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Period: 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE
Early beginnings
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3900 BCE
Disease caused by
They were superstitious and believed that illness and disease were caused by supernatural spirits -
3600 BCE
Treatments for sickness
In an attempt to heal, tribal doctors performed ceremonies to exorcise exile spirits. One such ceremony involved an early form of trephining, whereby the tribal doctor would remove part of the cranium, with a primitive tool, to exorcise demons. -
3100 BCE
Medicines used today
Digitalis comes from the foxglove plant. Quinine come from bark of the cinchona tree, it controls fevers, relieves muscles spasms, and helps prevent malaria.
Belladonna and atropine are made from the poisonous nightshade plant. Morphine is made from the opium poppy, it is an effective medication for treating sever pain. It is addicting and used only when nothing else will help. -
Period: 2999 BCE to 399
Ancient Times
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2900 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
They were superstitious and called upon the gods to heal them. In the Egyptian culture, the priests acted as physicians. They used medicines to heal diseases , learned the art splinting fractures, and treated disorders by h bloodletting with the use of leeches. Their primary function is to drain blood around wound can threaten the healing of tissue. -
1900 BCE
Ancient Chinese
The early medical pioneers learned to treat a variety of illness and disease with stone tools. -
900 BCE
Ancient Greeks
They were the first to study the causes of disease and to determine that illness may have natural, than spiritual, causes. During ancient times, religious custom did not allow bodies to be dissected. Hippocrates based his knowledge of anatomy and physiology on observation of the external body. -
100
Ancient Roman’s
They brought clean water into their cities by way of aqueducts (waterways), they built sewers to carry of waste and built public baths with a filtering system. They sent medical equipment and physicians with their armies to care fir wounded soldiers. This was the beginning of hospitals, public buildings for the care of the sick were established. -
Period: 400 to 800
Dark Age
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550
Stopped The Study Of medicine, why
When the Roman’s Empire was conquered by the Huns (nomads from the north), the study of medical science stopped. Because the church believed that life and death were in gods hands, the monks and priests had no interest in how the body functioned. -
700
How Do They Treat Disease?
Scientist have discovered vaccines and medications to control these diseases. It is important to remember that some diseases can become epidemic if people are not vaccinated. -
Period: 800 to 1400
Middle Age
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1100
Epidemics
Terrible epidemics cause millions of deaths during this period. -
Period: 1350 to
Renaissance
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1450
Rebirth
The building of universities and medical schools for research. The acceptance of dissection of the body for study. The development of the printing press and the publishing of books, allowing greater access to knowledge from research. -
Period: 1501 to
16th and 17th centuries
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1515
Leonardo da Vinci
Studied and recorded the anatomy of the body -
1550
Gabrielle Fallopius
Discovered the Fallopian tubes of the female anatomy -
1563
Bartolommeo Eustachio
Discovered the tube leading from the ear to the throat (Eustachian Tube) -
William Harvey
Used his knowledge to understand physiology, and he was able describe the circulation of blood and the pumping of the heart. -
Antoine Von Leeuwenhoek
Invented the microscope, establishing that there is life smaller than the eye can see. -
Apothecaries
Early pharmacies, started in this time. In medieval England, these apothecaries engaged in flourishing trade in drugs and spices from the east -
Period: to
18th Century
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Benjamin Franklin
His discoveries include bifocals, and he found that cold could be passed from person to person. -
Medical Students Learning
Students not only attended lectures in the classroom and laboratory, but also observed patients at the bedside. When a patient died they dissected the body and were able to observe the disease process. -
Joseph Priestly
Discovered the element oxygen. He also observed that plants refresh air that has lost its oxygen, making it usable for respiration. -
Edward Jenner
Discovered a method of vaccination for smallpox. -
Rene Laennec
Invented the stethoscope. The first stethoscope was made of wood. It increased the ability to hear the heart and lungs, allowing doctors to determine if disease was present. -
Period: to
19th and 20th Centuries
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Louise Pasteur
Known as the “Father of Microbiology”, discovered that tiny microorganisms were everywhere. Through his experiments and studies, he proved that microorganisms cause disease. -
Ignaz Semmelweis
Identified the cause of childbed fever (puerperal fever). Large numbers of women died from this fever after giving birth. -
Florence Nightingale
Attracted well educated, dedicated women to the Nightingale School of Nursing. The graduates from this school raised the standards of nursing, and nursing became a respectable profession -
Dmitri Ivanovski
Discovered sulfonamide compounds. These compounds were the first medications effective in killing bacteria. -
Joseph Lister
Learned about Pasteur’s discovery that microorganisms cause infection. He used carbolic acid on wounds to kill germs that cause infection. -
Ernst Von Bergmann
He developed asepsis. He knew from Lister’s and Pasteur’s research that germs cause infections in wounds. He developed a method to keep an area germ free before and during surgery. -
Robert Koch
Discovered many disease causing organisms. He developed the culture plate method to identify pathogens and also isolated the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. -
Paul Ehrlich
Discovered the effect of medicine on disease causing microorganisms. His treatment was effective against some microorganisms but was not effective in killing other bacteria. -
Wilhelm Roentgen
Discovered x-rays in 1895. He took the very first picture using x-rays of his wife’s hand. His discovery allowed doctors to see inside the body and helped them discover what was wrong with the patient. -
Anesthesia
Before the nineteenth century, pain was a serious problem. Surgery was performed on patients without anesthesia. -
Sir Alexander Fleming
Found that penicillin killed life threatening bacteria. The discovery of penicillin is considered one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century. Before penicillin was discovered, people died of illnesses that we consider curable today, including pneumonia, gonorrhea, and blood poisoning. -
Sigmund Freud
Discovered the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. He studied the effects of the unconscious mind on the body. -
Gerhard Domagk
Discovered sulfonamide compounds. These compounds were the first medications effective in killing bacteria. They changed the practice medication by killing deadly disease. -
Jonas Salk
Discovered that a dead polio virus would cause immunity to poliomyelitis. This virus paralyzed thousands of adults and children every year. It seem to attack the most active and athletic people. It was a feared disease, and the discovery of the vaccine saved many people from death or crippling. -
Albert Sabin
Used a live polio virus vaccine, which is more effective. This vaccine is used today immunize babies against this dreaded disease -
Francis Crick and James Watson
They discovered the molecular structure of DNA, based on its known double helix. -
Christian Barnard
Performed the first successful heart transplant in 1968. -
Ben Carson
Continues to be a pioneer in separating Siamese twins and performing hemispherectomies, surgeries on the brain to stop seizures. -
Period: to
21st century
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5 Advancements
Heart disease remains at the top of the list of the country's killers. Dr. Edward Jenner first introduced the idea of vaccinations in 1796, when he successfully prevented a young English boy from getting smallpox. surgery used to be a much graver proposition than it is today.