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Evil Spirts
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A tribal doctor cut out a part of the cranium to exorcise the spirit
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Digitalis - used to treat heart conditions
Quinine - controls fever, relieves muscle spasms, and helps prevent malaria
Belladonna - relieve muscle spasms, especially in GI pain
Morphine - effective for treating severe pain, very addicting and only used when absolutely needed -
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Egyptians were the earliest people to keep health records, and in Egyptian culture, priests acted as physicians. They used medicine to heal disease, learned how to splint fractures, and treated disorders by bloodletting using leeches. -
The ancient Chinese were the first to use primitive acupuncture therapies, they learned to cure a variety of illnesses and diseases using stone tools.
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Ancient Greeks were the first to study the causes of disease and to confirm that illnesses may have natural cause rather than spiritual. Religious custom did not allow bodies to be dissected during ancient times. The father of medicine, Hippocrates based his knowledge on what he could see. He kept careful notes of the signs and symptoms of certain diseases, and found that disease wasn’t caused by spirits.
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The Romans learned from the Greeks and brought clean water into their cities by using aqueducts, they built sewers to carry off waste, and they also built public baths. Romans were also the first with organized medical care, they sent physicians and medical supplies with their armies to care for soldiers that were wounded in battle. This was also the start of hospitals, buildings went up to hold and care for the sick. -
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The Roman Empire was conquered by the Huns
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The primary treatment was prayer, and medication consisted of herbal mixtures, and care was custodial.
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Epidemics killed millions during the middle age. Bubonic plague killed 60 million alone, and other uncontrolled diseases included smallpox, diphtheria, syphillis, and tuberculosis. -
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During this period they saw the rebirth of learning, new scientific progress began and many developments were made:
- The building of universities and med schools for research
- The acceptance of dissection of the body for study
- The development of the printing press and publishing of books -
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He studied and recorded the anatomy of the body -
Discovered fallopian tubes -
Discovered the tube leading from the ear to the throat -
Understood physiology, and was able to describe the circulation of blood and the pumping of the heart -
He invented the microscope, and discovered the bacteria that causes tooth decay -
Apothecaries were early pharmacies started in this time. In medieval England, apothecaries engaged in trading drugs and spices from the east.
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Discovered bifocals, and found that colds could be passed from person to person -
Medical students not only went to lectures but were also were allowed to observe patients at the bedside. When a patient died, they were allowed to dissect them and observe the disease process.
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Discovered the element oxygen, and also observed that plants refresh air that has lost its oxygen.
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Discovered a type of vaccination for smallpox. This discovery led to immunity to the disease and to preventative medicine in public health. -
He invented the stethoscope
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He identified the cause of childbed fever, which was caused by physicians not washing their hands after dissecting dead bodies and then helping a woman give birth to her child. Once his studies were proven correct, cleanliness and handwashing became an accepted practice and is an important way we control the spreading of infections.