Theories of Disease

July 20, 2019 by Sagar Aryal

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Theories of Disease

There are four main types of diseases:

Theories of Disease: Then and Today

1. Supernatural Theory of Disease

2. The Theory of Humor

3. The Theory of Contagion

4. The Miasma Theory

5. Germ Theory of Disease

References

Theories of Disease

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Last Updated on: January 11, 2020 by Sagar Aryal

Theories of Disease

A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific
signs and symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury is
called a disease.

It is a particular abnormal, pathological condition that affects part or all of an organism. It is often
construed as a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs.

Theories of Disease
There are four main types of diseases:

Pathogenic disease

Deficiency disease

Hereditary disease

Physiological disease

In addition to that, diseases may be communicable or non-communicable.

Theories of Disease: Then and Today

For long, man was groping in darkness about the causation of disease.

Several theories were advanced from time to time to explain disease causation such as the supernatural
theory of disease, the theory of humors by Greeks and Indians, the theory of contagion, the miasmatic
theory which attributed disease to noxious air and vapours, the theory of spontaneous generation, etc.

The breakthrough came in 1860, when the French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
demonstrated the presence of bacteria in air. He disproved the theory of “spontaneous generation”.

In 1873, Pasteur advanced the “germ theory of disease”.

In 1877, Robert Koch (1843-1910) showed that anthrax was caused by a bacteria.

The discoveries of Pasteur and Koch confirmed the germ theory of disease. It was the golden age of
bacteriology.

Microbe after microbe was discovered in quick succession gonococcus in 1847; typhoid bacillus,
pneumococcus in 1880; tubercle bacillus in 1882; cholera vibrio in 1883; diphtheria bacillus in 1884, and
so on.

These discoveries and a host of others at the turn of the century marked a turning point in our
aetiological concepts.
All attention was focused on microbes and their role in disease causation.

The germ theory of disease came to the forefront, supplanting the earlier theories of disease causation.

Medicine finally shed the rags of dogma and superstition and put on the robes of scientific knowledge.

1. Supernatural Theory of Disease

In the early past, the disease was thought mainly due to either the curse of god or due to the evil force
of the demons.

Accordingly, people used to please the gods by prayers and offerings or used to resort to witchcraft to
tame the devils.

2. The Theory of Humor

According to this theory, the human body contains blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. These are
the things that make up its constitution and cause its pains and health.

Health is primarily that state in which these constituent substances are in the correct proportion to each
other, both in strength and quantity, and are well mixed.

Pain occurs when one of the substances presents either a deficiency or an excess, or is separated in the
body and not mixed with others.

3. The Theory of Contagion

Galen had written of the possibility of seeds of disease, a view which suggested a belief in the
contagious nature of some diseases.

Galen’s ‘seeds’ were intended to explain why some people contracted a particular disease while others
escaped and he located them within the body.

4. The Miasma Theory

The miasma theory was the predominant theory of disease transmission before the germ theory took
hold towards the end of the 19th century, and it is no longer accepted as a scientific theory of disease.

It held that diseases such as cholera, chlamydia infection, or the Black Death were caused by a miasma,
a noxious form of “bad air” emanating from rotting organic matter.

Miasma was considered to be a poisonous vapor or mist filled with particles from decomposed matter
(miasmata) that was identifiable by its foul smell.

The theory posited that diseases were the product of environmental factors such as contaminated
water, foul air, and poor hygienic conditions.

Such infections, according to the theory, were not passed between individuals but would affect those
within a locale that gave rise to such vapors.

5. Germ Theory of Disease

The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases.

It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or “germs” can lead to disease.

These small organisms, too small to see without magnification, invade humans, other animals, and other
living hosts.

Their growth and reproduction within their hosts can cause disease.

Even when a pathogen is the principal cause of a disease, environmental and hereditary factors often
influence the severity of the disease, and whether a potential host individual becomes infected when
exposed to the pathogen.

References

http://infectiousdiseases.edwardworthlibrary.ie/theory-of-contagion/

Feezer L. W. (1921). THEORIES CONCERNING THE CAUSATION OF DISEASE. American journal of public
health (New York, N.Y. : 1912), 11(10), 908–912. doi:10.2105/ajph.11.10.908

Park, K. (n.d.). Park’s textbook of preventive and social medicine.

Gordis, L. (2014). Epidemiology (Fifth edition.). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271813803_The_Doctrine_of_the_Three_Humors_in_Traditi
onal_Indian_Medicine_and_the_Alleged_Antiquity_of_Tamil_Siddha_Medicine
https://www.nlpworld.co.uk/meta_health/meta-medicine-summary-biological-law/

https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/965

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2862709?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.slideshare.net/singh_br1762/theories-of-disease-causation

Theories of Disease