history of medicine / andrea chestnut

  • primitive times
    4000 BCE

    primitive times

    • illness was evil spirits or punishment from the gods.
    • witch doctors treated illness
    • herbs and plants used as medicines
    • trepanation used... surgically removing an piece of bone from the skull
    • average life span was 20 years
  • ancient Egyptians
    3000 BCE

    ancient Egyptians

    • physicians were priest
    • health records were first recorded by the ancient Egyptians
    • bloodletting or leaches used as medical treatment.
    • average lifespan was 20-30 years
  • ancient Chinese
    1700 BCE

    ancient Chinese

    • believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
    • recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs
    • used therapies such as acupuncture
    • began to search for medical reasons for illness
    • average lifespan was 20-30 years
  • ancient greeks
    1200 BCE

    ancient greeks

    • Hippocrates (father of medicine) and other physicians
    • first to observe the human body and the effects of disease, led to modern medical sciences
    • believed illness is a result of natural causes
    • used therapies such as massage, art therapy, and herbal treatments
    • stressed diet, hygiene and exercise as ways to prevent disease
    • average lifespan was 25- 35 years
  • ancient romans
    753 BCE

    ancient romans

    • first ones to organize medical care by helping injured soldiers
    • later hospitals were religious -First public health and sanitation systems by building sewers and aqueducts -Galen established belief that the body was regulated by four body humors; blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile
    • lifespan 25- 35 years
  • dark ages
    400

    dark ages

    • emphasis of saving the soul and study of medicine was prohibited
    • prayer and divine intervention were used to treat illness and disease
    • monks and priests provided custodial care for ill people
    • medications were mostly herbal mixtures
    • disease cause still blamed on circumstance, but no understanding
    • average life span 20-30 years
  • 800

    middle ages

    • renewed interest medical practices in ancient Romans and Greeks
    • bubonic plague, 1300s killed 75% of population in Europe and Asia
    • major diseases included, smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plague, and malaria
    • medical university's were established in the 9th century
    • arabs began requiring physicians pass examinations and obtain license
    • average lifespan 20-35 years
  • Renaissance
    1350

    Renaissance

    • rebirth of science of medicine
    • body dissections led to increased understanding of autonomy and physiology
    • invention of the printing press allowed more medical information to be shared
    • first anatomy book was published by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)
    • disease cause STILL a mystery
    • average lifespan 30-40 years
  • 1500

    centuries

    • knowledge regarding the human body GREATLY increased
    • invention of the microscope was a HUGE advancement, allowed physicians to disease causing organisms
    • early pharmacists started making, prescribed, and selling medications
    • use of ligatures established to stop bleeding during surgery
    • cause of disease still not knows, most people died due to infection
    • average lifespan 35-45 years
  • 18th century

    18th century

    • first mercury thermometer created
    • smallpox vaccine discovered
    • scientific surgical procedures established and tube feeding introduced
    • benjamin franklin invented bifocals
    • average lifespan 40-50 years
  • 19th century

    19th century

    • rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccines
    • first open heart surgery
    • infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease
    • invention of the stethoscope
    • formal training for nurses began, and women became active participants in health care
    • average lifespan 40-60 years
  • 20th century

    20th century

    • RAPID GROWTH in health care
    • increased knowledge about the role of blood in the body
    • the structure of DNA and research in gene therapy
    • new medications discovered including, insulin, and and antibiotics
    • new machines developed including x-ray, kidney dialysis machine, and heart lung machine -Surgical and diagnostic techniques developed to cure once fatal conditions
    • first bone marrow transplant
    • test tube babies
    • kidney, liver and heart organ transplants
  • 20th century vaccines

    Diptheria – 1921
    Tuberculosis – 1925
    Pertussis – 1927
    Typhus – 1937
    Influenza – 1945
    Oral Polio – 1962
    Measles – 1963
    Mumps – 1967
    Rubella – 1970
    Chicken Pox – 1974
    Streptococcus Pneumonia – 1977
    Meningitis – 1978
    Hepatitis B – 1981
    Hepatitis A – 1992
    Lyme Disease – 1998
    Rotavirus - 1998
  • 21st century

    21st century

    • human genome project
    • rapid advances in stem cell research
    • advances in HIV medication
    • targeted cancer therapies by identifying and killing cancer cells -Laparoscopic Surgery
    • smoke free laws led to decrease in 2nd hand smoke
    • face transplants
    • vaccines discovered include, HPV, malaria and Ebola