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During this time, people believed that diseases were caused by supernatural spirits.
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Exorcisms, including trephining, practices as well as herbal and plant medicines were used to treat the sick.
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Medicines used in the early beginning were Digitalis, Quinine, Belladonna, and Morphine.
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The Egyptians were the first people to keep accurate health records. The priests acted as physicians and they learned the art of splinting fractures but they were superstitious and called upon the gods to heal them.
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The ancient Greeks discovered that diseases might have natural rather than spiritual causes. During ancient times, religious custom did not allow bodies to be dissected. Hippocrates based on his knowledge of anatomy on observation of the external body. With these records he found that disease was not caused by supernatural forces.
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The Romans learned from the Greeks and developed a sanitation system and they did this by bringing clean water into their cities by using waterways. The Romans were also the first to organize medical care and the Roman physicians kept a room in their home for the ill and that was the beginning of hospital development.
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For a period of 1,000 years medicine was only practiced in converts and monasteries and this was because when the Roman Empire was conquered by the Huns.
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The primary treatment was prayer. Medication was consisted of herbal mixtures and care was custodial. -
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Terrible epidemics caused millions of deaths during this period.
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The Renaissance period saw the rebirth of learning. During this period, new scientific progress began. There were many developments during this period. The building of universities and medical schools for research. The acceptance of dissection of the body for study. Dissection means: Act or process of dividing,taking apart. The development of the printing press and the publishing of books, allowing greater access to knowledge from research.
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Leonardo da Vinci studied and recorded the anatomy of the body he also did so in how he viewed the human anatomy by drawing pictures. -
Gabriel discovered the fallopian tubes of the female anatomy.
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He discovered the tube leading from the ear to the throat.
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William used this knowledge to understand physiology, and he was able to describe the circulation of blood and the pumping of the heart. -
Antonie invented the microscope, establishing that there is life smaller than the human eye can see. he once scraped his teeth and found the bacteria that causes tooth decay. although it was not realized yet the germs that cause disease were now visible.
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Apothecaries, early pharmacies, started in this time. In medieval England, these apothecaries engaged in a flourishing trade in drugs and spices from the East.
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Ben's discoveries affect us in many ways. His discoveries include bifocals, and he found out that colds could be passed from person to person. -
Students not only went attended lectures in the classroom and laboratory, but they also observed patients at the bedside. when a patient died, they were able to observe the disease process by dissecting the body. This led to a better understanding of illness and death.
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Joseph discovered the element of oxygen. He also observed that plants refresh air that has lost its oxygen, making it usable for respiration.
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Edward discovered a method of vaccination for smallpox (Which is now not always life threatening) Smallpox killed many people in epidemics. His discovery also led to immunization and to preventive medicine in public health.
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René Laënnec invented the stethoscope. The first stethoscope was made out of wood, It increased the ability to hear the heart and lungs, allowing doctors to determine if disease was present. -
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Ignaz identified the cause of childbed fever. Large numbers of women died from this fever after giving birth. Ignaz soon realized that physicians weren't washing their hands before and after being in the "dead room" and later he realized the seriousness of "Scrubbing before surgeries or giving birth" yet when he voiced this nobody took him serious until his studies were eventually proven right, and this is now one of the instructions for now surgeons. -
Florence Nightingale came from a cultured, middle class family who opposed her interest in caring for the ill. her dedication to nursing made her very memorable, she took a group of 38 women to care for soldiers dying from cholera during the Crimean War. She later designed a hospital ward that improved the environment and care of the patients. Prior to this time patients were crowded into small areas that were often filthy compared to hers that had nice comforting space and was kept very clean.
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Louis Pasteur, known for the "Father of Microbiology" discovered that tiny microorganisms were everywhere. Though his experiments and studies, he proved that microorganisms cause diseases.
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He discovered that some diseases are caused by microorganisms and can't be seen without a microscope and these are called viruses.
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Joseph learned about Pasteur's discovery and he used carbolic acid on wounds to kill germs that causer infections. He became the first doctor to use an antiseptic during surgery to help prevent infection.
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The ancient Chinese were the earliest people to use primitive acupuncture therapies that is still in common use today.
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Ernst developed asepsis. He developed a method to keep and are germ-free before and after surgery.
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Robert Koch discovered multiple diseases caused by organisms, including Tuberculosis. This lead him to introducing the importance of cleanliness to help prevent the spread of diseases caused by organisms.
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Paul Ehrlich studied how medicines treated diseases caused by microorganisms. This work on some diseases but not all. After 606 attempts he finally discovered a treatment that worked on syphilis.
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Wilhelm discovered x-rays while practicing on his wife's hand in 1895. This helped doctors to see inside of patients bodies to help treat their illnesses or injuries. -
Nitrous oxide, ether, and chloroform were discovered in the 19th and 20th century giving doctors a way to alleviate pain in patients during surgery and other procedures. Before this, doctors would perform procedures without any pain meds and sometimes would choke patients until they passed out to relieve pain. This lead to many patient deaths.
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Sir Alexander Fleming is responsible for the discovery of penicillin. Penicillin is an important medicine used to treat pneumonia, gonorrhea, and blood poisoning. Before the discovery of penicillin patients would die from these diseases.
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Sigmund Freud discovered that the brain and body work together to make the body work both consciously and subconciously. This discovery lead to the beginning of psychology and psychiatry and how human emotions can affect the body physically.
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Gerhard discovered the first medicine used to treat bacterial infections. These were called sulfonamide compounds.
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Jonas discovers that by using the dead polio virus it could be used in patients without polio to prevent contracting it. This lead to the polio vaccine. -
After John Salk discovered how dead polio cells prevented polio, Albert Sabin discovered that live polio put into vaccines was even more effective in preventing the disease. This was given to patients as babies.
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Francis and James won the noble peace prize in medicine for their discovery of how the molecular structure of DNA works. This helped provide information on how hereditary genetic information is passed down.
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Christian was the first doctor to successfully perform a heart transplant. -
Ben was known for performing hemispherectomies on the brain and separating siamese twins.
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Though not originally invented in the 21st century, the cyberknife received major technology advancements and was approved by the FDA in 2001 to be used to treat tumors anywhere in the body. Previously it was only approved for use on the brain. -
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In the 21st century, Laparoscopic surgery advancements lead to single port surgeries as well as the use of laparoscopic technology on urology, GI, and cardiac patients.
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A new drug class was developed in addition to single-tablet regimens and injectable options that are longer lasting. These developments have made HIV a more manageable disease allowing patients to live more normal lives.
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Before the invention of bionic prosthetics, patients used a socket and harness to attach prosthetic limbs. Bionic prosthetics allows amputees to control their artificial limbs with mind controlled sensors allowing them to control the movement of the prosthetic from their brain with the use of technology.
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Although 3D printed of medical devices has been around since the 1980s, the first natural bone mimicking implant was created in 2016 to replace a patient's vertebrae in their back.