Public health and personal hygiene

What does Public Health do?
Provide disease
control and prevention
Assure air and
water quality
Promote healthy
lifestyles
Public Health is a wise investment
It helps people:
Save money
Enjoy good health
Live longer

People are living longer!
Drugs and medical care
+5 years

Public Health impact
+25 years
A population-based approach to
healthy living

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Immunizations
have virtually eliminated:
Smallpox
Diphtheria
Pertussis
Tetanus
Polio
Measles
Rubella

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Infectious disease control

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Safe and healthier foods
are now commonplace because of:
Hand washing
Sanitation
Refrigeration
Pasteurization
Pest control
Healthier animal care, feeding,
and processing
Improved food supply safety

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Fluoridation
Primary factor in the decline of tooth decay
Benefits all, regardless of age, education, or income

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Mother and infant
mortality rates
Maternal mortality rates down 99%
Infant mortality
rates down 90%

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Mother and infant
mortality rates
Improved standards
of living
Technological advances in medicine
Greater access to maternal and
well-baby care
Desired birth spacing
and family size

Public Health achievements in the 20th century
Recognition of tobacco
as a health hazard
Smoking, once socially
acceptable, is on the
decline among adults.
% of population who smoke
1965–42.4%
1997–24.7%

Facts about personal hygiene
Hygiene comes from the word HYGIEA-a Greek Goddess of health and cleanliness

Teeth: Bad Breath Myths
Myth #1 - Mouthwash will make bad breath go away.
Mouthwash only gets rid of bad breath temporarily.
Myth #2 - As long as you brush your teeth, you shouldn't have bad breath.
To sufficiently clean all the surfaces of your teeth, a person should brush for at least 2 minutes and at least twice a day. Brushing the tongue is important too because the bacteria loves to hang out there. Also, flossing helps remove harmful plaque and food particles that become stuck between the teeth and gums.
Myth #3 - If you breathe into your hand, you'll know when you have bad breath.
When you breathe, you don't use your throat the same way you do when you talk. When you talk, you tend to bring out the odors from the back of your mouth where bad breath originates.

Counts against Nicotine.—The physiological objections to the use of tobacco
1. The use of tobacco before one reaches maturity stunts the growth. The boy who uses it cannot develop into so strong and capable a man as he would by leaving it alone.
2. Tobacco injures the heart.
3. Tobacco injures the air passages, especially when inhalation is practiced.
4. Tobacco injures the nervous system and by this means interferes in a general way with the bodily processes. For the same reason it interferes with mental and moral development, the cigarette being a chief cause of criminal tendencies in boys.
5. In some cases tobacco injures the vision.
6. The tobacco habit is expensive and is productive of no good results.

Counts against Alcohol
Alcohol has an injurious effect upon the white corpuscles of the blood and lessens the power of the body to resist attacks of disease
Alcohol injures the heart and the blood vessels
Alcohol causes diseases of the liver and kidneys and interferes with the discharge of waste through these organs
4. Alcohol interferes seriously with the regulation of the body temperature
5. Alcohol is one of the worst enemies to the nervous system
6. Through its effect upon the nervous system and through its interference with the production of bodily energy , alcohol greatly diminishes the efficiency of the individual.
7. The taking of alcohol in amounts that apparently do not harm the tissues is, nevertheless, liable to produce a habit which leads to its use in amounts that are decidedly harmful.

Stimulants in Health Unnecessary
Stimulants have been aptly styled "the whips of the nervous system." The healthy nervous system, however, like the well-disposed and well-fed horse, needs no whip, but is irritated and harmed through its use. Even in periods of weakness and depression, stimulants are usually not called for, but a more perfect provision for hygienic needs.
Rest, relaxation, sleep, proper food, and avoidance of irritation, not stimulants, are the great restorers of the nervous system. A surplus of nervous energy gained through natural means is more conducive to health and effective work than any result that can possibly be secured through drugs.
Then comes the satisfaction of knowing that one has the expression of his real self in the way in which he feels and in what he accomplishes—not a "whipped-up" condition that must be paid for by weakness or suffering later on.

A Special Problem for the Brain Worker
Farthest removed from those forms of activity which harmonize with the plan of the body, and which therefore are most hygienic, is that class of workers known as the professional class, or the "brain workers." This class includes not only the members of the learned professions—law, medicine, and the ministry—but a vast army of business men, engineers, teachers, stenographers, office clerks, etc
The Remedy lies in two directions—that of spending sufficient time away from one's work to allow the body to recover its normal condition, and that of counteracting the effect of the work by special exercise or other means. In many cases the first symptoms of weakness indicate a suitable remedy. Thus exhaustion from overwork suggests rest and recreation. The diverting of too much blood from other parts of the body to the brain suggests some form of exercise which will equalize the circulation. If feebleness of the digestive organs is being induced, some natural method of increasing the blood supply to these organs is to be looked for. And effects arising from lack of fresh air and sunlight are counteracted by spending more time out of doors. In counteracting tendencies to disease and in the maintenance of the functional
equilibrium of the body, no agent has yet been discovered of greater importance than physical exercise, when applied systematically and persistently.