Pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance.[1] The word comes from Greek πάθος pathos 'suffering, disease' and γένεσις genesis 'creation'.
Description[edit]
Types of pathogenesis include microbial infection, inflammation, malignancy and tissue breakdown. For example, bacterial pathogenesis is the process by which bacteria cause infectious illness.[citation needed]
Most diseases are caused by multiple processes. For example, certain cancers arise from dysfunction of the immune system (skin tumors and lymphoma after a renal transplant, which requires immunosuppression).[2][3]
The pathogenic mechanisms of a disease (or condition) are set in motion by the underlying causes, which if controlled would allow the disease to be prevented.[4] Often, a potential cause is identified by epidemiological observations before a pathological link can be drawn between the cause and the disease. The pathological perspective can be directly integrated into an epidemiological approach in the interdisciplinary field of molecular pathological epidemiology.[5] Molecular pathological epidemiology can help to assess pathogenesis and causality by means of linking a potential risk factor to molecular pathologic signatures of a disease.[6] Thus, the molecular pathological epidemiology paradigm can advance the area of causal inference.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Gellman, Marc D.; Turner, J. Rick, eds. (2013). Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. New York: Springer. p. 716. ISBN 978-1-4419-1380-7.
- ^ Fox A (2010). General aspects of bacterial pathogenesis. University of South Carolina School of Medicine: Microbiology and Immunology On-line Textbook.
- ^ Porta M, Greenland S, Hernán M, dos Santos Silva I, Last JM, eds. (2014). A dictionary of epidemiology (6th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199976737.
- ^ Last, JM, ed. (2000). A Dictionary of Epidemiology (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-19-977434-0.
- ^ Ogino S, Stampfer M (2010). "Lifestyle factors and microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer: the evolving field of molecular pathological epidemiology". J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 102 (6): 365–7. doi:10.1093/jnci/djq031. PMC 2841039. PMID 20208016.
- ^ Ogino S, Chan AT, Fuchs CS, Giovannucci E (2011). "Molecular pathological epidemiology of colorectal neoplasia: an emerging transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary field". Gut. 60 (3): 397–411. doi:10.1136/gut.2010.217182. PMC 3040598. PMID 21036793.
Further reading[edit]
- Haugan S, Bjornson W (2009). Avian influenza: etiology, pathogenesis, and interventions. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60741-846-7.
