preventive medicine, branch of medicine medicine, the science and art of treating and preventing disease.

History of Medicine

Ancient Times

Prehistoric skulls found in Europe and South America indicate that Neolithic man was already able to trephine, or remove disks of bone from,
..... Click the link for more information. dealing with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of good health practices. Until recently preventive medicine was largely the domain of the U.S. Public Health Service or state and local health departments, but it has become an important consideration of health maintenance organizations health maintenance organization (HMO), type of prepaid medical service in which members pay a monthly or yearly fee for all health care, including hospitalization. The term "health maintenance organization" was coined by a health policy analyst, Dr.
..... Click the link for more information. , private practitioners, and other health care providers. Preventive medicine encompasses such activities as research into causes of disease; vaccination vaccination, means of producing immunity against pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, by the introduction of live, killed, or altered antigens that stimulate the body to produce antibodies against more dangerous forms.
..... Click the link for more information. against those diseases for which the causes are known, e.g., poliomyelitis, influenza, and measles; studies of environmental deterrents to health; and instruction in public health and hygiene. See also eugenics eugenics (y
..... Click the link for more information. .

preventive medicine

Efforts toward disease prevention in the community and the individual. It covers patient interviews and testing to detect risk factors; sanitary measures in homes, communities, and medical facilities; patient education; and diet and exercise programs as well as preventive drugs and surgery. It has three levels: primary (e.g., prevention of coronary heart disease in a healthy person), secondary (e.g., prevention of heart attack in a person with heart disease), and tertiary (e.g., prevention of disability and death after a heart attack). The first is by far the most economical. Important advances in preventive medicine include vaccination (see vaccine), antibiotics, diagnostic imaging, and recognition of psychological factors. See also epidemiology, immunology, industrial medicine, quarantine.