Germ Theory vs. Terrain Theory
I recently debunked a few comments in my stories and many of them were misinformed viewpoints that are centered around terrain theory. Let’s go over what each of these theories are, where they came from, and what we can take from each.
🦠Germ Theory (scientifically proven correct): pathogens lead to disease by invading living hosts.
Germ theory demonstrates that infectious disease is a result of viruses, bacteria, or fungi entering an organism and replicating.
🤒Terrain theory (scientifically disproven): pathogens, and the resulting disease, originate(s) in unhealthy organisms.
Terrain theory assumes that healthy living is sufficient to prevent disease and ignores that healthy organisms can be infected with pathogens and succumb to disease.
Germ theory denialism ⬆️ is dangerous as it puts communities of people in a position to deny public health guidance about infectious disease. During the pandemic it has resulted in large groups of people who believe that people who have taken care of their bodies will be fine. While, of course, age and comorbidity correlate with disease severity, there are plenty of examples of young, “healthy” individuals who were hospitalized or who died.
➡️⬅️ Is there a middle ground?
Germ theory allows us to recognize that there are aspects of our health that are beyond our control (even if we are “healthy”) and that treating and/or preventing infection is vital.
Terrain theory, while scientifically incorrect, emphasizes healthy living, which while not sufficient for eliminating disease, is an important aspect of it.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – there is a place for BOTH healthy living AND drugs/treatments.