Clearly, health and disease cannot be defined merely in terms of anatomical, physiological, or mental attributes. Their real measure is the ability of the individual to function in a manner acceptable to himself and to the group of which he is a part.
The mechanisms of vis medicatrix naturæ—the most healing power of nature—are so effective that most diseases are self-terminating.
One may wonder indeed whether the pretense of superior health is not itself rapidly becoming a mental aberration.
It is a disturbing fact that Western civilization, which claims to have achieved the highest standard of health in history, finds itself compelled to spend ever-increasing sums for the control of disease.