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Epidemiology, literally meaning "the study of what is upon the people", is derived from Greek epi, meaning "upon, among", demos, meaning "people, district", and logos, meaning "study, word, discourse", suggesting that it applies only to human populations. However, the term is widely used in studies of zoological populations (veterinary epidemiology), although the term "epizoology" is available, and it has also been applied to studies of plant populations (botanical or plant disease epidemiology).[2] The distinction between "epidemic" and "endemic" was first drawn by Hippocrates,[3] to distinguish between diseases that are "visited upon" a population (epidemic) from those that "reside within" a population (endemic).[4] The term "epidemiology" appears to have first been used to describe the study of epidemics in 1802 by the Spanish physician Villalba in Epidemiología Española.[4] Epidemiologists also study the interaction of diseases in a population, a condition known as a syndemic. The term epidemiology is now widely applied to cover the description and causation of not only epidemic disease, but of disease in general, and even many non-disease health-related conditions, such as high blood pressure and obesity. Therefore, this epidemiology is based upon how the pattern of the disease cause changes in the function of everyone. |
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