Become a Health Care Worker

Health care has developed and changed throughout history. Knowing the history of health care helps you understand current procedures, practices, and philosophies. The experiences and discoveries of the past led to the advances of today. Today's achievements could not have occurred without the trials and errors of the past. When you understand the primitive beginnings of medicine, you appreciate the advances made during the past 5,000 years.

During the early beginnings the primitive human beings had no electricity, few tools, and poor shelter. Their time was spent protecting themselves against organisms or beings that destroys and finding food. They trust in magic or chance and believe that illness and disease were caused by supernatural spirits. In an attempt to heal, tribal doctors performed ceremonies to force out evil spirits. They used herbs and plants as medicines. Some of the same medicines are still used today. Here are some examples: Digitalis comes from the foxglove plant. Today it is given in pill form, directly into the vein, or by injection. In the early times, people chewed leaves of the foxglove plant to strengthen and slow the heartbeat. Quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree. It controls fever, relieves muscle spasms, and helps prevent malaria. Morphine is made from the opium poppy. It relieves severe pain. It is addicting and is used only when nothing else with help, and quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree. It control fever, relieves muscle spasms, and helps prevent malaria.

Medicine in ancient times, the egyptians were the earliest people to keep exact, correct, or precise health records. They were superstitious and called upon the gods to heal them. They also learned to identify certain diseases. They used medicines to heal disease and learned the rto of splinting fractures. The ancient Greeks were the first to study the causes of disease. They kept records on what they observed and what they thought caused illness. The Greeks understood the importance of searching for new information about disease. This research helped eliminate superstition.