Public Health

• Ancient Egyptian civilization revealed the establishment of rudimentary baths and toilets in dwelling places
• Shamans in Ancient Egypt evolved to develop surgical skills and invent devices such as surgical instruments
• Ancient Egyptians believed that their deities and spirits played a role in the causation of illness
• Hippocrates noted the effect of food, occupation, and climate causing disease
• Ancient Greeks slowly digressed from the perspective of the supernatural as the cause of illness and diseases into a more rational or logical paradigm
• Prehistoric health practices

  • Use of medicinal herbs
  • Use of amulets, charms, or spells
  • Conduct of ceremonies
  • Giving advice for maintaining an illness-free life
• Hippocrates, known as the "Father of Medicine," contributed to the professionalization of medicine, divorcing it from religious rituals and the supernatural
• Greek concept of FOUR HUMORS

  • Phlegm
  • Blood
  • Yellow bile
  • Black bile
• Roman doctors learned much about health and medic
• Ancient Egyptians are famous for their process of "mummification" as a form of taking care of their dead
• Prehistoric health practices


  • Ingestion of clay or earth
  • Trepanning
• Ancient Egyptians developed a form of writing to keep records of how certain illnesses should be treated or cured
• Ancient Egyptians gave high regard for personal cleanliness, but the rationale was more religious than medical
• Hippocrates established the Hippocratic School of Medicine and was the first to use terms such as acute, chronic, endemic, epidemic, paroxysms, exacerbation
• Greek culture cultivated the desire for knowledge, giving birth to prominent Greek Philosophers such as Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras, and Hippocrates
• Roman Civilization focused more on preventing diseases than curing them
• Hippocrates proposed that diseases develop because of our environment and not because of some form of divine act
• Romans believed that community sanitation contributes to maintaining health and preventing spread of diseases
• Roman doctors preferred studying living persons over dissecting corpses; animals were used instead of humans
• Greek concept of FOUR HUMORS

  • Phlegm
  • Blood
  • Yellow bile
  • Black bile
• Early Christian monks and philosophers preserved Roman and Greek ideologies through preservation efforts within monasteries
• More hospices were built in response to the plague, some specialized for leprosy patients
• The Black Plague, also known as Bubonic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis transmitted through flea bites
• Medical schools began to develop in Europe and Middle East Asia during the Medieval Period
• The poem Regimen sanitates Salernitanum emphasized personal hygiene, diet, exercise, and temperance as methods to maintain health and well-being, serving as the first "health guide" for the masses
• Terms related to health

  • Acute
  • Chronic
  • Endemic
  • Epidemic
  • Paroxysms
  • Exacerbation
• Galen, a Greek physician who migrated to Rome, dissected monkeys and his works became a foundation for the study of Human Anatomy
• Roman doctors learned about health and medicine through wounded warriors or gladiators from conquests or games
• The method of separating lepers became a forerunner of the method of "quarantine"
• Salerno Medical School, known as "Schola Medica Salernitana," was the world's first medical school combining Greco-Roman and Arab-Jewish perspectives
• Early Christian concept of sin and illness being a consequence of sin, requiring amends with God for health restoration
• Romans concept of promoting community hygiene

  • Building of public baths
  • Building of hospitals
• Signs and symptoms of Bubonic plague include swollen lymph glands, gangrene, high fever, hematemesis, aching limbs, and pain