ABSTRACT
Much of this book and certainly the majority of its nonclinical chapters is concerned with the considerable body of knowledge relating to the detailed pathophysiology of
sarcoidosis. For most bioscientists, clinical or otherwise, this is
a natural focus; their aim, even if it is at times oblique, is to
reach an understanding of the mechanisms of the disease
sufficient to permit its satisfactory treatment. In some
contrast, the epidemiological approach is concerned primarily
with etiology, an understanding of the cause(s) of the disease
that will allow it ultimately to be prevented. The distinction is
not absolute considerations of cause and mechanism frequently accompany each other but the approaches are sufficiently different that epidemiologists and basic scientists
frequently misunderstand each other.
