Disease is a fundamental aspect of the human condition. Ancient bones tell us that pathological processes are older than humankind’s written records, and sickness still confounds our generation’s technological pride. We have not banished pain, disability, or the fear of death, even if we die on the average at older ages, of chronic and not acute ills, in hospital or hospice beds, and not in our own homes. Disease is something men and women feel. It is experienced in our bodies—but also in our minds. Disease demands explanation; we think about it and we think with it. Why have I become ill? And why now? How is my body.
