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In epidemiology, a risk factor or determinant is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection. [ 1 ] : 38 Due to a lack of harmonization across disciplines, determinant , in its more widely accepted scientific meaning , is often used as a synonym.
The use of personal protective equipment may substantially reduce the risk of adverse health effects from contact with hazardous materials. [2] Long-term exposure to chemical hazards such as silica dust, engine exhausts, tobacco smoke, and lead (among others) have been shown to increase risk of heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. [3]
Cell damage (also known as cell injury) is a variety of changes of stress that a cell suffers due to external as well as internal environmental changes. Amongst other causes, this can be due to physical, chemical, infectious, biological, nutritional or immunological factors.
Obesity increases a person's risk of developing various metabolic diseases, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer disease, depression, and certain types of cancer. [36] Depending on the degree of obesity and the presence of comorbid disorders, obesity is associated with an estimated 2–20 year shorter life expectancy.
The risk of dangerous irregularities of the heart beat is increased. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Hypercapnia also occurs when the breathing gas is contaminated with carbon dioxide, or respiratory gas exchange cannot keep up with the metabolic production of carbon dioxide, which can occur when gas density limits ventilation at high ambient pressures.
In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people who have been diagnosed with a certain disease and end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate , the CFR does not take into account the time period between disease onset and death.
However, in some diseases, like arthritis, the body's defense system the immune system triggers an inflammatory response when there are no foreign invaders to fight off. In these diseases, called autoimmune diseases, the body's normally protective immune system causes damage to its own tissues.
Pathogenicity is the potential disease-causing capacity of pathogens, involving a combination of infectivity (pathogen's ability to infect hosts) and virulence (severity of host disease). Koch's postulates are used to establish causal relationships between microbial pathogens and diseases.