Bernardino Ramazzini's De Morbis Artificum Diatriba on Workers' Health-the Birth of a New Discipline.

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a picture of the observations made over three hundred years ago by Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714) in light of current topical issues ranging from health problems related to work and lifestyle habits to the current burdensome COVID-19 pandemic. The main aspects of his work consist of descriptions of disorders linked to environmental risks, suggestions for measures for risk protection, and recommendations for healthy living. This paper focuses on Ramazzini's most relevant achievements by (1) analyzing the episodes that stimulated the composition of his main work and highlighting some observations on which current epidemiological and toxicological studies are based; (2) reviewing his work showing not only the systematic descriptions of work-related illnesses caused by occupational factors but also his sound etiological and physiopathological contributions to the field of occupational lung diseases, breast cancer, and environmental disorders; and (3) remarking on his main observations in the fields of risk prevention and health promotion, also in the light of some highly topical issues related to unhealthy lifestyle habits and the COVID-19 pandemic.