Iatrogen, iatrogenic causes

Iatrogen is an adjective referring to any action performed with the purpose of treating, preventing or diagnosing.

In common parlance, however, the iatrogenic attribute is reserved for pathologies, complications, side effects and damages arising directly or indirectly due to the operations of the treating person, understood as a person (doctor, pharmacist, psychologist, nurse, physiotherapist, etc.) or therapeutic remedy (treatments, drugs, supplements, homeopathic remedies, etc.). Iatrogenesis, in fact, derives from the Greek iatròs (doctor) e gennan (generate).

The iatrogenic damage commonly associated with the side effects of a drug, or its improper administration, can also be linked to interactions with other drugs or with particular supplements.

The undesirable effects that the medical intervention causes to the patient are generally involuntary, or in any case inevitable. For example, a therapy can be undertaken in the awareness that the potential benefits will outweigh the negative effects of the iatrogenic type, a striking example is given by anticancer chemotherapy.