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Use of leeches in medicine dates back to 800 B.C. This was used for bloodletting to cure fevers, headaches and serious illness.
Today, leeches are used to stimulate blood circulation after skin grafts and reconstructive surgery. -
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Known as the patron of hemorrhoids. This Irish monk suffered from the disease and was miraculously cured after sitting on a hard rock. Medieval doctors would ¨prescribe¨ sitting on St. Fiacreś Rock to cure their hemorrhoids.
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This procedure involved drilling a hole in a human skull to treat illnesses like epilepsy, migraines and other mental disorders.
Today, trepanning can be used to relieve the brain of severe trauma. -
People would put maggots in a cloth and apply it to a wound to prevent gangrene – maggots only eat dead flesh, ignoring healthy, live tissue, and so it was a way to prevent the spread of infection in a wound. Today, maggot therapy is still used to clear out dead tissue and prevent infection for a variety of things, particularly ulcers.
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The Saxons established the first hospital in Europe. This was a place where patients could be isolated from the public to reduce other people getting sick. This is important because without hospitals, we would not have a safe and sanitized location for patients.
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In his lifetime, da Vinci would secretly dissect corpses and illustrate anatomy. His work would be the foundation of modern anatomy. He is important because he gave modern coroners a foundation for anatomy.
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This was a set of 7 books of anatomy, the first of its kind, with illustrations of the human anatomy. This is important because it helped more people understand anatomy.
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He developed ligatures to stop bleeding during and after surgery. He also developed an ointment to use instead of cauterizing wounds. This is important because it reduced the risk of infection in a wound, which could be life threatening.
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Urine was commonly used as an antiseptic to wash battle wounds and even used on plague. Urine is sterile when it leaves the body, which was cleaner than most water sources at the time.
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Autopsy's were introduced in Europe by the Greeks, but with the rise of Churches, the autopsy was attacked as a horrible offense against the dead. But this is important because without autopsy's, law officials would never know the cause of deaths and how to prevent them.
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Distinguished autopsy as a science rather than an art, as with Da Vinci.
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Sir Humphry Davy announced the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide (aka. laughing gas) in 1800. This is important because dentists are able to use it to numb up patients without fully putting them to sleep.
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In 1816, a French physician named René Laënnec invented the stethoscope. This is an important instrument because today, the stethoscope may be one of the most common instruments used by doctors. It is used to detect internal sounds in humans or animals, such as the heartbeat.
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Cholera, an acute infectious disease caused by bacteria in fecal-contaminated food and water or undercooked seafood, creates diarrhea, vomiting and severe dehydration that can lead to death.
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In 1889, a German chemist created aspirin, the most widely beneficial drugs. This is important because it can be used for mild to moderate pain and for things such as headaches, toothaches etc.
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In 1890, Emil Von Behring discovered antitoxins and used them to develop vaccines. This is important because without vaccines, people can get the most deadly diseases in the world and have no way of preventing them.
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A German physicist named Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays. This is important because without x-rays, it would be difficult to see and understand internal injuries.
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Landsteiner was able to describe blood compatibility, meaning he could describe what happens when a person receives a blood transfusion from another human of either compatible or incompatible blood type), developing the ABO system of blood typing. This system classifies the bloods of human beings into A, B, AB, and O groups. This is important because blood is very important and this is such an extreme medical discovery.
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Austrian-American Karl Landsteiner described blood compatibility and rejection during blood transfusions.
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Dr. Paul Dudley White discovers a new tool for specializing in the heart and its functions.
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Edward Mallanby discovers Vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets
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The discovery of insulin occurred in 1921 following the ideas of a Canadian orthopedic surgeon named Frederick G. Banting, the chemistry skills of his assistant Charles Best, and John MacLeod of the University of Toronto in Canada.
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In 1928, a Scottish bacteriologist named Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. This is very important because penicillin plays a major role in treating bacterial diseases. It also saved many lives during WWll
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In 1953, Microbiologist Selman A. Waksman discovered streptomycin. This discovery is important because it was later used in the treatment of tuberculosis and other diseases.
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This vaccine was as an alternative to the injected vaccine. This is important because it is a lot more safe and less painful.
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Doctors at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom generate a mini-liver the size of a small coin from human cord blood stem cells.
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Scientists discover how to use human skin cells to create embryonic stem cells.
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The Federal Drug Administration approves the first human clinical trials in the U.S. for a wearable artificial kidney designed by Blood Purification Technologies Inc. in Beverly Hills, CA.
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DNA from an extinct woolly mammoth is spliced into that of an elephant. Scientists then successfully use the ¨revived¨ DNA sequence to sequence the mammoth´s complete genome.
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Ohio State researchers developed a new technology called tissue nanotransfection (TNT Technology) that can reprogram skin cells to repair organs and blood vessels.
