Epidemiology is the study of the spread of diseases within and between human populations. Similar to family tree studies, epidemiological studies involve finding which individuals show the symptoms of a disease and which do not. However, epidemiological studies differ from family tree studies in that epidemiologists generally study a greater number of people at one time. In fact, many epidemiological studies deal with the populations of entire countries, or even continents. In the case of HD epidemiology, researchers might, for example, dig through a country’s health statistics and find out how many individuals have been diagnosed with HD. These data can then be combined with other records—or perhaps with personal interviews if the individuals are willing—in order to reveal aggregate trends about HD in populations. For instance, one epidemiological study showed that five people per million get HD in Finland, as opposed to between 30 and 70 people per million in most other Western countries. Another study showed that the prevalence of HD among African Americans in South Carolina is only 9.7 per million, a strikingly low prevalence, and five times lower than the prevalence for Caucasians in the same area. These are just a few examples of the interesting findings of HD epidemiology. Since they tell us information about HD in populations throughout the world, epidemiological studies will be a vital piece in the HD research puzzle for many years to come.
Last Modified: 1-28-04
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