A closer look at the historical progress and various applications of medical geology in Italy

Abstract

Medical geology is defined as the science that deals with the relationship between geology and health in humans, animals, and plants (Skinner and Berger, 2003; Selinus et al., 2005, 2010; Florinsky 2010; Centeno et al., 2016). While medical geology can be recognized as having distinct links to geomedicine, an emerging field that focuses on geographic location and environment into account when studying individual and public health, and should be distinguished from medical geography, which has slightly different meaning and application. Medical geography is concerned solely with the geographic distribution of disease without focusing on the underlying geological basis of health factors; it examines the causal associations between specific diseases and physical and social environments (Foster, 2002). Medical geology, a complex and emerging field, requires a multidisciplinary approach using a wide variety of specialists ranging from geologists, health specialists, physicians, veterinarians, and biologists.