The main foundation that leads to the belief that diseases are caused by bad odor is based on an epidemic known as Miasma. Miasma was a form of bad odor that originated from dead organic matter. The moving odor was believed to cause untreatable diseases; the affected anyone that came into contact with the dark odor (Miasma). Between the 18 th and the 19 th century, not very many people understood the concepts of disease (Bynum, 2008) . Especially the causes and how they spread. Therefore, an airborne and waterborne disease that can be spread by touch or the existence of a contaminated person. According to their levels of understanding the diseases could only be caused by a bad odor. The bad odor was the only concept that made sense to a good percentage of the population. The few individuals who understood the medical concepts did not have much interaction with most of the affected public limiting the spread of their knowledge and discoveries.
For the basic understanding of causes of the diseases, it is factual to conclude that the odor may have led to the spread of some disease or directly caused the diseases themselves. From a scientific perspective, bad odor is one of the basic outcomes that are expected when dead organic matter are broken down. Pathogens and other airborne disease causing microorganisms can spread through the bad odor and the contact with the stinking swampy waters. Therefore, directly contributing to spread of diseases. However, over the years there have been advanced research discoveries, that have widened the scope of disease causes and spread (Bynum, 2008) . Considering the emergent of diseases that could not be attributed to the bad odor exposure as their cause. The theory was discredited as the main cause of diseases. Diseases were divided into classes depending on their causes, mode of contamination and spread.
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References
Bynum, W. (2008). he history of medicine: A very short introduction (Vol. 191). London: Oxford University Press.
