Surveillance Measures in Epidemiology

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Epidemiology has a variety of sub-disciplines. Each of these sub-disciplines has different measures they use to determine the severity or communicability of various diseases. The two classic measures are incidence and prevalence. However, there are other measures of disease measurement, which can include:

Morbidity

Incidence

Cumulative Incidence

Incidence Density

Incidence Rate

Prevalence

Period Prevalence

Point Prevalence

Mortality

Case Fatality Rate

Proportionate Mortality Rate

Age Specific Death Rate

Age-Adjusted Rate

Direct Age Adjustment

Indirect Age Adjustment

Years of Potential Life Lost

Outbreak Specific Calculations

R0 (R naught or Reproductive Ratio)

Attack Rate (usually used for foodborne pathogens)

Secondary Attack Rate (used for any communicable disease to describe the percentage of secondary cases)

Discussion:

In this discussion, you will select top 3 diseases in the U.S. and explain each on of them with minimum of 500 words each. You will need to search the Morbidity and Mortality Week Report, Emerging Infectious Disease Journal, Preventing Chronic Diseases Journal.

Sample Solution

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2020), the top three diseases in the United States include coronary artery disease, stroke, and cancer. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a condition that involves narrowing of arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle due to accumulation of plaque deposits on their walls; this can eventually lead to myocardial infarctions or “heart attacks” if left untreated. Stroke occurs when there is interruption in blood supply to areas of brain either due blocked vessels or aneurysms; these lack oxygenated blood resulting in tissue damage which can cause paralysis and other neurological deficits.

Finally, cancer refers to a group of over one hundred different diseases all characterized by uncontrolled growths called tumors – both benign and malignant – which can spread throughout the body given enough time. Precisely how these occur remain unknown, though environmental factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption or air pollution have been linked with increased risk for certain types like lung cancer for example (Liu et al., 2020). Additionally, poor dietary habits are thought to play a crucial role across various forms including colorectal carcinoma too with processed foods being particularly associated with heightened occurrence rates amongst adult population studied(Miller & Wolin 2020).

In conclusion then whilst coronary artery disease, stroke and cancer remain three most common causes morbidity and mortality amongst U.S residents – much more research is required to be done to understand exactly why they occur so frequently within our societies today.

 

As humans, we continuously seek out things that can produce pleasurable feelings. One of the few ways to attain this feeling of euphoria or pleasure is by consumption of chemical substances. However, continuous consumption of these substances can lead to development of dependence towards them and this is more commonly known as addiction. Currently, the cost of social and economic impacts due to drugs of abuse addiction sums up to more than $740 billion annually (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2017). Despite this, the clear neurophysiological mechanisms underlying development and progression of addiction is still unknown.

Addiction can be defined as repeated self-administration of alcohol or other drugs (AOD’s) despite knowledge of adverse medical and social consequences and attempts to abstain from AOD use (Robert & Koob, 1997). Initial intake of drug may be due influenced by genetic, psychosocial or environmental factors however, subsequent doses is most probably caused by action on drug on the brain to induce the drug-seeking behaviour. Addiction is comprised of three stages which are ‘binge/intoxication’, ‘withdrawal/negative affect’, and ‘preoccupation/anticipation’ as seen in Figure 1 (Koob &Volkow, 2010).

Figure 1. The Three stages of addiction and brain areas each stage associates with (Herman & Roberto, 2015)

‘Binge/intoxication’ refers to the consistent intake of drug after initial dose which may cause decrease in dopamine release after each intake due to sensitization. This will then lead to ‘withdrawal/negative affect’ stage where absence of drug will cause a decrease in dopamine causing anxious and restless feelings resulting in the craving or ‘preoccupation/anticipation’ stage. Two major factors known to modulate these behavioural changes are reinforcement where a stimulus increases the chance of response and neuroadaptation, the process by which neuronal structures change in response to drug exposure. Modulation of these factors motivates initial response to a drug and formation of long-term craving however, relapse is thought to be caused by permanent neuroadaptations that will cause discomfort during withdrawal (Robert & Koob, 1997)

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