epidemiology
eh-pih-dee-mee-OL-uh-jee
Definition
The branch of medicine and science that studies the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined populations.
Etymology
Derived from the Greek 'epidēmios' (among the people) combined with 'logia' (study of). It originally emerged in the 19th century to describe the study of epidemics but now encompasses the statistical study of broader health trends.
In the news
The author characterizes the researchers' careful adjustment for demographic and health variables as 'careful epidemiology,' highlighting that scientific rigor depends on the quality of data collected and modeled.
Yale researchers followed 3,635 people aged 50 and older for up to 12 years and found that those reading books for more than 3.5 hours a week had a 23% lower risk of dying than non-readers. Overall, book readers reached the same survival milestone 23 m
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com