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4000 BCE
Early Beginnings
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3900 BCE
Disease Cause
Early Spirits -
3600 BCE
Treatment for Sick
Prayer, blood letting, exorcism, and amputation -
3100 BCE
Medicines Used Today
Digitalis- For Heart
Quinine- Digestion
Belladonna and atropine- Nausea
Morphine- Pain Medicine -
2900 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
Were the earliest to keep accurate health records. The priest took on the role as physicians and used medicines to heal disease. They also learned about splinting fractures and treated some disorders by bloodletting by utilizing leeches. -
1900 BCE
Ancient Chinese
Were the first civilization to use primitive acupuncture therapies therapies. They learned that these practices could treat a variety of illness and diease with acupuncture therapies. This developed into the advance practice of Chinese acupuncture, and is still used today. -
100 BCE
Ancient Romans
The Romans were the first to begin to organize medicine. Additionally, they also were the first to prioritise sanitisation by wearing masks. Physicians during this time would keep a room in their house for the ill, creating the first hospitals. -
Period: 400 to 800
Dark Age
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500
Stoped the study of medicine, why?
During this time, the churches power was at its peak. The church believed that death was in the hands of God, therefore, medicine wasn’t studied. -
700
How do they treat disease?
Due to the importance of religion at that time, the primary treatment was prayer. Medication consisted of herbal mixtures. -
Period: 800 to 1400
Middle Ages
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900
Ancient Greeks
They were the first to study the cause of disease and determined that illnesses could potentially have natural causes instead of spiritual causes. Also, during ancient times, Religious customs did not allow bodies to be dissected. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, wrote the standards of ethics called the Oath of Hippocrates. -
1100
Epedimics
The Bubonic Plaque is the most notable epidemic during the Middle Ages. This disease alone killed over 60 million. -
Period: 1350 to
Renaissance
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1450
Rebirth?
The renaissance translates to, “rebirth.” During this period, universities became more developed, it became socially acceptable to dissect for medical research, and the development of the printing press allowed greater access to knowledge because it allowed books to be copied faster. -
Period: 1501 to
16th and 17th Centuries
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1515
Leonardo da Vinci
He studied and recorded anatomy of the human body. -
1550
Gabrielle Fallopius
Discovered the fallopian tubes. -
1563
Bartolommeo Eustachio
Discovered the Eustachian tube. -
William Harvey
He used his knowledge to understand physiology and was able to describe the circulation of blood pumping in the heart. -
Antonio von Leeuwenhoek
Invented the microscope, which was a breakthrough in the world of science because it established that there is life that is smaller than the eye can see. -
Apothecaries
Apothecaries were early pharmacists. -
Period: to
18th Century
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Benjamin Franklin
Discovered bifocals and discovered that the cold cans be passed from person to person. -
Medical Students Learning
Attended lectures, directed humans bodies for learning, and assisted at bedside. -
Joseph Priestley
Discovered the element of oxygen. -
Edward Jenner
Discovered the method of vaccination for small pox. This led to the creation of preventative health in public medicine. -
Rene Laennec
Invented the stethoscope. Originally, it was made out of wood and allowed doctors to determine if a disease was present in a patient by listening to their heart and lungs. -
Period: to
19th and 20th Centuries
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Ignaz Semmelweis
Discovered the cause of childbed fever. He also proposed hygienic practices in medicine. -
Florence Nightingale
The first modern day nurse. Changed the role of nurses the the quality of healthcare for patients. -
Louis Pasteur
The father of microbiology. -
Dmitri Ivanoksk
Discovered that some diseases were caused by microorganisms, like rabies and chickenpox. -
Joseph Lister
He used carbolic acid on wounds to kills germs that caused infections. He became the first doctor to use an antiseptic. -
Ernst Von Bergmann
He developed asepsis and a method to keep an area germ-free before and during surgery. -
Robert Koch
Advocated the importance of cleanliness and sanitation in preventing the spread of disease. Additionally, he discovered many disease-causing organisms. -
Paul Ehrlich
His advancements brought about the use of chemicals to fight diseases caused by microorganisms. -
Wilhelm Roentgen
He discovered X-Rays, which aided doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. -
Anesthesia
During the 19th century, early physicians discovered that nitrous oxide, ether, and chloroform put patients unconscious and allowed for a painless surgery. -
Sir Alexander Fleming
Discovered that penicillin has the ability to kill life-threatening bacteria. -
Sigmund Freud
Discovered the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. He determined that ultimately the body and mind work together. This is the basis of phycology and psychiatry. -
Gerard Domagk
Discovered sulfonamide compounds which were the first medications effective in killing bacteria. -
Jonas Salk
Discovered that the dead polio virus would cause immunity to poliomyelitis which paralyzed thousands of people each year. -
Albert Sabin
Used a live polio virus vaccine, which is more effective. This vaccine is now used to immunize babies against the disease. -
Francis Crick and James Watson
Discovered the structure of DNA. -
Christian Barnard
Preformed the worlds first, successful heart transplant. -
Ben Carson
Became a trailblazer in separating Siamese twins by preforming hemisphearectomies. -
Period: to
21st Century
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Cyberknife
Surgeries what were once not possible though the traditional method are now possible through a minimally invasive technique by using a cyberkife. The concept was invented by Dr. John Adler. -
Artificial Organs
An artificial organ is a man-made device that is implanted, or integrated, into a human to replace a natural organ. Invented by Willem J. Kolff. -
CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing
Scientists can now modify DNA sequences to offer treatments for genetic disorders. -
Brain Stimulation for Depression
Once, lobotomies were treatment for depression that left patients seriously mangled with little to no effectiveness. Now, deep brain stimulation offers patients who may not of been successful at overcoming depression with medication and therapy a chance for managing the condition in a whole new way. -
Gene Therapy for Rare Diseases
Rare genetic diseases, like Luxtruna, were once unable to be treated, but with the breakthrough of gene therapy, doctors can start treating these conditions at the source.