The
pathogenesis of a disease is the biological mechanism (or mechanisms) that leads to a diseased state. The term can also describe the origin and development of the disease, and whether it is acute, chronic, or recurrent. The word comes from the Greek πάθος pathos ("suffering", "disease") and γÎνεσις genesis ("creation").
Types of
pathogenesis include microbial infection, inflammation,
malignancy and tissue breakdown. For example, bacterial
pathogenesis is the mechanism by which bacteria cause infectious illness.
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).
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. 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.[4] 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. Thus, the molecular pathological
epidemiology paradigm can advance the area of causal inference.
Relevant Topics in Medical Sciences