Understanding the meaning of the term health requires a deep understanding of biological phenomena, as well as of anatomy and the functions of the human machinery. The study of these disciplines has required centuries and is still not complete. Although the morphology of the human body is known with considerable accuracy, much remains to be discovered about the physiological mechanisms that take place inside the cell.
In recent years, electron microscopy has made it possible to understand the submicroscopic structure of tissues and cellular differentiations. Biochemistry is now beginning to gain insight into the enzyme systems responsible for the phenomenon of life, as well as the different mechanisms of humoral and nervous correlation that allow human functions to operate in harmony. Through constant and costly research, scientists are managing to penetrate the inner workings of organic function. Only when the intrinsic nature of each organic function is fully understood will it be possible to know the pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases in their essence.
For example, knowledge of the presence of iodine in the molecule of the thyroid hormone makes it possible to detect the etiology of endemic goiter in regions where water is poor in iodine. The importance of iron and vitamin B12 in the synthesis of the hemoglobin molecule and in the maturation of red blood cells is such that this knowledge helps explain anemias.
There are many examples, since every disease is due either to deficiencies or to the harmful action exerted by pathogenic agents on cells. Each biological discovery constitutes a true “novel” within the field of medicine. It is remarkable to learn the history of the discovery of vitamins or insulin, captivating chapters in the history of medicine that demonstrate humanity’s capacity to scrutinize the phenomena of life in its effort to discover the causes of disease.
From a very orthodox point of view, one could say that “a person is healthy when they do not suffer from disease,” which would limit the concept of health to the state of harmony among organic functions, to the absence of dysfunctions. Health does not mean only the nonexistence of disease. It means the normal functioning of the body, as well as emotional and mental well-being. Health is an attribute of life. It is the result of the normality of organic functions that allows the individual to live fully within society.
Just as the individual must care for their personal health, the state must preserve collective health. National and provincial ministries of Public Health and Social Assistance, as well as municipal departments of Public Health, have the obligation to maintain sanitary standards in optimal condition and to issue the essential hygiene regulations required to preserve the health of the population.
These concepts have acquired such importance in contemporary medicine that epidemiology, hygiene and public health have become highly respected medical specialties. Many dangers threaten health, and knowing them makes it possible to prevent disease. However, it would be of little value to know pathogenic agents if the structures on which they act, and how they modify them, were unknown. For that reason, the foundation of health must be based on knowledge of that remarkable machinery that is the human body.
Medicines
A medicine is any substance capable of preventing, improving or curing disease. It is made from drugs, simple or complex substances that carry active principles and are obtained from animals, such as enzymes and hormones; plants, such as digitalis and opium; or minerals, such as chemical substances.
Medicines are used in their natural state or after a process of extraction and purification. Today, pharmacological research facilitates the synthesis of new drugs, thereby expanding the therapeutic arsenal.
Those recognized as effective are codified and entered into an official book called the Pharmacopoeia or Codex Medicamentarium, which records their origin, preparation, identification, purity, maximum and toxic dose, and other information.
Medicines are classified as follows:
Officinal medicines. Those listed in the pharmacopoeia.
Magistral preparations. Those prepared by the pharmacist according to the standards of the pharmacopoeia and in accordance with the instructions specified by the physician in the prescription.
Pharmaceutical specialties. These are medicines with a declared formula and proven therapeutic action, produced by laboratories and identified by a commercial name.
Each medicine has a specific effect that varies according to the dose, the route of administration, the ease with which it is absorbed and eliminated, the transformations it undergoes in the body, its toxic power and its mechanism of action, which in many cases is related to its chemical composition. Medicines act on cellular structures, metabolism or functions.
In contrast to pharmacology, which is the science that studies drugs, therapeutics is the art of applying medicines and other means for the treatment of diseases. The physician scientifically acquires knowledge of the action of different drugs on the human being and applies that knowledge to a specific individual. This requires a profound process of synthesis, since each person presents a particular type of disease.
