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People believed that illness and diseases were caused by supernatural spirits and demons. -
The ancient Egyptians practiced medicine with highly professional methods. They had advanced knowledge of anatomy and surgery. Also, they treated a lot of diseases including dental, gynecological, gastrointestinal, and urinary disorders. They could diagnose diabetes and cancer. -
a new influenza A virus that spread easily and infected people throughout the world. Because the virus was new, very few people, if any, had some immunity to the disease. From 1918 to 1919, the Spanish flu infected an estimated 500 million people globally -
Traditional Chinese medicine is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action. -
Illness was thought to be caused either by a blockage of a flow within the body or by an imbalance of the four humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm). Most medicines aimed to rebalance the humors or restart the flow. Bloodletting was used to relieve a fever, cucumbers to cure a rash, wine to aid digestion. -
Physicians did not widely practice treatment of medicines, although some chemical elixirs and ointments were applied or administered. They were often produced with dangerous materials like lead or mercury. -
The Medical Renaissance, from around 1400 to 1700 CE, was a period of progress in European medical knowledge, with renewed interest in the ideas of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations along with Arabic-Persian medicine, following the translation into Latin of many works from these societies. -
Greek doctors became expert herbalists and prescribers of natural remedies. They believed that nature rather than superstition was the best healer. -
Headaches and aching joints were treated with sweet-smelling herbs such as rose, lavender, sage, and hay. A mixture of henbane and hemlock was applied to aching joints. Coriander was used to reduce fever. Stomach pains and sickness were treated with wormwood, mint, and balm. -
Across Europe, the quality of medical practitioners was poor, and people rarely saw a doctor, although they might visit a local wise woman, or witch, who would provide herbs or incantations. Midwives, too, helped with childbirth. -
Roman diagnosis and treatment consisted of a combination of Greek medicine and some local practices. As the Greeks did before them, Roman physicians would carry out a thorough physical examination of the individual. -
infection with the bacterium Yersinia pestis. -
The Great Plague killed an estimated 100,000 people—almost a quarter of London's population—in 18 months. The plague was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, which is usually transmitted to a human by the bite of a flea or louse. -
The 18th century saw advances in technology, including the invention of the stethoscope, and the first researched and documented text on the ancient techniques of midwifery. -
Traditional medical practices during most of the 19th century relied on symptomatic treatment, consisting primarily of bloodletting, blistering, and high doses of mineral poisons. These medical regimens resulted in high rates of death in patients unfortunate enough to undergo treatment. -
The 20th century witnessed many truly revolutionary advances in health care. Research into the causes of infectious diseases and the development of vaccines and pharmaceuticals quelled once-devastating illnesses such as polio and smallpox. -
Francis Crick (1916-2004) was one of Britain's great scientists. He is best known for his work with James Watson which led to the identification of the structure of DNA in 1953, drawing on the work of Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, and others. -
The discovery in 1953 of the double helix, the twisted-ladder structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), by James Watson and Francis Crick marked a milestone in the history of science and gave rise to modern molecular biology, which is largely concerned with understanding how genes control the chemical processes -
The 1958 flu pandemic caused an estimated one million to two million deaths worldwide and is generally considered to have been the least severe of the three influenza pandemics of the 20th century. -
The focus of the 21st-century health care system must be the patient. Such a system will ensure that patients have access to the safest and highest-quality care, regardless of how much they earn, where they live, how sick they are, or the color of their skin.