Essay on The Ever Changing Concept of Health

Your GP can assess whether you have incontinence, decide which type of incontinence you have, give general advice on controlling symptoms of incontinence, provide information on pelvic floor exercises and bladder retraining, and give treatment for incontinence with prescribed medicines. If lifestyle changes and treatments don't solve the problem, your GP can refer you to a continence adviser or specialist.

There are a lot of different definitions of health and ill health all of which are socially constructed; meaning that social issues usually influence a new theory or alter an old definition of health. In this section I will be analysing different definitions of health and ill health.

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

People were sick, tired, and in much pain all their lives(History of Medicine). Doctors thought that the heart got blood from food and water, so they would eat more so their bodies would absorb it(History of Medicine). Although many people were not healed, medicine was based on theories so hardly anyone was healed. Life before the 1500s was hard, but during the 1500s they had a better understanding of the body(Blakstad). Wise Women and doctors would try to invent more complex medicines, but they still had no effects. Instead they used herbs and bark as painkillers(Blakstad). They also had humoralism, which was a theory that said health came from four body liquids. They had four humors: black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. It was believed that if these were not balanced in the patients body, it caused sickness. Four elements, which were water, fire, earth and air, caused the humors(Blakstad). Hippocrates discovered the humors. Since the body was not easily understood, mental and physical illnesses/treatments were combined. According to Nancy Siraisi, an American historian of medicine and author, the most common age for death was childhood. Obviously people didn't live long. One out of five died before the age of one. One out of two died before ten. Housing, diet, wars and plagues all played into early modern Europe's health

The definition of health is fluid, ever changing and carries different meanings across individuals, societies and cultures. Although it is difficult

Health is dynamic and determined by the determinants of health that have factors that can both benefit and hinder our overall health (Liamputtong, Fanany, & Verrinder, 2012, p. 9). The primary health care (PHC) principles accessibility, inter-sectorial collaboration, appropriate technology, emphasis on health promotion and public participation helps all individuals at different social standings based on income levels and geographical location determined by the social determinants of health to access PHC and make an equitable health care system (McMurray & Clendon, 2011, pp. 36-44; Liamputtong, Fanany, & Verrinder, 2012, pp. 13-14).

Before logical thought was regularly applied to functions of the human body, people made sense of daily misfortunes by attributing them to the moods and wills of the gods. In the minds of the Greek, afflictions were the result of disobedience and to live in good health was a blessing that only divine intervention could provide (History of Medicine 1). Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing, was often the one called upon in times of need. Asclepian temples were constructed in Greece and in the surrounding areas, and these sites of worship also became the centers of healing; Ill Grecians undertook lengthy pilgrimages to the temples in hopes that the God’s supposed restorative powers could ameliorate their tribulations (Greek Medicine 1). An orator at that time, Aeschines reported his encounter with godly healing by praising Asclepius: “No longer counting upon mortal skill, I placed all my hope in divinity. I came, Asclepius, into your sacred wood and I was cured in three of a wound I had in my head for a year” (Palatine Anthology 13). When cures were not left up to the divine, the rituals to rid a body of disease were primitive and mainly consisted of attempts to expel demons (Longrigg 14-16). Although the idea that sickness and religion are intertwined is

“Don’t treat the disease, treat the patient” [9]. The concept of health has seemed to become complex in definition over the centuries as science improves. “Health is a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.”-World Health Definition of Health (1948) [9]

Health care has been inclined by several significant events that have occurred throughout history. Change is the primary focus on what has shaped health care and continues to by pain of improvement, and to focus on the importance of our population and their needs. Though there are several influences politics, finance, culture, technology, health trends, and religions they all play a major contribution towards shaping the healthcare field. (Shi & Singh, 2012) Throughout this paper we will present significant events that have changed and affected health care today, give details about how the historical evolution of health care

This report will be investigating the various sociological perspectives on health as well as the models and definitions of health and ill health. These topics will assist in the understanding of how different people and different cultures react to ill health.

Hippocrates of Cos, a physician in ancient Greece, is considered to be the father of medicine due to his many contributions to the field in his life. Through research and different experiments he was able to conclude many different principles, including on of the most important: the four humors. By observing reactions to different illnesses, sometimes leading the patient to die, he was able to develop the theory. His theory of the four humors was that the human body was filled with four basic substances, or humors, that when in balance indicate the person is healthy. If there was too little or too much of one of the four, a disease or disability would result. The four humors of Hippocratic medicine are black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. Before the humors were introduced, many people believed that the source of illness was punishment from the Gods. It wasn’t until after Hippocrates’ introduction to medicine that the field stepped away from religion and into science.

Greek medicine can also show how the Greeks tried to make sense of themselves and the world around them. Hippocrates in his work On Ancient Medicine, often discusses the diet and how changing it or eating something unusual could make one ill. He states, “And I also say that all men who, when in a state of health, remain for two or three days without food, experience the same unpleasant symptoms as those which I described in the case of him who had omitted to take dinner.”

Ancient Greeks followed the personal hygiene to comfort themselves, for a more attractive look, and health. Hippocrates (V century doctor) believed that a judicious combination of cold and hot immersion is very beneficial for health. In ancient Greece, there was a separate cult of the goddess of health; Hygieia, taking into account that, as in many nations there was a cult of the god-healer;Asclepius. As known a characteristic feature of ancient Greek culture was a lot of attention to the human body. Gymnasiums usually situated near to banks of a stream or pond to make water procedures easy acceptable.

In Medieval Italy there were some unique characteristics to how medicine and illness were managed in Medieval Italy. The literature expands on the topics of medical practices and the surprising fact that women were allowed to practice medicine in a time period like this. “The Women of Salerno: contribution to the Origins of Surgery from Medieval Italy” focuses on women’s role in medicine and their contributions to the advancement of the field of medicine in Medieval Italy. Women’s role as physicians “On Surgery. For Maria Incarnata,” shows that there were varying degrees of professional in Medieval times. Waley and Dean’s text gives a comprehensive look into the roles and lives of doctors and medical professionals at that time. Showing

The concept of health and illness being separated into two models provides indication into the two very different but integral paradigms of how to treat patients deemed as needing care. These two models (known as the Biomedical Model and the Psychosocial Environmental Model) classify diagnosis, treatment and care in different ways which some actually share the same purpose. It is important in today’s society to be open to both models as both are used in all practices based on their similarities and their differences as they are able to “provide complimentary explanations rather than competing ones.”(Gilbert, L, Selikow, T & Walker, L., 2009:3).