Syndemics and clinical science

The theory of syndemics has received increasing attention in clinical medicine since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the synergistic interactions of the disease with pre-existing political, structural, social and health conditions. In simple terms, syndemics are synergistically interactin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature medicine Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 1359 - 1362
Main Authors: Mendenhall, Emily, Kohrt, Brandon A., Logie, Carmen H., Tsai, Alexander C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.07.2022
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
692/499
706/689/19/2472
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cancer Research
Clinical medicine
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Epidemics
Infectious Diseases
Metabolic Diseases
Molecular Medicine
Morbidity
Neurosciences
Pandemics
Perspective
Scientists
Viral diseases
ISSN:1078-8956, 1546-170X, 1546-170X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The theory of syndemics has received increasing attention in clinical medicine since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the synergistic interactions of the disease with pre-existing political, structural, social and health conditions. In simple terms, syndemics are synergistically interacting epidemics that occur in a particular context with shared drivers. When policymakers ask why some communities have higher death rates from COVID-19 compared with other communities, those working from a syndemics framework argue that multiple factors synergistically work in tandem, and populations with the highest morbidity and mortality experience the greatest impact of these interactions. In this Perspective, we use specific case examples to illustrate these concepts. We discuss the emergence of syndemics, how epidemics interact, and what scientists, clinicians and policymakers can do with this information. This Perspective delivers an introduction to syndemic thinking, and provides insights into how epidemics interact and what scientists, clinicians and policymakers can do with this information.
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ISSN:1078-8956
1546-170X
1546-170X
DOI:10.1038/s41591-022-01888-y