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Period: 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE
Early Beginnings
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3900 BCE
Disease Caused By?
Evil Spirits -
3600 BCE
Treatments for Sick?
Removing of the cranium to perform exorcisms -
3100 BCE
Medicines used Today
Digitalis: comes from foxglove plant. Used to treat heart conditions. Quinine: Comes from bark of cinchona tree. Helps prevent fever, muscle spasms, and malaria. Belladonna and atropine: Comes from poisonous nightshade. Helps relieve muscle spasms and gastrointestinal pain. Morphine: Comes from opium poppy. Helps treat extreme pain. -
Period: 2999 BCE to 399
Ancient Times
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2900 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
The ancient Egyptians were the first people to keep accurate medical records. The community’s priest also practiced as a physician. Calling upon the gods to heal the sick. -
1900 BCE
Ancient Chinese
The ancient Chinese people are the first known people to use forms of acupuncture. -
900 BCE
Ancient Greek
The Ancient Greek people were the first to observe infection as something cause naturally rather than spiritually. The religious belief back by them was that bodies were not to be dissected. The person responsible for these physiological advancements is a man named Hippocrates. He had done much studying of the human body which lead him to the conclusion that there were no supernatural forces causing disease. -
100
Ancient Romans
The ancient Romans were the first people to create organizations of medicine. They sent what we know as doctors to war with soldiers. These were also the first people to use what we know as a plague mask. From this also came the first development of hospitals. The physicians kept rooms in there house specifically for the sick. -
Period: 400 to 800
Dark Ages
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500
Why did the study of medicine stop?
The stop of the study of medicine came about because Roman priests believed that if their medicine wasn’t good enough the difference between life and death was in God’s hands. -
700
How do they treat disease?
In the Roman Empire they treated sickness with prayer. On occasion they would use herbal mixtures but that was not the primary treatment. -
Period: 800 to 1400
The Middle Ages
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1100
Epidemics
The Middle Ages were a time for very many Epidemics; Also known as plagues (that’s where the name plague mask came from). The plague the cause the most damage was the Bubonic plague or the Black Death, which killed around 60 million people alone. This time also started many smaller epidemics including: Smallpox, Diphtheria, Syphilis, and Tuberculosis. Most of which we have vaccines now, but back then they were a huge deal. -
Period: 1350 to
The Renaissance
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1450
Rebirth
During the Renaissance they decided to continue the study of medicine. It was during this time that the first medical schools and universities were introduced. The acceptance of dissection (for studying) was far more wide spread during this time. This is also when the production of medical textbooks began. -
Period: 1501 to
16th and 17th Centuries
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1515
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci studied anatomy and drew one of the most famous medical drawings of all time. -
1550
Gabriele Fallopius
Gabriele Fallopius was the person to discover the existence of the fallopian tubes. -
1563
Bartolommeo Eustachio
Bartolommeo Eustachio discovered the tube that connects the ear to the throat. Also called the Eustachian Tube. -
William Harvey
William Harvey was the first person to correctly explain the circulation of blood and pumping of the heart -
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope, proving the existence of life smaller than the eye can see. This incredible invention lead to the discovery of tooth decay. -
Apothecaries
Apothecaries were the first known forms of pharmacies. Selling herbal mixtures and spices for at home remedies. This first started in medieval England. -
Period: to
The 18th century
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Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin had the amazing invention of the bifocals, which helped lead us to the glasses and contacts more than 1/3 of us use today. He also discovered that colds can be transmitted from person to person. -
Medical Students Learning
The eighteenth century provided many new ways of teaching medicine including lectures and classroom dissections to show how diseases effect the body. -
Joesph Priestley
Joesph Priestley discovered the element of oxygen. He also discovered that plants filter carbon dioxide to create more oxygen. The processes are called photosynthesis and cellular respiration. -
Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner discovered the vaccination for the once deadly epidemic Smallpox. This discovery led to the immunization and to preventive medicine in public health. -
René Laënnec
René Laënnec invented the stethoscope. The first ever stethoscope was made from wood. This invention increased the ability to hear the heart and lungs to discover if disease is present. -
Period: to
19th and 20th centuries
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Ignaz Semmelweis
Ignaz Semmelweis discovered the cause of childbed fever. This sickness effected many woman during child birth. He discovered that the reason it happens is because the physicians would dissect bodies, not wash their hands, then deliver the babies. -
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale took a group of 38 women to care for soldiers during the Crimean War. She was very dedicated to her practice in nursing. The Nightingale Fund is an organization raising very large amounts of money to pay for things like the training, protection, and living costs of nurses. -
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur is also known as the father of microbiology. He discovered that microorganisms lived everywhere. He introduced the idea that microorganisms create diseases. In addition he created the method of killing bacteria in milk called pasteurization. And on top of all of that he created a vaccine for rabies. -
Dmitri Ivanovski
Dmitri Ivanovski discovered lots of diseases and infections that are caused by microorganisms. These diseases include: Poliomyelitis, rabies, measles, influenza, chicken pox, German measles, herpes zoster, and mumps. -
Joseph Lister
Joseph Lister was the first doctor to use antiseptics during surgery. He did this because he heard about the discovery of disease causing microorganisms and knew it would help fight infection from the incision area. -
Ernst Von Bergmann
Ernst Von Bergmann developed asepsis. This was a method to keep the operating room clean and sterile before and during procedures. -
Robert Koch
Robert Koch developed the culture plate method to identify pathogens. He also identified the tuberculosis causing bacteria. We can also thank him for explaining the great importance of cleanliness and sanitation to help stop the spreading of diseases. -
Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich discovered the effect medicine has on disease causing microorganisms. Though this method was not effective on anything other than microorganisms. Paul also spent a long time trying to find the microorganism that causes syphilis. Then finally after 605 failed experiments he finally discovered it. -
Wilhelm Roentgen
Wilhelm Roentgen was the first person to discover x-rays. The first picture he took was of his wife’s hand. Before this doctors just cut a person open to see if a bone was broken. -
Anesthesia
Anesthesia was not used until the 19th and 20th centuries when things like nitrous oxide, ether, and chloroform were discovered. Before this physicians used herbs and alcohol. But the most extreme method of “pain relief” used was choking to cause unconsciousness. -
Sir Alexander Fleming
Sir Alexander Fleming made the amazing discovery of penicillin. This is known as one of the most important discoveries of the twentieth century. This helped treat illnesses that were once considered deadly and we now consider treatable such as gonorrhea, pneumonia, and blood poisoning. -
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud discovered the conscious and unconscious parts of the brain. Determining that the mind and body must work together. Thus proving that physical illness can be caused by emotional distress. His studies were the building blocks for both psychology and psychiatry. -
Gerhard Domagk
Gerhard Domagk discovered sulfonamide compounds. These were the first medicine to effectively kill bacteria. -
Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk made the strange discovery that a dead polio virus could cause immunity towards poliomyelitis. This virus left thousands of children and adults alike paralyzed. This discovery saved the quality of life for many many people. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin discovered that using a live polio virus was much more effective in immunization. We now use this vaccine in babies. -
Francis Crick and James Watson
Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the molecular structure of DNA. Now called a double helix. Their model explained how DNA replicates and how hereditary information is coded in it. They won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962. -
Christian Barnard
Christian Barnard performed the first actually successful heart transplant in 1968. -
Ben Carson
Ben Carson pioneered the separation of Siamese twins. Also in performing hemispherectomies (surgeries on the brain to stop seizures). -
Period: to
21st century
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3d printing
3d printers can be used to print things like implants and joints for surgical procedures, prosthetics, skin, and even pills. 3d printing allows for more patient customization and, ultimately, more treatment possibilities. The first medical 3d print was in 2002 of human bladder tissue. -
Neurostimulation
Neurostimulation is a method used to adjust and program-specific parts of the nervous system through invasive or non-invasive techniques. During the early 2000s, this technology was primarily used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. But the last decade has found a new way to use it. -
Artificial Intelligence
AI is proving to be very valuable when it comes to detecting diseases early and for confirming an accurate diagnosis quicker. For example, in breast cancer care, the use of AI is enabling the review of mammograms to be 30 times faster with 99% accuracy, reducing the need for unnecessary biopsies. -
Telemedicine
Telehealth and telemedicine have become increasingly in demand since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020. Telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services, while telehealth encompasses remote non-clinical services -
Technology in mental health
AI powered tools are transforming the way mental health treatments are delivered. AI chatbots, like Woebot, that can help patients practice their cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies to smartphone apps, and voice recognition software Ellipsis, can analyze a patient's voice and speech patterns for warning signs of emotional distress.