History
of Human Disease
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.
|
Search Publication
