How did the human race survive without modern medicine before it was invented?

Question

It's hard to imagine people even being born without proper medical care. How did they deliver babies and keep them free from infection without the benefits of modern scientific medicine? And how did they treat diseases?

Answer 1

Life is very persistant.
Before modern medicine, which is actually very modern, lots of infants and children and adults died. You could die from an infection from a small cut, broken bones could kill you, flu and cold could kill you. People died younger and had LOTS more children, at least more than us in the modern Western world.
I had a friend who was in her 80s and used to tell me the story of her first husband dying in her arms from appendicitis - three months before penicillin was discovered.

I share your feeling that this world is hard to imagine, and am grateful to be living in the day and age that I do. I have trouble even imagining life without modern plumbing...

Answer 2

Some didn't. It was actually a better system.Human race wise. Back then,only the strong survived. So only the strong procreated. In fact infants that were not normal, were weak, or mal formed, or mis shaped, were often killed or simply abandoned.
I'm certainly glad we have medicine, as I can't see beyond the end of my nose without glasses.
It would be interesting to see several thousand years from now what the human race will look like.
The technical revolution will make some changes in our appearance. We may have longer , more dexterous fingers, from keyboard use and texting. We won't need be as strong, because all sports will be played on the Internet.
With the hot chicks dating the jocks and marrying the geeks, what will our children look like?
Pretty but smaller boys and girls?
Who knows?

Answer 3

femlaes gave birth to oads of children knowing that few would survive. people did not have a long life expactancy but they gave birth at a young age so basically that is how the race survived and it survived strong enough.

many countries in africa are still without modern medicine and eventhough life expectancy is very short the race still goes on

ps: no meodern medicine = no contraceptives :P

human race is more likely to at risk nowadays in places such as northern italy than back in olden times. The race will never be dead unless humans decide not to have children ... which is exactly what is going on in parts of europe

Answer 4

That varies accross the globe. On the indian continent there was Ayurveda (the science of life). This is one of the oldest methods of medicine and is still being practiced today.

Ofcourse lifestyles have changed and most of the widespread disease you get today didn't exist before.
The environment, before industrialisation, was free from fumes and chemical spills. No polluted air and water, no nuclear explosions and exposure to harmful elements. No genetically modified crops/animals.
Today we appear to be living in the beginnings of a wasteland. Whereas those many years ago the air was clean the water was fresh and everything consumed was healthy and pure and wholesome. There were fewer things to worry about. So bodies were stronger, and people lived longer. Women could bear a dozen children, but few can in this day and age. Life expectancy back then was 100years with an average higher than todays. And people think things are getting better.

Answer 5

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.

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Answer 6

dear friend have u seen animals giving birth to there offspring (dog being the most common followed by pigs; to be seen easily) they never get any medical care or any other care or help
this was same what humans did before developing there own system of caring and then climbing on the stairs of field of medicine we still deliver the baby same way as we r doing since our ancestor species (apes/mammals) came in to existence and did,only change which has come is that before we use to do it in jungles now in well furnished hospitals with extra care
and diseases were not treated at all then but the no. of children were so high that death of a few never had any much effect on the size of family!!!
it may be strange but is true and it can still be seen in few parts of my own country(India)in various other countries and in Africa where the socioeconomic status and the medical facilities remain non existent

Answer 7

To answer your specific questions, it would be difficult because accurate patient data was never kept until recently. We do know that during the early history of medicine, people did not live long. That seems to indicate that when many got seriously sick, they ended up dying. So even though it is quite possible that death rates were very high during those early times, the birth rate must have exceeded it because the human race has survived.

When there was no obvious reason for an illness, many Ancient Egyptian doctors and priests believed that disease was caused by spiritual beings. When no-one could explain why someone had a disease, spells and magical potions were used to drive out the spirits.The Ancient Egyptians also had a god who would frighten away evil spirits. Ancient Egyptians were discovering things about how the human body worked and they knew that the heart, pulse rates, blood and air were important to the workings of the human body. It is probable that this knowledge came as a result of the practice the Ancient Egyptians had of embalming dead bodies.

Greek doctors had started to look at the issue of poor health and disease by using a process of reasoning and observation. The most famous of these doctors was Hippocrates who lived 2400 years ago. He would note specific symptoms and what was observed on a day to day basis. Hippocrates believed that by doing this they could forecast the development of the illness in the future. Hippocrates and other doctors worked on the assumption that all diseases had a natural cause rather than a supernatural one. Priests believed that an illness such as epilepsy was caused by the gods.

The Romans were great believers in a healthy mind equalling a healthy body. There was a belief that if you kept fit, you would be more able to combat an illness. Rather than spend money on a doctor, many Romans spent money on keeping fit. The Romans did believe that illnesses had a natural cause and that bad health could be caused by bad water and sewage. Hence their desire to improve the public health system in the Roman Empire was important.

Galen was a gifted doctor who studied at the famous medical school in Alexandria in Egypt 2000 years ago. He put great emphasis on clinical observation – examining a patient very thoroughly and noting their symptoms. He accepted the view that disease was the result of an imbalance between blood, phlegm, yellow bile and blood bile (the Four Humours). He believed in the healing power of nature and developed treatments to restore the balance of the Four Humours. Galen believed in the use of opposites; if a man appeared to have a fever, he treated it with something cold; if a man appeared to have a cold, he would be treated with heat. People who were weak were given hard physical exercises to do to build up their muscles. People who had breathing problems due to a weak chest were given singing exercises.

By the Middle Ages, universities had developed in Western Europe that could be classed as medical schools where students could study under a master physician. Dissections of human bodies were carried out in these universities so anyone wanting to study medicine in the Middle Ages was not totally ignorant of facts about the human body. Public debates were also encouraged about medical issues and it is known that some medical schools encouraged students to actually challenge established medical knowledge. Urine charts were also used to help physicians diagnose illnesses. Certain coloured urine indicated certain illnesses. Combined with a table of the planets, these gave physicians enough information to diagnose a disease. Once the disease had been diagnosed, a treatment was decided on.

Blood letting (forced bleeding) was a popular treatment. Many diseases were thought to be caused by an excess of blood in the body so blood letting was seen as the obvious cure. When a large quantity of blood was required, the appropriate vein was cut. If only a small amount was needed, a leech would be used.

During the Middle Ages, diagnosis of an illness was was influenced by astrology. Medical charts informed physicians what not to do for people born under a certain start sign.

Throughout history, remedies for diseases were crude and based on natural herbs, potions involving animal and bird parts, and magic spells.

Up until the 19th century, doctors did not wash their hands nor sterilize their instruments before performing surgery. That is because they did not know about bacteria and infections back then. Those who did survive surgeries and giving birth were just lucky I guess.

Answer 8

Most of the people died when sick. All the "medicine men" could do was try to make paitents as comfortable as possible. They knew how to do basic stuff, if someone was bleeding, they would bandage, infections were treated with hot coals, to try to burn away the infection...most of the population born didn't make it to 5 years old. They used what was avalible to them....natural remedies and prayer. It wasn't until the 1800's when penicilin was found that the medical world as we know it was born.

Answer 9

Many times, they died. Many, many humans did not survive. Disease, malnutrition, weather,....they all killed many of us. If you look at any graph of human population over the past 50,000 years, you will see that our numbers were VERY small until the Industrial revolution in Europe. Before that, many of us died. Even a hundred years ago, there was a much higher chance of death than now. That's the main reason you great grandparents (and relatives before them) had so many children......many of then died.

Answer 10

There was higher infant mortality rate and the life expectancy was alot shorter; thats all. BTW, its still like that in some conutries...."modern medicine" is not available all over the world...