To begin: Everyone lived much shorter lives back then. It was common to be married around 13, have had one's first child at 14, and be dead around 40- barring wars, plagues or just bad neighbors.
viewtopic.php?f=71&t=1803&p=27220&hilit=shorter+lives#p27220
To the best of what I know,significant advances were made in medicine only after WW II in the form of anti-biotics.Before that lifespans were always short.So from when exactly were these things began to be considered haraam as we see in many societies.