The Historical Tour Of Health And Disease

The historical tour of health and disease

Introduction

Throughout the centuries, the concept of health has suffered a series of transformations regarding its understanding, going from biological determinants to social, cultural and psychological representations of individuals. This conceptualization in the twentieth century already maintained comprehensive and psychosocial notions, increasingly approaching the definition that is currently presented.

Developing

Today, health concept has evolved as a resource for life and not as a goal of life. Therefore, health can be thought of as a social construct that allows the development of different care and surveillance systems in individuals.

For your best understanding, the evolution of the concept and practices in health will be analyzed, in relation to your contributions:

– Ancient age, which extends from the appearance of writing (approximately in the year 4000 before Christ) until the 5th century.

Since ancient times, the human being has used his knowledge to maintain his health. In this age, it is characterized by using it by establishing the existence of people with characteristics to establish it, based on a magical – religious character.

The developments of his knowledge were based on pre -existing aspects of Greek and Roman medicine.

In primitive cultures there were so -called healers who through potions or concoctions were the ones who treated health.

In this era, questions regarding the cause of this imbalance in health and disease arise, not associating it with a supernatural deity or structure.

Hippocrates considered the disease as a manifestation of the life of the organism, a result of a change in its material substrate, and not for an expression of malignancy, establishing a natural cause for each disease and that without it it cannot take place.

From the East, there were also studies and developments regarding the development of health and disease, pointing out causal aspects such as weather, life and diet, hygiene and material factors related to the environment of man, aspects that until today They are valid for this concept.

Middle Ages, which has its development between the 5th and 15th century: it begins with the disintegration of the Roman Empire of the West in the 5th century, and ends with the taking of the city of Constantinople in the year 1453.

conclusion

In the Middle Ages in the West, religious influence is used again, so the knowledge contemplated in the previous era was omitted and even destroyed, thus bringing consequences for knowledge displaced by supernatural explanations of the disease. The theoretical domain was contemplated by the Catholic Church, making the mythical belief that the cause of diseases were explained or associated with the wrath of God or actions for demons prevail.

Meanwhile, in the Arab world the dissection of corpses and experiments were practiced, supporting materialistic approaches for the explanation of health and disease, delivering important knowledge regarding its development.