title: Towards a unified theory of health-disease: II. Holopathogenesis.
abstract: This article presents a systematic framework for modeling several classes of illness-sickness-disease named as Holopathogenesis. Holopathogenesis is defined as processes of over-determination of diseases and related conditions taken as a whole, comprising selected facets of the complex object Health. First, a conceptual background of Holopathogenesis is presented as a series of significant interfaces (biomolecular-immunological, physiopathological-clinical, epidemiological-ecosocial). Second, propositions derived from Holopathogenesis are introduced in order to allow drawing the disease-illness-sickness complex as a hierarchical network of networks. Third, a formalization of intra- and inter-level correspondences, over-determination processes, effects and links of Holopathogenesis models is proposed. Finally, the Holopathogenesis frame is evaluated as a comprehensive theoretical pathology taken as a preliminary step towards a unified theory of health-disease.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brasil.
authors.forename: Naomar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Almeida Filho
mesh_terms: D000883:Anthropology; D004194:Disease; D006262:Health; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical