Christian Elvis | Health Care History

Primitive Era

4000 BCE

4000 BC - 3000 BC -During this time, illness was believed to be caused by supernatural beings.
-Many herbs and plants were used as medicine.
-Priest were medicine men.
-Opium was a very prominent drug during this time, which is still used to today as 'morphine'.
-Believed if people were disobedient, gods would inflict disease and pain upon their bodies.

Ancient Egyptians

3000 BCE

3000 BC - 2000 BC -Practices were based around magic and religion.
-Designed structure and procedure and kept accurate health records.
-Opposed medical research and experimentation.
-Conservative physicians were praised.
-First believed physician was Imhotep.

Ancient Chinese

1500 BCE

1500 BC - 1000 BC -Developed useful medical practices.
-Documented over 1000 medial herbs.
-Established acupuncture.
-Established fire cupping.
-Acupuncture today is recognized as a valid form of alternative treatment.

Ancient Greece

400 BCE

400 BC - 146 BC

• Began to question the accepted medical beliefs. -In late 400 BC's, Hippocrates began his study of medicine in Greece. -Encouraged cleanliness and proper dieting. -Known as the "Father of Medicine." -Aristotle, another doctor, developed the field of anatomy.

Ancient Romans

146 BCE

146 BC - 542 AD -Roman Empire did not accept Greek medical practices.
-Mid 100's AD, Claudius Green went to Rome and become famous after curing the Emperor's stomach ache.
-Taught that our bodies are filled with four fluids.
-Developed theories of human anatomy through dissecting pigs.
-Romans installed sanitation systems and also set up public hospitals.

Dark Ages

542

542 AD - 1500 AD -Developed Bubonic Plague.
-Ranged from China to Africa to Europe.
-Transmitted by fleas and rats.
-Once again, the study of medicine was forbidden.
-People turned back to religion, magic, and folklore to cure disease.

Middle Ages

800

800 AD - 1347 AD -During Middle Ages, several cultures started researching medicine again.
-In 1000 AD, Arab Empire led the advancement in medicine.
-During this time, Rhazes was the Arab Hippocrates.
-First true medical school was developed in Middle Ages.
-In Middle Ages, doctors only treated the wealthy. As a result, common people were treated by barbers.
-Black Plague returned in 1300's and killed over one-third of Europe's population.

Renaissance Era

1500

1350 AD - 1500 AD -Time of enlightenment.
-Europeans began to reject religion and develop new theories on science and arts.
-Andreas Vesalius compared human corpse to Claudius Green's human anatomy study.
-Another major outbreak was invention of microscope.
-Invention led to discovery of red blood cells.

16th & 17th Centuries

1501

1501 AD - 1700 AD -Human curiosity and experimentation led to Industrial Revolution.
-Using the microscope, Louis Pasteur discovered microorganisms.
-Louis Pasteur developed the pasteurization procedure.
-Joseph Lister developed medical asepsis.
-Lister concluded microorganisms were the cause of infection.

18th, 19th, 20th, & 21st Century

1701

1701 AD - Present -Cause of infections and diseases were no longer a mystery.
-Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.
-Throughout this era, many antibiotics and medicines have been revised.
-Wilhelm von Roentgen developed the x-ray.
-The new technology produced rapid growth in the medical world.