HEALTH 101 FINAL BOSS

Hunter-Gatherer Sanitation Strategies

Ancient mobile groups avoided disease by keeping waste away from shelters and avoiding stagnant water.

Ancient Water Management

Early human settlements recognized that clean running water was necessary to avoid gastrointestinal illnesses.

Code of Hammurabi Health Laws

Early written legal codes in Mesopotamia regulating medical practice, sanitation, and physical safety.

Levitical Health Codes

Ancient Hebrew laws detailing isolation for infectious conditions, handwashing, and food safety.

Hippocrates (460 BC)

Known as the 'Father of Western Medicine' who posited that disease resulted from natural environmental causes, not divine wrath.

Hippocratic Corpus

A collection of ~60 early Greek medical texts establishing clinical observation and ethical principles.

Theory of the Four Humors

Hippocratic belief that health depends on a balance of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

Melancholy in Humoral Theory

Attributed to an excess of black bile; an early historical recognition of the link between mental state and physical health.

Blood in Humoral Theory

Associated with the heart, air element, and a sanguine, energetic temperament.

Phlegm in Humoral Theory

Associated with the brain, water element, and a calm or sluggish temperament.

Yellow Bile in Humoral Theory

Associated with the liver, fire element, and a choleric or irritable temperament.

Black Bile in Humoral Theory

Associated with the spleen, earth element, and a melancholic or somber temperament.

Roman Public Health Engineering

Built massive aqueducts, public baths, underground sewage systems (Cloaca Maxima), and latrines.

Roman Military Hygiene

Established specialized military hospitals (valetudinaria) and required camps to be built away from swamps.

Lead Poisoning in Rome

Chronic health issues resulting from lead water pipes, cookware, and wine additives in Roman civilization.

The Black Death (1348)

Bubonic and pneumonic plague pandemic caused by Yersinia pestis that killed one-third of Europe's population.

Quarantine Origin (Venice 1377)

Imposed a 40-day (quaranta giorni) isolation period for incoming ships to prevent plague transmission.

Lazarettos

Quarantine stations and isolation hospitals established on islands near European port cities during plague epidemics.

Miasma Theory

Historical belief that diseases were caused by 'bad air' or noxious vapors rising from decaying organic matter.

Contagion Theory

Early belief that diseases were transmitted through direct contact with infected persons or contaminated objects (fomes).

Girolamo Fracastoro (1546)

Proposed that epidemic diseases were caused by transferable seed-like entities (seminaria morbi).

Andreas Vesalius (1543)

Published 'De Humani Corporis Fabrica', laying the foundation for modern human anatomy through direct dissection.

William Harvey (1628)

Demonstrated systemic blood circulation pumped by the heart, replacing Galenic anatomical theories.

Industrial Revolution Health Crisis

Rapid urbanization created severe overcrowding, raw sewage in streets, child labor, and airborne pollution.

Jeremy Bentham

Philosopher who advocated utilitarianism ('greatest happiness for greatest number'), laying groundwork for welfare policy.

Edwin Chadwick

English social reformer who authored the landmark 1842 report on the sanitary conditions of the laboring population.

1842 Chadwick Report

Proved that filth, polluted water, and poverty caused widespread epidemic disease among working-class families.

Chadwick's Infrastructure Solution

Argued governments must hire civil engineers for clean water and sewers rather than relying only on doctors.

Public Health Act of 1848

British law establishing the first General Board of Health to oversee municipal sanitation and water delivery.

The Great Sanitary Awakening

19th-century movement establishing public works, clean water supply, garbage removal, and health boards.

Dr. John Snow (1813-1858)

Considered the 'Father of Epidemiology'; investigated London cholera outbreaks and disproved miasma theory.

1854 Broad Street Cholera Outbreak

Severe outbreak in Soho, London mapped by Dr. John Snow to a contaminated public water pump.

Broad Street Pump Intervention

Snow removed the water pump handle in September 1854, halting the localized cholera outbreak.

Ghost Map Method

Snow's spatial mapping technique plotting cholera deaths alongside water company distribution lines.

Southwark & Vauxhall vs. Lambeth Company

Snow showed cholera rates were 8x higher in homes served by Southwark & Vauxhall (sewage-polluted water).

William Farr

Pioneered vital statistics, systematic disease recording, and census analysis in the British Registrar General's Office.

Louis Pasteur

French chemist who disproved spontaneous generation and developed pasteurization and rabies/anthrax vaccines.

Robert Koch

German physician who identified the specific bacterial causes of anthrax, tuberculosis, and cholera.

Koch's Postulates

Four scientific criteria required to establish a causal relationship between a microbe and a specific disease.

Microbiological Revolution

Late 19th-century shift from miasma to germ theory, establishing specific pathogens as disease causes.

Biomedical Model of Health

Paradigm focusing strictly on biological pathology, organ dysfunction, and clinical/cellular treatment.

Limitations of Biomedical Model

Fails to address social determinants, mental well-being, health inequities, or primary prevention.

Flexner Report (1910)

Restructured North American medical education toward rigorous biomedical science and hospital-based training.

1948 WHO Definition of Health

'A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.'

Critique of 1948 WHO Definition

Criticized for being static, unachievable for most people, and classifying anyone with chronic illness as 'unhealthy'.

Medicalization

The process by which non-medical human conditions or behaviors become defined and treated as medical disorders.

Iatrogenesis

Harm, illness, or adverse effects caused directly by medical diagnosis, treatment, or hospital exposure.

Ivan Illich

Philosopher who criticized medical expansion and coined 'medical nemesis' to describe societal over-medicalization.

Lalonde Report (1974)

Canadian white paper titled 'A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians' that revolutionized health policy.

Marc Lalonde

Canadian Minister of National Health and Welfare who championed the 1974 landmark report on health promotion.

Health Field Concept

Lalonde framework dividing health into four fields: Human Biology, Environment, Lifestyle, and Healthcare Organization.

Human Biology (Lalonde)

Aspects of physical and mental health developing within the human body (genetics, maturation, physiological systems).

Environment (Lalonde)

External matters over which the individual has little control (water purity, air quality, social conditions, sewage).

Lifestyle (Lalonde)

Personal decisions and self-imposed risks that influence individual health (diet, smoking, physical activity).

Healthcare Organization (Lalonde)

The quantity, quality, arrangement, and resources of medical care services in a population.

Major Insight of Lalonde Report

Showed that healthcare spending was highest for clinical care, whereas lifestyle and environment caused most mortality.

Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978)

International conference identifying Primary Health Care as the key to achieving 'Health for All by the Year 2000'.

Primary Health Care (PHC)

Essential health care made universally accessible to individuals and families through community participation and affordable cost.

Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986)

Foundational document created at the 1st International Conference on Health Promotion in Ottawa, Canada.

Ottawa Charter Definition of Health Promotion

'The process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health.'

Ottawa Charter Definition of Health

Defined health as 'a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living'—a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources.

Ottawa Charter Strategy 1: Build Healthy Public Policy

Ensuring health is on the agenda of policymakers across all government sectors, not just health departments.

Ottawa Charter Strategy 2: Create Supportive Environments

Generating living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating, satisfying, and enjoyable.

Ottawa Charter Strategy 3: Strengthen Community Action

Empowering communities to set priorities, make decisions, and implement strategies for better health.

Ottawa Charter Strategy 4: Develop Personal Skills

Providing information, health education, and life skills to enhance personal coping and choice.

Ottawa Charter Strategy 5: Reorient Health Services

Shifting healthcare systems from strictly curative clinical care toward health promotion and prevention.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Peace

The fundamental baseline prerequisite; ongoing conflict destroys infrastructure, food security, and human life.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Shelter

Adequate physical housing protecting individuals from climate, infectious vectors, and environmental hazards.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Education

Provides knowledge, health literacy, and socioeconomic opportunities essential for life-long resilience.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Food

Reliable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food necessary for cellular growth and immunity.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Income

Financial means required to purchase necessities, secure safe housing, and participate fully in society.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Stable Ecosystem

Balanced physical environment providing clean air, water, arable soil, and climate stability.

Ottawa Charter Prerequisites for Health: Sustainable Resources

Long-term preservation of natural and social capital for current and future generations.

Three Core Roles of Ottawa Charter

Advocate (for health prerequisites), Enable (equal opportunities for health), Mediate (coordinate across all sectors).

Health for All Movement

Global WHO goal aimed at securing equitable health status for all people through primary health care and health promotion.

Adelaide Conference (1988)

2nd Health Promotion Conference focusing specifically on Healthy Public Policy and intersectoral action.

Sundsvall Conference (1991)

3rd Health Promotion Conference focusing on creating supportive environments for health.

Jakarta Declaration (1997)

4th Health Promotion Conference emphasizing private sector responsibility, social safety nets, and health literacy.

Bangkok Charter (2005)

Addressed health promotion in a globalized world, highlighting corporate responsibility and global health governance.

Population Health Framework

Approach focusing on the health outcomes of groups and the distribution of outcomes across population sub-groups.

Public Health vs Population Health

'Population health is how we think; public health is what we do' (Christina Mills).

Public Health Core Functions

Assessment and surveillance, health protection, disease prevention, health promotion, and emergency response.

Health Equity Concept

The absence of avoidable, unfair, or remediable differences in health among population groups.

Health Disparity Concept

A higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one group relative to another.

Egalitarian Principles in Health

Philosophical view that all human beings deserve equal social rights, health opportunities, and medical resources.

Commercial Determinants of Health

Private sector activities that impact human health positively or negatively (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed food marketing).

Ecological Model of Public Health

Recognizes that health is influenced by complex interactions between individuals, communities, and physical/social environments.

Health in All Policies (HiAP)

An approach to public policy that systematically considers the health implications of decisions across all government portfolios.

Primary Care vs Primary Health Care

Primary Care is clinical entry-level treatment; Primary Health Care is a broader social model incorporating SDOH and community action.

Salutogenesis

Aaron Antonovsky's concept focusing on factors that support human health and well-being rather than factors that cause disease.

Sense of Coherence (SOC)

Antonovsky's construct measuring comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness in coping with life stressors.

Pathogenesis

The biological origin and step-by-step development of a disease process within the body.

Healthy Cities Movement

WHO initiative encouraging municipal leaders to integrate health promotion into local urban planning and governance.

Global Burden of Disease (GBD)

Systematic scientific effort to quantify the comparative magnitude of health loss from diseases, injuries, and risk factors.

Demographic Transition Model

Historical shift from high birth/death rates to low birth/death rates as countries industrialize.

Epidemiologic Transition Model

Historical shift in mortality patterns from infectious epidemics to chronic non-communicable diseases (Abdel Omran 1971).

Triple Burden of Disease

Coexistence of infectious diseases, non-communicable chronic diseases, and globalization risks (e.g., climate change, injuries) in developing regions.

Planetary Health

The health of human civilization and the state of the natural systems (climate, biodiversity, oceans) on which it depends.

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)

Non-medical conditions into which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that shape health outcomes.

WHO SDOH Definition

The conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health risks.