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Herbs and plants were used as medicines, and some, such as morphine for pain and digitalis for the heart, are still used today.
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It was believed that illness and diseases were caused by supernatural spirits and demons.
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The average lifespan was 20 years in the primitive times.
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They would call upon the gods to heal them when disease would occur.
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Physicians were priests who studied medicine and surgery in temple medical schools. Imhotep (2725? BC) may have been the first physician.
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The average lifespan in Ancient Egypt was 20-30 years.
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Religious prohibitions against dissection results in inadequate knowledge of body structure.
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Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body.
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The average life span was 20- 30 years
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Hippocrates (460-377 BC) is called the father of medicine:
-Developed an organized method to observe the human body
-Recorded signs and symptoms of many diseases
-Created a high standards of ethics, the Oath of Hippocrates, used by physicians today. -
Aristotle (384- 322 BC) dissected animals and is called the founder of comparative anatomy.
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The average life span in the Ancient Greek was 25-35 years.
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Began public health and sanitation systems:
-created aqueducts to carry clean water to the cities
-Built sewers to carry waste materials away from the cities
-Used filtering systems in public baths to prevent disease
-Drained marshes to reduce the incidence of malaria -
Early hospitals developed when physicians cared for ill people in rooms in their homes. Later hospitals were religious and charitable institutions housed in monasteries and convents.
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The average life span was 25-35 years
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Emphasis was placed on saving the soul, and the study of medicine was prohibited.
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Prayer and divine intervention were used to treat illness and disease.
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The average life span was 20-30 years
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Physicians began to obtain knowledge at medical universities in the 9th century.
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A pandemic (worldwide epidemic) of the bubonic plague (Black Death) killed 3/4 of the population of Europe and Asia.
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Rhazes, an Arab physician, became known as the Arab Hippocrates: based diagnoses on observations of the signs and symptoms of disease, Developed criteria for distinguishing between smallpox and measles in AD 920, suggested that blood was the cause of many infectious diseases, began the use of animal gut for suture material.
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Rebirth of the science of medicine
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Dissection of the body began to allow a better understanding of anatomy and physiology
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Artists Michelangelo (1475-1564) and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) used dissection in order to draw the human body more realistically.
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The average life span was 30-40 years
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Causes of diseases were still not known and many people died from infections and puerperal (childbirth) fever
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Ambroise Pare (1510-1590), a French surgeon, known as Father of Modern Surgery: established use of ligatures to bind arteries and stop bleeding, eliminated use of boiling oil to cauterize wounds, improved treatment of fractures and promoted use of artificial limbs.
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Identified the Fallopian tubes in the female, and Described the tympanic membrane in the ear
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Average life span of 35-45 years
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William Harvey (1578-1657) described the circulation of blood to and from the heart in 1628
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Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) invented the microscope in 1666
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Apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed, and sold medications
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The average life span was 35-45 years
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Gabriel Fahrenheit (1733-1804) created the first mercury thermometer in 1714
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James Lind prescribed lime juice containing vitamin C to prevent scurvy in 1795
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Edward Jenner (1749-1823) developed a vaccination for smallpox in 1796
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The average life span was 40-50 years
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The first successful blood transfusion was performed on humans in 1818 by James Blundell
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Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) became the first female physician in the United States in 1849
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Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was the founder of modern nursing: established efficient and sanitary nursing units during the Crimean War in 1854, Opened the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London in 1860, and began the professional eduction of nurses.
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Clara Barton (1822-1912) founded the American Red Cross in 1881
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Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923) discovered roentgenograms (X-rays) in 1895
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The average life span was 40-60 years
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Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) discovered penicillin in 1928
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The first heart-lung machine was used for open-heart surgery
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-The first Liver transplant was performed by Thomas Starzl in 1963
-The first lung transplant was performed by James Hardy in 1964
-The first successful heart transplant was performed by Christian Barnard in 1968 -
Computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan was developed in 1975
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The first “test tube” baby, Louise Brown, was born in England in 1978
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The average life span was 60-70 years
