Medical Geology as a New Field of Study in Medical Sociology

Abstract

Geography and the geological structure of a region are among the most important factors that determine inhabitants’ health and disease. From this aspect, geological structure of a country also shapes the basic needs of people such as water, food, respiration, and shelter. Geological factors like rocks, elements, mines, minerals contact people directly or indirectly, so health and disease conditions may vary according to different geographical regions. Medical geology, as a branch of science, examines positive or negative effects of the geological environment on the health of people, animals, and plants. It tries to determine the interaction between the geographical factors on health and disease. Moreover, the air surrounding us, the water we drink, the soil we step on, the food we eat, and even the wood, brick, and metal-like things around us greatly affect our health. Medical geology provides “vital” knowledge about the etiology of diseases by examining the factors in the living area. Therefore, interdisciplinary studies should be carried out between medical geology and other related disciplines to solve the problems associated with geology that negatively affect human health. The limited number of research, which have been started to be carried out on the axis of geology in Turkey for about fifteen years and dealing with the relationship between geological structure and health and disease, are not sufficient in terms of the accumulation of medical geology literature. In this study, the subject of medical geology, which has not been studied sufficiently in the field of medical sociology in Turkey, will be discussed and it will be tried to contribute to the literature by drawing attention to the subject of medical geology.