This document discusses key concepts related to disease, including: 1. Disease is defined as a condition that impairs the body's health or disrupts its normal functions. It can be seen as a maladjustment to the environment. 2. Disease causation is multifactorial, involving agents, hosts, and environmental factors in an interconnected web. While germ theory revolutionized thinking, epidemiologists now recognize multiple interacting causes. 3. Risk factors are attributes or exposures associated with increased likelihood of disease and can sometimes be modified through intervention to reduce disease occurrence. A risk factor may be causative or only predictive. Disease risk depends on interactions between agent, host, and environmental factors.