A historical review of the evolution of concepts, postulates and guidelines concerning disease causation from early germ theory to current work in the area of chronic noncontagious diseases. Students and researchers in epidemiology, clinical medicine, microbiology and related fields will value discussion of changing criteria as these apply to speci

What is epidemiology? What are the causes of a new disease? How can pandemics be prevented? Epidemiology is the study of the changing patterns of disease and its main aim is to improve the health of populations. It's a vital field, central to the health of society, to the identification of causes of disease, and to their management and prevention. Epidemiology has had an impact on many areas of medicine; from discovering the relationship between tobacco smoking and lung cancer, to the origin and spread of new epidemics. However, it is often poorly understood, largely due to misrepresentations in the media. In this Very Short Introduction Rodolfo Saracci dispels some of the myths surrounding the study of epidemiology. He provides a general explanation of the principles behind clinical trials, and explains the nature of basic statistics concerning disease. He also looks at the ethical and political issues related to obtaining and using information concerning patients, and trials involving placebos. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

First edition published in 2002. Second edition published in 2008.

Much of contemporary medical theory and practice focuses on the identification of specific causes of disease. However, this has not always been the case: until the early nineteenth century physicians thought of diseases in quite different terms. The modern quest for causes of disease can be seen as a single Lakatosian research programme. One can track the rise and elaboration of this programme by a series of case histories. The success of work on bacterial diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis tends to eclipse the broad context in which those studies were embedded. Yet, in the 1830s, fifty years before Koch's publications on tuberculosis, specific causes were already being identified for several non-bacterial diseases including scabies, muscardine and ringworm. Moreover, by the end of the century, the quest for specific causes had spread well beyond bacterial diseases. The expanding research programme included Freud's early work on psychopathology, the discovery of viruses, the discovery of vitamins, and the recognition of genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome. Existing historical discussions of research in these areas, for example, histories of work on the deficiencies diseases, take the view that success in bacteriology was a positive obstacle to the identification of causes for other kinds of diseases. Treating the quest for causes as a single coherent research programme provides a better understanding of the disease concepts that characterise the last 150 years of medical thought.

Foundations of Epidemiology is an open access, introductory epidemiology text intended for students and practitioners in public or allied health fields. It covers epidemiologic thinking, causality, incidence and prevalence, public health surveillance, epidemiologic study designs and why we care about which one is used, measures of association, random error and bias, confounding and effect modification, and screening. Concepts are illustrated with numerous examples drawn from contemporary and historical public health issues.

Theory of illness causation is an important issue in all biomedical sciences, and solid etiological explanations are needed in order to develop therapeutic approaches in medicine and preventive interventions in public health. Until now, the literature about the theoretical underpinnings of illness causation research has been scarce and fragmented, and lacking a convenient summary. This interdisciplinary book provides a convenient and accessible distillation of the current status of research into this developing field, and adds a personal flavor to the discussion by proposing the etiological stance as a comprehensive approach to identify modifiable causes of illness. Key Features • Provides a synthesis of the epidemiological and philosophical concepts in this growing research area • Gives an accessible overview of current methods in biomedical causal metaphysics ̶ what is a cause of illness? ̶ and epistemology ̶ how do we identify it? • Proposes a novel approach that integrates modern epidemiological methodology and recent theories from philosophy of science Written for postgraduate students and researchers in the health and biomedical sciences, including those undertaking courses in the philosophy of medicine/science, public and global health, introduction to epidemiology, research methods, and advanced reasoning, the content will also be of interest to practicing public health workers, biomedical scientists, and physicians. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Olaf Dammann is Professor and Vice Chair of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; as well as a Professor in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. Cover image: Mask used by "Eskimo" shaman in causation of illness. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

This book presents a logical system of critical appraisal, to allow readers to evaluate studies and to carry out their own studies more effectively. This system emphasizes the central importance of cause and effect relationships. Its great strength is that it is applicable to a wide range of issues, and both to intervention trials and observational studies. This system unifies the often different approaches used in epidemiology, health services research, clinical trials, and evidence-based medicine, starting from a logical consideration of cause and effect. The author's approach to the issues of study design, selection of subjects, bias, confounding, and the place of statistical methods has been praised for its clarity and interest. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and the applications of this logic to evidence-based medicine, knowledge-based health care, and health practice and policy are discussed. Current and often controversial examples are used, including screening for prostate cancer, publication bias in psychiatry, public health issues in developing countries, and conflicts between observational studies and randomized trials. Statistical issues are explained clearly without complex mathematics, and the most useful methods are summarized in the appendix. The final chapters give six applications of the critical appraisal of major studies: randomized trials of medical treatment and prevention, a prospective and a retrospective cohort study, a small matched case-control study, and a large case-control study. In these chapters, sections of the original papers are reproduced and the original studies placed in context by a summary of current developments.