Epidemiology

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.

ISBN 019954333X   Pages 160 ISBN13 9780199543335 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 132 Publisher Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Imprint Oxford University Press   Series title Very Short Introductions Format Paperback   Height (mm) 174 Publication date 25 Feb 2010   Width (mm) 112 DEWEY 614.4   Spine width (mm) 9 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level General

		List of illustrations
1		What is epidemiology?		1
2		Measuring health and disease		12
3		Searching for the causes of disease		24
4		Establishing the causes of a disease		37
5		Testing how to control a disease		52
6		Following up people's health		64
7		Investigating people's past experiences		73
8		Mapping health and disease		84
9		From epidemiology to medicine, prevention, and public health		97
10		Epidemiology between ethics and politics		114
		References		127
		Further reading		135
		Index		139

 Be the first to write a customer review

Version	Price	Published	Edition
Electronic Book	£7.99