|
|
Humans have always had to deal with disease.
Skeletons more than 12,000 years old show evidence of tuberculosis and other diseases.
The 9400-year-old mummified remains of Spirit Cave man, found in
Nevada in 1940, indicate that he suffered from back problems and tooth abscesses.
The remains of Ramses V, ruler of Egypt around 1150 BC, show that his face was
disfigured by smallpox scars.
Disease
has had a dramatic impact
on human history.
For most of the 250,000 years that humans have been on the earth,
disease has played a central role
in limiting population growth.
As ways to combat disease were discovered, people lived longer and had more
children, who lived long enough to have children of their own.
The human population slowly increased and then exploded.
By 1804 the human population reached 1 billion.
Just over
100 years later, in 1927, after the advent of the first vaccines and
the recognition of the importance of
sanitation and safe water supplies,
the population had doubled to
2 billion.
By 1974 it had doubled again to 4 billion.
Since then, recognition that the earth's environment has a limited capacity to
support an ever-increasing population has led to concerted efforts to limit population growth.
Nevertheless, as the 20th century neared its end, the
population had reached 6 billion.
It is expected to rise to more than 8 billion
by 2021.
At the
beginning of the 20th century, people in the
United States had an average life span of about 50 years.
By the time the century neared its close, average life span had risen to 76
years.
Other developed countries experienced similar increases.
Much of the credit for these longer life spans
- and for the good health
that accompanies them
- is due to the conquering of diseases,
thanks to vaccines,
antibiotics,
sophisticated surgical tools
and
other
Medical Miracles.
The challenges ahead include bringing the benefits of this medical knowledge to
all people of the world, and expanding on current knowledge in order to understand, treat, and prevent the diseases
that still confront us.
|
Courtesy by: "Human Disease," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000
http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. |
|
|
You are here: 
