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In Search of a Germ Theory Equivalent for Chronic Disease

Overview of attention for article published in Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy, May 2012
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (93rd percentile)

Mentioned by

news
5 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
7 X users
facebook
2 Facebook pages
googleplus
1 Google+ user
reddit
1 Redditor

Readers on

mendeley
169 Mendeley
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Article details
Title
In Search of a Germ Theory Equivalent for Chronic Disease
Published in
Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy, May 2012
DOI 10.5888/pcd9.110301
Pubmed ID
Authors
Abstract

The fight against infectious disease advanced dramatically with the consolidation of the germ theory in the 19th century. This focus on a predominant cause of infections (ie, microbial pathogens) ultimately led to medical and public health advances (eg, immunization, pasteurization, antibiotics). However, the resulting declines in infections in the 20th century were matched by a rise in chronic, noncommunicable diseases, for which there is no single underlying etiology. The discovery of a form of low-grade systemic and chronic inflammation ("metaflammation"), linked to inducers (broadly termed "anthropogens") associated with modern man-made environments and lifestyles, suggests an underlying basis for chronic disease that could provide a 21st-century equivalent of the germ theory.

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Timeline Attention over time Attention Score history
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X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 7 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 169 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Geographical breakdown
Country Count As %
United Kingdom 2 1%
South Africa 1 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Unknown 165 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status
Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 40 24%
Student > Ph. D. Student 20 12%
Student > Bachelor 19 11%
Researcher 18 11%
Student > Postgraduate 13 8%
Other 32 19%
Unknown 27 16%
Readers by discipline
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 54 32%
Nursing and Health Professions 28 17%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 16 9%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 9 5%
Social Sciences 8 5%
Other 23 14%
Unknown 31 18%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 57. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 December 2020.
All research outputs
#934,238
of 33,928,890 outputs
Outputs from Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy
#221
of 2,168 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#4,104
of 210,994 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice and Policy
#2
of 32 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 33,928,890 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,168 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 35.1. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 210,994 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 32 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.