which term means the study of the nature and causes of disease
pathology
title: Etiology text: Etiology Etiology (; alternatively aetiology or ætiology) is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek , "aitiología", "giving a reason for" (, "aitía", "cause"; and , "-logía"). More completely, etiology is the study of the causes, origins, or reasons behind the way that things are, or the way they function, or it can refer to the causes themselves. The word is commonly used in medicine, (where it is a branch of medicine studying causes of disease) and in philosophy, but also in physics, psychology, government, geography, spatial analysis, theology, and biology, in reference to title: Disease text: have been recognized by several health organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization to greatly influence collective and personal well-being. The World Health Organization's Social Determinants Council also recognizes Social determinants of health in poverty. When the cause of a disease is poorly understood, societies tend to mythologize the disease or use it as a metaphor or symbol of whatever that culture considers evil. For example, until the bacterial cause of tuberculosis was discovered in 1882, experts variously ascribed the disease to heredity, a sedentary lifestyle, depressed mood, and overindulgence in sex, rich title: Cause (medicine) text: Cause (medicine) Cause, also known as etiology () and aetiology, is the reason or origination of something. The word is derived from the Greek , "aitiologia", "giving a reason for" (, "aitia", "cause"; and , "-logia"). In medicine, the term refers to the causes of diseases or pathologies. Where no etiology can be ascertained, the disorder is said to be idiopathic. Traditional accounts of the causes of disease may point to the "evil eye". The Ancient Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro put forward early ideas about microorganisms in a 1st-century BC book titled "On Agriculture". Medieval thinking on the etiology title: Disease text: factors that cause or encourage diseases. Some diseases are more common in certain geographic areas, among people with certain genetic or socioeconomic characteristics, or at different times of the year. Epidemiology is considered a cornerstone methodology of public health research, and is highly regarded in evidence-based medicine for identifying risk factors for disease. In the study of communicable and non-communicable diseases, the work of epidemiologists ranges from outbreak investigation to study design, data collection and analysis including the development of statistical models to test hypotheses and the documentation of results for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Epidemiologists also study the interaction title: Disease text: disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, hereditary diseases (including both genetic diseases and non-genetic hereditary diseases), and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified in other ways, such as communicable versus non-communicable diseases. The deadliest diseases in humans are coronary artery disease (blood flow obstruction), followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections. The study of disease is called "pathology", which includes the study of "etiology", or cause. In many cases, terms such as "disease", "disorder", "morbidity", "sickness" and "illness" are used interchangeably. There are situations, however, when specific terms are considered preferable. In an infectious disease, the incubation period is