Epidemiology is Everywhere!
What is it?
My professor, Dr. K., frequently says that epidemiology is all around us. Before I enrolled in this class, I would have had a more narrow definition…Epidemiology as a study of diseases in groups of people. However, in our textbook, I am drawn to this definition “the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations and the application of this study to control of health problems” (Gordis, 2009, p. 3)…
In other words, it has to do with wellness & illness, why we are healthy or sick, who is healthy and sick, where are they…..Who, what, where, and why…And then, taking all this information and using it to help others become healthier. That is part of what epidemiology is.
Here are just a few headlines from the last couple of weeks, having to do with epidemiology (with links):
Elephants blamed for TB outbreak at Tenn. refuge
By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1:44 PM EST
Maryland Says "Hold the Arsenic" for Poultry
Los Angeles To Draft Ordinance Requiring Condom Use On All Pornography Sets In City
First Posted: 02/10/11 12:25 PM Updated: 02/10/11 12:25 PMPlayboy Mansion Illness: Possible Cause Identified by Health Department First Posted: 02/14/11 05:23 PM Updated: 02/15/11 09:22 PM
Reference: Gordis, L. (2009). Epidemiology, 4th ed. Baltimore, Maryland: Saunders Elsevier.
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