Introduction to Preventive and Social Medicine and Concepts of Health

Vocabulary flashcards covering the history of medicine, concepts of health and disease, health indicators, and global health development goals based on Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine.

Supernatural theory of disease

The belief among primitive men that disease was caused by the wrath of Gods, the invasion of the body by "evil spirits," or the malevolent influence of stars and planets.

Ayurveda

Literally meaning "knowledge of life," it is a medical system truly Indian in origin and development, tracing back to the Vedic times around $5000 B.C.$

Tridosha theory of disease

The Ayurvedic theory explaining disease as a disturbance in the equilibrium of the three humors: vata (wind), pitta (gall), and kapha (mucus).

Sushruta

Known as the "father of Indian surgery," he compiled the classic surgical work known as the "Sushruta Samhita" between $800 B.C.$ and $400 A.D.$

Hippocrates

The Greek physician often called the "Father of Medicine" ($460-370 B.C.$) who initiated the application of clinical methods in medicine and whose oath sets high moral standards for the profession.

Galen

A prominent Roman medical teacher ($130-205 A.D.$) who contributed to comparative anatomy and defined disease as being due to predisposing, exciting, and environmental factors.

Edwin Chadwick

A lawyer in England who published the landmark $1842$ report on "The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population in Great Britain," leading to the Public Health Act of $1848$.

Germ theory of disease

The concept advanced by Louis Pasteur in $1873$ that bacteria and microbes are the sole cause of disease, disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.

WHO Definition of Health

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity."

Holistic concept of health

Distinguished as a synthesis of biomedical, ecological, and psychosocial concepts, viewing health as a unified process involving the well-being of the whole person within their environment.

Physical dimensions of health

A state conceptualized as the "perfect functioning" of the body, where every cell and organ is at optimum capacity and in perfect harmony.

Mental health

According to the transcript, an individual's ability to respond to experiences with flexibility, characterized by being free from internal conflicts and having a strong sense of self-esteem.

Standard of living

The usual scale of expenditure, goods consumed, and services enjoyed, including income, housing, sanitation, and nutrition.

Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI)

A composite index scaling from $0$ to $100$ that consolidates three indicators: infant mortality, life expectancy at age one, and literacy.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A composite index focusing on three basic dimensions: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (mean and expected years of schooling), and a decent standard of living (GNI per capita in PPP US $$).

Epidemiological triad

The traditional model of disease causation defined by the interaction and interdependence of an agent, a host, and the environment.

Web of causation

A model ideally suited for studying chronic diseases where the disease is the outcome of a complex interaction of multiple predisposing factors.

Natural history of disease

The way in which a disease evolves over time from the earliest prepathogenesis stage to its termination as recovery, disability, or death, in the absence of treatment.

Incidence

A morbidity indicator referring to the number of new cases occurring in a defined population during a specific period of time.

Case fatality rate

A measure of the risk of persons dying from a certain disease, calculated by dividing the number of deaths from a specific disease by the number of cases of that disease.

Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY)

A measure of overall disease burden expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability, or early death, calculated as $DALY = YLL + YLD$.

Primary health care

Essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound, and socially acceptable methods, made universally accessible through full community participation at an affordable cost.

Tertiary health care

The level of health care that offers super-specialist care provided by regional or central level institutions, serving to support and complement primary and secondary levels.

Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3)

The comprehensive development goal for $2030$ that aims to "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages."

Health development

The process of continuous progressive improvement of the health status of a population, contributing to and resulting from social and economic development.