Health in the Ancient World

Egyptians still believed in and called out to the gods for guidance.

The Pharaoh would have many specialists and many times they were priests, who were the only ones that could read the books of medicine from the god Thoth

Still, magicians at times too were considered healers.

Demons were believed to cause all types of harm.

Achievements and Contributions included:

-identification of certain diseases

-prescriptions used to aid patients, written on papyrus

-embalming (mummification)

-medical practices used today

Eye of Horus is the hieroglyph which evolved in the current Rx sign.

Much of Healthcare was based on superstitious beliefs and effects of plants, herbs, and extracts in ancient times.

What signs of this origin can we see today at home or at hospitals?

The jews did not have doctors or healers, doing so they avoided the medical practice.

What the Jewish contributed to was sanitation regulations, focusing on food, cleanliness and quarantine.

Important Figure - Moses

-Pre-Hippocratic medical thought

-studied hygiene and medicine at temple in Egypt

-banned quackery

-Day of Rest

Greeks where the first to study why the diseases would come about. Their research helped eliminate the influence of superstitions, while stating that many diseases were caused due to the lack of sanitation.

Important Figure - Hippocrates

-Father of Medicine

-research based on only observations

-detailed logging of signs/symptoms of diseases

-wrote the standard of ethics which is the basis for today's medical ethics

Important Symbol - Aesculapius

-Represented by the staff with serpents

-His temples became the first true clinics and hospitals

Romans built on the foundation of the Greek after they had conquered the lands, in the areas of sanitation and public services.

Romans brought the technology of aqueducts and sewers, which lead to public baths

Organized a medical system for public health, also established army medicine (field medics)

Doctor houses become hospitals too

Improved hygiene with flood control and more solid constructions

Take 10 minutes with a partner and answer questions 1-7 using complete sentences.

Dark Ages and Key Term Activity....stay tuned!

Medical care was more of providing comfort, for God was the one that would decide life or death.

Epidemics

-Bubonic Plague

-Smallpox, different from chicken poxs

-Diphtheria

-Syphilis

-Measles

-Typhoid Fever

-Tuberculosis

Crusaders aided in the spread epidemics with their campaigns

Establishment of Cities, different from villages and towns

Sanitation division established

Quarantine Laws passed

Establishment of Schools or Universities for Medical Research

Dissections became a practice of research

Begin publishing books of research findings