History of medicine

primitive times

3000 BCE

• Illness and diseases were caused by demons and spirits
• they were punishments form the gods
• witch doctors "treated" with ceremonies -morphine and digitals were used as medicine
  
• removing pieces of the skull was a practice (trepanation)
• average life span was 20 years

ancient egyptians

300 BCE

• physicians were priests
• they had the first health records
• bloodletting was a treatment
  
• average lifespans was 20-30 years

ancient greeks

200 BCE

• Hippocrates is the father of medicine
• First to observe the human body and the effects of disease
• they believed illness is a result of natural causes
• they used therapies such as massage, art therapy, and herbal treatment
• they stressed diet, hygiene and exercise as ways to prevent disease
• Average life span was 25-35 years

ancient chinese

220

• they treated the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
• they had pharmacists that consisted of herbs -they had therapies such as acupuncture
• they began research for illness to find out why people get sick
• average lifespan was 20-30 years

ancient romans

410

-they were the first to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers
- later hospitals were religious and charitable institutions in monasteries and convents
- they had the first public health and sanitation systems by building sewers and aqueducts
- someone named Galen established belief that the body was regulated by four body humors; blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile
- average life span was 25-35 years

dark ages

800

• emphasis on saving the soul and study of medicine was prohibited
• prayer and divine intervention were used to treat illness & disease
• monks and priests provided custodial care for sick people Medications were mainly herbal mixtures
• Average life span was 20-30 years
• they still had no understanding on how disease was caused

middle ages

1400

• the bubonic plague in 1300s killed 75% of population in europe and asia
• major diseases included smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plaque, and malaria
• medical universities were established in the 9th Century arabs began requiring physicians pass examinations and obtain licenses
• the average life span was 20-35 years

16th and 17th centuries

1600

• knowledge regarding the human body had greatly increased
• the invention of the microscope
• allowed physicians to see disease causing organisms and it was a huge advancement
• apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed, and sold medications
• ambroise pare a french surgeon, known as the father of modern surgery established use of ligatures to stop bleeding
• average life span 35-45 years
• the cause of disease still not known and many people died from infections

renaissance

1650

• the rebirth of science of medicine
• body dissections led to increased understanding of anatomy and physiology
• the invention of printing press allowed medical knowledge to be shared
• the first anatomy book was published by andreas vesalius
• the average life span was 30-40 years
• disease cause was still a mystery

17th century

1700

• gabriel fahrenheit created the first mercury thermometer
• smallpox vaccine was discovered 1798
• john hunter established scientific surgical procedures and introduced tube feeding
• benjamin franklin invented bifocals
• the average life span 40-50 years

19th century

1800

• rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations -the first open heart surgery was in 1893
• infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease
• invention of the stethoscope was in 1816
• formal training for nurses began
• women became active participants in health care
• the average life span 40-60 years

20th century

1900

• rapid growth in health care
• found out how white blood cells protect against disease
• the structure of DNA and research in gene therapy
• new medications were developed
• insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes
• antibiotics developed to fight infections
  
• new machines developed such as the x-ray, kidney dialysis machine, heart lung machine -surgical and diagnostic techniques developed to cure once fatal conditions -first bone marrow Transplant was in 1956

21st century

2000

• map out human diseases in an effort to get an handle on genetic and autoimmune diseases
• advances in HIV medication
• turned a “death sentence disease” into a manageable chronic disease
• targeted cancer therapies
• identify and kill the cancer cells
• saparoscopic surgery
• minimal invasive surgery
• smoke free laws
• face transplants was in 2005
• vaccines like HPV, human papillomavirus vaccine, prevent cervical cancer, malaria, ebola were invented