Pre histroy Under
standing is based on
spirits and gods
no real medical
care people die
very young
30-35 for men
and 15-25 for
women due to
child birth
dangers
Most people suffered
form
Osteoarthritis(painful
swelling of the joints)
Trephining is a
popular form of
surgery- designed to
release the evil spirits
from the sick person's
body through dfilling a
hole in their skull
2000BC
Egyptian Empire
development of
Papyrus, trade and a
greater understanding
of the body ( based
on irrigation channels
from the river nile)
They believed the body had
42 blood channels and that
illness was caused by
undigested food blocking these
channels
1500-300BC
Greek empire medicine
still based on religion(
TEMPLE OF
ASCLEPIUS)
By 200BC there was a temple
in every town, Here patients
would get better.but mainly
through the standard of
rest,relaxation and exercise(like
a greek health spa)
450BC
Hippocrates-
founder of the
FOUR
HUMOURS
theory, this
theory stated
that there were
four main
elements in
the body
BLOOD,
YELLOW BILE,
BLACK BILE
AND PHLEGM.
Illness was
caused by
having too
much of one of
these humours
inside of you.
He also wrote
the
HIPPOCRATIC
COLLECTION,
more than 60
books detailing
symptoms and
treatments of
many diseases
384-322BC
Aristotle- used
ideas of other
Greek
philosophers
and produced a
clear statement
and theory
about cause
and treatment
of disease. He
suggested that
imbalance was
cause and not a
symptom of
illness
400BC-500AD
Roman Empire-the
Romans were renowned
for excellent public
health facilities. The
Romans introduced
AQUEDUCTS, PUBLIC
BATHS,SEWERS,AND
DRAINS, etc. In the
city of Rome, water
commissioners were
appointed to ensure
good supplies of clean
water
162AD
Galen- continues
the four humours
theory but extends
it to have the
humours in
opposition to each
other. This meant
that an illness could
be treated in one of
two ways, either
removing the
"excess" humour or
by adding more to
its opposite. Galen
also proves the
brain is important in
the body(operation
on the pig). Galen's
books would
become the
foundation of
medical treatment
in Europe for the
next 1500 years
DARK AGES
Britain and
Europe return
almost back to
pre-historic
times under
SAXONS AND
VIKINGS
860-925AD
AL-RAZI(Rhazes)
wrote over 200
books and was the
first to use opium for
'anesthesia'. He also
highlighted the effect
of psychological
factors on a person's
health
980-1037AD
IBN SINA
(Avicenna)-wrote
"The Canon"- a
complete medical
encyclopaedia that
was used for
hundreds of years
after to teach
European
physicians
1100-1200AD
When Europeans went on crusades
to the Holy Land in the 12th and 13th
centuries, their doctors gained
first-hand knowledge of Arab
medicine, which was advanced by
Western standards
1347-1348AD
BLACK
DEATH-across
Europe more than
25million people die.
Two types of plague
Bubonic-50-75%
chance of death.
Carried by fleas on
rats Death usually
within 8 days
Pneumonic-airborne disease 90-95%
chance of death within only 2-3 days
People had no idea how to stop
the plague, People thought it was
caused b various factors, i.e the
Jews, the planets, the gods etc
1400AD
By 1400 there were over 500
hospitals in England organised
through the christian Church
1455AD
The Printing
press was
invented. This
allowed for
the massive
reproduction
of books and
writings
without using
the Church as
a medium
1517
Protestantism-
begins in
Europe. This
slowly
decreases the
power of the
Catholic church
over medicine
Timeline in order
LEFT_RIGHT
1543AD
Andreus Vesalius-proved
Galen wrong regarding the
jawbone and that blood
flows through the septum in
the heart. He published
"THE FABRIC OF THE
BODY" in 1543. His work
encouraged other to
question Galen's theories
1570AD
Ambrosie Pare'-
developed
LIGATURES to stop
bleeding during and
after surgery. This
reduced the risk of
infection. He also
developed an
Ointment to use
instead of
cauterising wounds
1628AD
WILLIAM
HARVEY-published his
famous book"AN
ANATOMICAL
ACCOUNT OF THE
MOTION OF THE
HEART AND BLOOD"
this proved that blood
flows around the
body, and is carried
away from the heart
by the arteries and is
returned through the
veins. He proved that
the heart acts as a
pump recirculating the
blood and that blood
does'nt "burn up"
1665AD
THE GREAT
PLAGUE- little
improvement
since 1348- still
have no idea
what is causing
it and still no
understanding of
how to control or
prevent it. In
London, almost
69,000 people
died that year
1668AD
ANTONY VAN
LEEUWENHOEK-
creates a superior
microscope that
magnifies up to 200
times. This is a
huge improvement
on Robert Hooke's
original microscope
1721AD
INOCULATION
first used in
Europe,brought
over from Turkey
by Lady Montague
EDWARD
JENNER-discovered
vaccinations using
COWPOX TO TREAT
SMALLPOX. Jenner
published his findings in
1798. The impact was slow
and sporadic. In 1805
Napoleon had all hiss
soldiers vaccinated.
However vaccination
was'nt made compulsory in
Britian until 1852
1799AD
HUMPHREY
DAVY- discovers the
pain-killing attributes
of NITROUS
OXIDE(Laughing
Gas). It would
become the main
anaesthetic used in
Dentistry.Horace
Wells would try and
get the gas
international
recognition. He
committed suicide the
day before it got the
recognition it
deserved.
1830AD
INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION-
this had a
dramatic effect on
public health, As
more and more
families moved
into towns and
cities, the
standards of
public health
declined. Families
often shared
housing, and
living and working
conditions were
poor. People
worked 15hour
days had very
little money
1831AD
CHOLERA EPIDEMIC_people infected
with cholera suffered muscle
cramps,diarrhoea,dehydration and a fever,
The patient would most likely be killed by
dehydration, Cholera returned regularly
throughout the century, with major
outbreaks in 1848 and 1854.
1842AD
EDWIN
CHADWICK-
reports on the
state of health of
the people in
cities, towns and
villages to the poor
Law Commission
(fore-runner to the
public health
reforms). He
highlights the
differences in
life-expectancy
caused by living
and working
conditions. He
proposes that
simple changes
could extend the
lives of the working
class by an
average of 13
years
1845AD
HORACE WELLS
uses nitrous oxide
as an anaesthetic
for the first time.
1846AD
First
successful
use of Ether
as an
anaesthetic in
surgery by
William
Morton. The
anaesthetic
had some
very severe
drawbacks. In
particular it
irritated the
lungs and was
highly
flammable
1847AD
JAMES
SIMPSON
DISCOVERS
CHLOROFORM
During an after
dinner sampling
session with
friends, He
struggles to get
the medical world
to accept the drug
above Ether.
Doctors were wary
of how much to
give to patients.
Only 11 weeks
after its first use by
Simpson, a
patient died under
chloroform in
Newcastle. The
patient was only
having an
in-growing toenail
removed(non-life
threatening). It
took the backing
of QUEEN
VICTORIA when
she was given
chloroform during
childbirth in 1853
for chloroform and
Simpson to gain
worldwide
publicity
IGNAZ
SEMELWEISS
orders his
students to wash
their hands
before
surgery(but only
after they had
been in the
morgue)
FIRST PUBLIC
HEALTH ACT in
Britiain-it allowed ocal
authorities to make
improvements if they
wanted to and if
ratepayers gave them
their support. It
enabled local
authorities to borrow
oney to pay for the
improvments. It was
largely ineffective as it
was'nt made
compulsory for
councils to enforce it.
Their was an element
of the
"LAISSEZ_FAIRE"
style of government
1854AD
CRIMEAN WAR-
FLORENCE
NIGHTINGALE and
MARY SEACOLE
contribute majorly to
the improvements in
Hospitals in
Hospitals. Florence
Nightingale wrote
two books that
would have a
worldwide
influence, (NOTES
ON NURSING AND
NOTES IN/ON
HOSPITALS). she
also set up Nursing
schools
JOHN SNOW
proves the
link between
the cholera
epidemic and
the water
pump in
BROAD
STREET,
London.
Unfortunately
he was
unable to
convince the
government
to make any
substantial
reforms.
1857AD
QUEEN
VICTORIA
publicly
advocates use
of Chloroform
after birth of
her eighth
child
1858AD
THE GREAT STINK
the sumer of 1858 was
very hot and as river
levels fell, the horrid
smells spread across
London and into the
Houses of Parliament.
This led to JOSEPH
BAZALGETTE
designing and building
London's sewer system.
1858AD
DOCTORS''
QUALIFICATIONS
HAD TO BE
REGULATED
through the
general Medical
council
1861AD
1861 GERM THEORY
developed by Louis
Pasteur whilst he was
working on a method
to keep beer and wine
fresh-this changed the
whole understanding
of how illnesses are
caused
865AD
ELIZABETH
GARRETT_ANDERSON-first
female doctor in the UK
1865AD
OCTAVIA HILL begins buying slum
houses and cleaning them up to
provide better housing for workers.
Her influence helped to persuade
the government to pass the 1875
ARTISANS'DWELLING ACT, giving
councils the power to knock down
slums on health grounds
1867AD
JOSEPH LISTER
begins using
CARBOLIC SPRAY
during surgery to fight
infection. It reduces
the casualty rate of his
operations from 45.7%
of deaths to just 15%.
Initially he received
alot of opposition as
the spray was an
irritant to the surgeons'
skin. Based on Lister's
work, Surgery
progressed towards
ASETIC SURGERY (
where there are no
germs present during
surgery) from 1887, all
instrument were
steam-sterilised
1875AD
SECOND PUBLIC
HEALTH ACT-now
made compulsory.
Major requirement is
that sewers must be
moved away from
housing and that
houses must be a
certain distance
apart
1876AD
PUBLIC HEALTH
IMPROVEMENTS- in
the UK the government
introduced new laws
against the pollution of
rivers, the sale of poor
quality food and new
building regulations were
enforced
1880AD
JOSEPH
LISTER
uses
sterilised
catgut for
internal
stiches
1881AD
ROBERT KOCH
discovers the bacteria
that causes
ANTHRAX. he
establishes a new
method of staining
bacteria. Using
Koch's methods the
causes of many
diseases were
identified quickly; (
1880- typhus)
(1882-Tuberculosis)
(1883-Colera)
(1884-Tetanus)
(1886-Pneumonia)
(1887-Meningitis)
(1894-Plague)
(1898-Dysentery)
1889AD
WILLIAM HALSTEAD
introduced the wearing of
sterilised rubber gloves and
surgical masks to prevent
further infection in surgery
1895AD
X-rays Discovered by
WILHELM RONTGEN,
Though it is an important
discovery, it is only WW1
and the treatment of soldiers
that propels it into the
medical spotlight
1895AD
MARIE CuRIE
discovers
radioactive
elements
radium and
polonium. she
will eventually
win two nobel
prizes for her
work on X-Rays
and on Radium
1901AD
KARL
LANDSTEINER
discovers that there
are different blood
groups-this leads to
the first 100%
successful BLOOD
TRANSFUSIONS
1905AD
PAUL EHRLICH discovers
first "magic bullet"-Salvarsan
606 to treat Syphilis. The
problem was it was based on
arsenic and so could kill the
patient too easily