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Figure 1. Rod of Asclepius, international symbol of medicine.

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It was thought that health was directly related with religious purposes, thus when people felt sick they had to pray or do sacrifices to propitiate their deities. Often while sick people visited the temple of the healing god Asclepius, they performed prayers and sacrifices in exchange of cures that came while the patients slept.

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Hippocrates is considered the "Father of Modern Medicine". It was Hippocrates, that lived around the IV and III centaury BC in the ancient greece, the first that tried to understand the causality of the deseases and untied it from divinity, just as other philosophers in the ancient greece that tried to understand natural phenomena without gods. His ideas stated that diseases resulted from the lack of balance between four bodily fluids: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood.

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Holistic and societal health in the Roman Empire and pre-WHO era

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Holistic and societal health in the Roman Empire and pre-WHO era

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The Roman Empire added to Hippocrates' theory of health by claiming that the balance of four body fluids influenced temperament and personality. The rise of a more holistic concept of health that took into account the full patient, including mental and emotional aspects; thanks to Roman breakthroughs in cleanliness and public health, the focus of healthcare shifted from a single individual to an entire society. The discovery of cells, microbes, and genes (1866 CE), as well as the discovery of several chemical and molecular entities that keep the human body and mind in balance, enhanced Hippocrates' and Galen's notions of health.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) logo and emblem

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The World Health Organization (WHO) definition was proposed in 1948, and it defines it as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of infirmity or disease."  In this definition the physical characteristics of health are not the only ones taken into account, social aspects and the quality of life of a person are considered important as well. This definition had enormous social impacts, but it has not been completely successful. Some critics believe that it describes happiness, rather than health.

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As mentioned previoulsy, some people are not very happy with the definition of health given by the WHO. So here we have some other attempts.
The french-american microbiologist René Dubos defined health as " the condition best suited for each individual to reach his or her personal and social goals". The sociologist Abrahm Malslow defined health as fullfilments of:
- Physical needs
- Safety
- Love and belonging
- Esteem
- Self-actualization
Another definition was given by the health economist Johannes Bircher, that defined health as “a dynamic state of well-being, characterized by an individual’s physical, mental and social potential to meet the demands of life unique to the individual’s age, culture and personal responsibility”. Another author named PI Ahmed pointed out that health is a relative term that must take into consideration individual and social circunstances.
Finally, a definition given by the authors of the article is:
" a holistic state of physical, mental, emotional, and social wellness supported by an integrated and technologically sophisticated healthcare delivery system tailored to meet the entirety of a patient’s medical needs, including disease prevention and management of undesirable conditions, comorbidities, complications, and unique patient circumstances". This definition includes the fact that a good system to provide health is needed.

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Moving towards value-based healthcare and a new definition of health

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Moving towards value-based healthcare and a new definition of health

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Given the significant advances that have been made in understanding the processes and behavior of the human body, coupled with a failing health system centered primarily on increasing profits, the need for a new approach towards health and the achievement of health via medicine has risen.

A value based system, focused on prioritizing the value of care (measured by the patient's individual outcome instead of being centered exclusively on the treatment), stands as a viable solution for the current situation. It would seek to implement the available knowledge and technology to correctly identify and treat the individual patients; taking into account their own particular circumstances. It would also involve the participation of multiple experts on different involved aspects, as to correctly diagnose and treat the given individual (cross-disciplinary understanding is needed; a single sided approach is not the best we can do).

The 6 principles are the following:

1. Organize medical services into integrated practice units (IPUs) - IPU personnel from different specialties work together as a team.

2. Measure costs and outcomes - Measuring costs and outcomes along the full cycle of care

3. Move to bundles payments - Bundled payments uncouple payment from service volume to reduce unnecessary spending

4. Integrate healthcare between facilities - Integration of healthcare eliminates the division and redundancy of services

5. Expand geographically with satellite facillities and community affiliations - Geographic expansion allows for the delivery of high quality

6. Build a suitable information technology (IT) platform - A successful IT platform helps members of an IPU work well together.

A system and conception of health, that seek to take advantage of complexity (greater understanding of particular subjects as well as a greater holistic interconnected understanding) and technology, ensuring that the well being of the individual in its most accurately possible conceived approach is achieved. A well being of the body, mind, and hopefully in the future spirit as well.