is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and signs.

The key word is abnormal. If something is naturally common in humans, and doesn't impair any bodily functions, it shouldn't really count as a "disease". Like being short, as a matter of fact.

FDA has these views, as they only approve treatment of people with specific shortness-causing disorders, or within 1.2% of most extreme shortness (which is highly atypical). If people pursuing height expand this band to bottom 50% of current population, or bottom 80% of historical record, and redefine it as an illness, then it will be a lie, as a matter of fact.

Even better case is premature ejaculation, which is estimated to "affect" 30%-70% of American males. It doesn't impair any bodily functions. So it's factually incorrect to claim it's an illness.

Comment author: alyssavance 20 October 2009 03:39:05PM 2 points [-]

Cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes affect way more than 1.2% of the population, and no one has ever had any trouble defining them as illnesses.

Comment author: DanArmak 20 October 2009 03:42:16PM 2 points [-]

within 1.2% of most extreme shortness (which is highly atypical)

There always are the 1.2% shortest people. We'd end up making the whole population infinitely tall :-) They should define it as "at least X deviations below mean". I would support that.

Comment author: gwern 21 October 2009 12:50:31AM 0 points [-]

One is never ill in general. One is always ill in relation to some activity. It is not cancer that makes me ill. It is because I cannot work, or run, or swallow that I am ill with cancer. The loss of function, the obstruction of activity, cannot in itself destroy my health.

I am too heavy to fly by flapping my wings, but I do not complain of being sick with weight. But if I desired to be a model, jockey, or dancer, I would consider excess weight a disease I would like to be cured of.

Carse, Finite and Infinite Games, 3.56

Comment author: retiredurologist 22 October 2009 04:32:12PM *  3 points [-]

Re: premature ejaculation, see The sooner the better. There is excellent therapy for those who desire it, but ironically the SSRI's that work so effectively to delay ejaculation were developed to treat depression, for which their effectiveness is the same as placebo. Yet, they are FDA-approved for treatment of the latter, not the former.

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