Although concepts of disease have received much scrutiny, the benefits of distinguishing between theoretical and clinical disease—and what is meant by those terms—may not be as readily apparent. One way of characterizing the distinction between theoretical and clinical conceptions of disease is by relying on Boorse's biostatistical theory (BST) for a conception of theoretical disease. Clinical disease could then be defined as theoretical disease that is diagnosed. Explicating this distinction provides a useful extension of the BST. The benefits of this approach are clearly and non-normatively demarcating disease from non-disease, while allowing for values and purpose to determine what criteria are used in clinical practice to represent a disease's underlying dysfunction. Through discussion of a variety of medical conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus, I explore how the relationship between BST-based theoretical and clinical disease could make sense of various features of clinical practice and medical theory. It could do this by lending focus to a nuanced understanding of the pathophysiological defects present in disease and the means by which they are assessed. This could contribute to making sense of revised nosologies and diagnostic criteria.

尽管已经对疾病的概念进行了详尽的审查，但区分理论疾病和临床疾病以及这些术语的含义的好处可能并不那么明显。表征理论疾病概念和临床疾病概念的一种方法是依靠Boorse的生物统计学理论（BST）来确定理论疾病的概念。然后可以将临床疾病定义为已诊断的理论疾病。阐明这一区别提供了BST的有用扩展。这种方法的好处是可以明确地，非规范地将疾病与非疾病区分开来，同时允许值和目的来确定在临床实践中使用什么标准来代表疾病的潜在功能障碍。通过讨论各种医疗状况，包括多囊卵巢综合征和2型糖尿病，我探索了基于BST的理论与临床疾病之间的关系如何理解临床实践和医学理论的各种特征。它可以通过将重点集中在对疾病中存在的病理生理缺陷及其评估手段的细微理解上来做到这一点。这可能有助于弄清修订后的疾病分类和诊断标准。