epidemiology

epidemiology field of medicine concerned with the study of epidemics , outbreaks of disease that affect large numbers of people. Epidemiologists, using sophisticated statistical analyses, field investigations, and complex laboratory techniques, investigate the cause of a disease, its distribution (geographic, ecological, and ethnic), method of spread, and measures for control and prevention. Epidemiological investigations once concentrated on such communicable diseases as tuberculosis , influenza , and cholera , but now also encompass cancer , heart disease , and other diseases affecting large numbers of people.

epidemiology The study of diseases that affect large numbers of people. Traditionally, epidemiologists have been concerned primarily with infectious diseases, such as typhoid and influenza, that arise and spread rapidly among the population as epidemics. However, today the discipline also covers noninfectious disorders, such as diabetes, heart disease, and back pain. Typically the distribution of a disease is charted in order to discover patterns that might yield clues about its mode of transmission or the susceptibility of certain groups of people. This in turn may reveal insights about the causes of the disease and possible preventive measures.

epidemiology The analysis of the incidence and spread of disease within populations, with the aim of establishing causality. The modern science of epidemiology is often said to have originated with John Snow's identification of a particular source of drinking water as the cause of the 1849 cholera epidemic in London. More recently, linkages between smoking and lung cancer, between heart disease and certain fats, and between the contraceptive pill and breast cancer, have all been established through epidemiological research.