Epidemiology Essay

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Epidemiology Paper Epidemiology is used to help understand diseases, how they work, and how they are transmitted. The process of epidemiology must be followed accurately to ensure correct diagnosis and treatment. Epidemiology is used whenever a new disease is discovered and whenever an old disease reappears in high numbers. A common disease in the aging population is congestive heart failure (CHF). The epidemiology process is used to fully understand the disease, what it causes, and how to treat it. This paper will explore the role of epidemiology in the surveillance of the incidence of CHF in the morbidity and mortality of the aging population with CHF. The definition and purpose of epidemiology, epidemiology methods, the epidemiology triangle, and levels of prevention of CHF in the aging population will be given. Definition and Description of Epidemiology The definition of epidemiology according to Savitz, Poole, and Miller (1999) is “the study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human populations” (p. 1158). According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2011) “Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events (including disease), and the application of this study to the control of diseases and other health problems. Various methods can be used to carry out epidemiological investigations: surveillance and descriptive studies can be used to study distribution; analytical studies are used to study determinants” (para. 1). Epidemiology was first developed to discover and understand the possible causes of contagious diseases (smallpox, typhoid, and polio) but expanded to include the study of factors associated with nontransmissible diseases like cancer, and poisonings caused by environmental agents (Cornell University, 1993, para. 1). Epidemiology cannot prove the cause of a

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