Roll the Dice

In the 2014 annual meeting of the Korean Society of Mathematical Biology, the managing editor proposed an interesting idea: viewing problematic gambling as a contagious disease [1]. One article was then submitted and enlisted in the June issue of this journal [2]. As part of our efforts to imprint a unique feature to the readers of biomedical journals by publishing at least one mathematical model paper, we have included models for HIV, malaria, Vibrio vulnificus infection, pandemic influenza, nosocomial outbreaks, and food-and-mouth disease outbreaks [3e9]. Problem gambling (i.e., ludomania) is a disorder characterized by an urge to continuously gamble despite harmful negative consequences or despite a desire to stop; it is associated with social and family costs. Problem gambling and wider gambling-related harms constitute a significant health and social issue [10]. Shaffer and Korn [11] used a classic public health model for communicable disease, which examines the interaction between host, agent, environment, and vector. Furthermore, some sociologists have shown that a significant predictor of ludomania is peer pressure in the sense that its occurrence depends on the number of individuals involved; the number of individuals who may be involved; and the frequency, duration, priority, and intensity of association with peers [12,13]. Therefore, ludomania may be considered a contagious disease. Viewing gambling as a communicable disease, Lee and Do [1,2] recently used a mathematical modeling approach to study the dynamics of problem gambling. In the current issue of Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives, the optimal modeling approach to study the dynamics of problem gambling is included [14]. The authors assert that well-analyzed scientific strategies are necessary to control the gratuitous growth of gambling. They aim to analyze mathematically the adequacy of the health of society by immediately treating