Property

A property defines a relationship between a subject (the type it's used on) and an object (the value). Health Schema defines custom properties that extend schema.org's vocabulary to better describe medical mechanisms, evidence, and health content that standard properties cannot adequately represent.

Canonical URL: https://healthschema.org/Property

Namespace: hs:

Parent Type: schema:Intangible

Health Schema Properties

The following custom properties are defined by Health Schema. Each property page documents its expected types, usage guidance, and the Health Schema types where it applies.

Property	Expected Type	Description
endogenousCapacity	Text	Description of a tissue's ability (or inability) to produce or obtain a requirement itself
evidenceSource	Text, URL, or CreativeWork	Reference to evidence supporting a claim, mechanism, or recommendation
insufficientAlone	Text	Explanation of why this ingredient category cannot achieve results without complementary categories
limitations	Text	Important caveats, gaps in evidence, or boundaries of a claim or model
mechanism	Text	The biological, chemical, or physical process by which something produces its effect
modifiable	Boolean or Text	Whether a contributing factor can be changed through intervention
worksWellWith	FunctionalIngredientCategory	Other ingredient categories that complement this one for optimal results

Causal Pathway Properties

Properties for modelling multi-step mechanistic causation.

Property	Expected Type	Description
initialCause	BiologicalProcess, MedicalEntity	The starting trigger or event that initiates a causal pathway
finalOutcome	BiologicalProcess, MedicalCondition	The end result or ultimate effect produced by a causal pathway

Temporal Progression Properties

Properties for describing states and experiences at points in time.

Property	Expected Type	Description
physiologicalState	Text	The body's biological state at a particular timepoint—what is happening internally
patientExperience	Text	What a patient observes, feels, or notices at a particular timepoint

Cross-Type Properties

Properties used across multiple Health Schema types.

Property	Expected Type	Description
clinicalImplication	Text	The practical takeaway or actionable conclusion for clinical practice

Biological Relationship Properties

Properties expressing mechanistic relationships between biological entities, processes, and substances.

Property	Expected Type	Description
stimulates	BiologicalProcess, ChemicalSubstance, AnatomicalStructure	Indicates that the subject activates, enhances, or upregulates the object
stimulatedBy	BiologicalProcess, ChemicalSubstance, AnatomicalStructure	Inverse of stimulates; indicates what activates or enhances the subject
inhibits	BiologicalProcess, ChemicalSubstance, AnatomicalStructure	Indicates that the subject suppresses, blocks, or downregulates the object
inhibitedBy	BiologicalProcess, ChemicalSubstance, AnatomicalStructure	Inverse of inhibits; indicates what suppresses or blocks the subject
produces	ChemicalSubstance, Protein	Indicates that the subject synthesises or generates the object
producedBy	AnatomicalStructure, BiologicalProcess	Inverse of produces; indicates what synthesises or generates the subject

Properties Inherited from Schema.org

Health Schema types also use standard schema.org properties extensively. Common inherited properties include:

name — The name of the item
description — A description of the item
url — URL of the item
sameAs — URL of a reference page (e.g., Wikidata entity)
identifier — Any identifier for the item

See schema.org/Thing for the complete list of properties available on all types.

Understanding Property Definitions

Domain and Range

Each property has:

Domain (domainIncludes) — The types where this property can be used
Range (rangeIncludes) — The types of values the property accepts

Example Property Definition

Here's how Health Schema properties are formally defined in JSON-LD:

JSON-LD

{
  "@context": {
    "@vocab": "https://schema.org/",
    "hs": "https://healthschema.org/",
    "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
    "rdf": "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
  },
  "@id": "hs:mechanism",
  "@type": "rdf:Property",
  "rdfs:label": "mechanism",
  "rdfs:comment": "The biological, chemical, or physical process by which something produces its effect.",
  "schema:domainIncludes": [
    {"@id": "hs:CausalStep"},
    {"@id": "hs:ContributingFactor"}
  ],
  "schema:rangeIncludes": {
    "@id": "schema:Text"
  }
}

Using Health Schema Properties

In JSON-LD Context

To use Health Schema properties, include them in your JSON-LD context:

JSON-LD

{
  "@context": [
    "https://schema.org",
    {
      "hs": "https://healthschema.org/",
      "mechanism": "hs:mechanism",
      "evidenceSource": "hs:evidenceSource",
      "limitations": "hs:limitations"
    }
  ],
  "@type": "hs:CausalStep",
  "stepNumber": 1,
  "mechanism": "Alpha granule degranulation releases stored growth factors",
  "evidenceSource": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/example"
}

Using the Full Context File

Alternatively, reference the Health Schema context file directly:

JSON-LD

{
  "@context": [
    "https://schema.org",
    "https://healthschema.org/context.jsonld"
  ],
  "@type": "CausalStep",
  "mechanism": "...",
  "evidenceSource": "..."
}

Related Resources

Health Schema Types — Browse all Health Schema types
context.jsonld — The JSON-LD context file for Health Schema
Changelog — Version history and recent changes
schema.org/Property — Schema.org's Property type documentation

Validation Note

Schema.org Validators

Standard schema.org validators will not recognise Health Schema custom properties. This is expected behaviour.

Health Schema properties are designed for:

Enhanced understanding by large language models
Knowledge graph enrichment
Precise semantic representation of medical mechanisms and evidence

Search engines will process standard schema.org properties normally and ignore custom extensions they don't understand.