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Prevention in Clinical Practice pp 13–21Cite as

History of Preventive Medicine

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Abstract

The concept of preventive health care is not modern. Before the 20th-century biomedical revolution, important advances had been made in the understanding and prevention of infectious diseases and nutritional deficiency. Long before the advent of scientific investigation into disease processes, men were explaining disease and attempting to avoid illness. In surveying historical efforts to prevent communicable diseases and nutritional deficiency diseases three categories of prevention are apparent; (1) individual control over personal health through adherence to dietary and hygiene codes; (2) social control over health by means of isolating diseased individuals or protecting large groups of people from environmental dangers; (3) application of increased scientific understanding of disease.

Keywords

  • Preventive Care
  • Preventive Medicine
  • Typhoid Fever
  • American Public Health Association
  • Scarlet Fever

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22908, USA

    Daniel M. Becker

Authors
  1. Daniel M. Becker
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

    Daniel M. Becker M.D., M.P.H.

  2. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Laurence B. Gardner M.D.

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© 1988 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Becker, D.M. (1988). History of Preventive Medicine. In: Becker, D.M., Gardner, L.B. (eds) Prevention in Clinical Practice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5356-0_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5356-0_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5358-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5356-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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