Examples of pathogenesis include
microbial infection,
inflammation,
malignancy and
tissue breakdown. For example, bacterial pathogenesis is the process by which bacteria cause infectious illness. Most diseases are caused by multiple processes. For example, certain
cancers arise from dysfunction of the
immune system (
skin tumors and
lymphoma after a
renal transplant, which requires
immunosuppression),
Streptococcus pneumoniae is spread through contact with respiratory
secretions, such as
saliva,
mucus, or
cough droplets from an infected person and colonizes the upper respiratory tract and begins to multiply. The pathogenic mechanisms of a disease (or condition) are set in motion by the underlying causes, which if controlled would allow the disease to be
prevented. Often, a potential cause is identified by
epidemiological observations before a
pathological link can be drawn between the cause and the disease. The pathological perspective can be directly integrated into an epidemiological approach in the
interdisciplinary field of
molecular pathological epidemiology. Molecular pathological epidemiology can help to assess pathogenesis and causality by means of linking a potential risk factor to molecular pathologic signatures of a disease. Thus, the
molecular pathological epidemiology paradigm can advance the area of
causal inference. If the pathogenesis of a condition is not known, it is considered to be an
idiopathic disease. == See also ==