History of Medicine

Primitive Times

4000 BCE

Illness and diseases were
Caused by evil spirits and demons
a punishment from the Gods

Ancient Egyptians

3000 BCE

Physicians were priests, Bloodletting or leeches used as medical treatment. Average life span was 20-30 years

Ancient Chinese

1700 BCE

Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body, used therapies such as acupuncture, and began to search for medical reasons for illness.

Ancient Greeks

1200 BCE

Hippocrates (Father of Medicine) and other physicians
First to observe the human body and the effects of disease – led to modern medical sciences.
Believed illness is a result of natural causes.

Ancient Romans

753 BCE

First to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers, Galen established belief that the body was regulated by four body humors; blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile

Dark Ages

400

Emphasis on saving the soul and study of medicine was prohibited
Prayer and divine intervention were used to treat illness & disease
Monks and priests provide custodial care for sick people
Medications were mainly herbal mixtures
Average life span was 20-30 years

Middle Ages

800

1100: Arabs began requiring physicians pass examinations and obtain licenses
1346-1353: Bubonic Plague killed 75% of population in Europe and Asia
Major diseases included
smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plaque, and malaria
1220-1255: Medical Universities were established
Average life span was 20-35 years

Renaissance

1350

Rebirth of Science of Medicine
Body Dissections led to increased understanding of anatomy and physiology
1440: Invention of printing press allowed medical knowledge to be shared
1543: First anatomy book was published by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)

16th and 17th Centuries

1600

1500’s: Ambroise Pare, a French surgeon, known as the Father of Modern Surgery established use of ligatures to stop bleeding
1600’s: Apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed, and sold medications
1670: Invention of the microscope
Allowed physicians to see disease-causing organisms.
HUGE advancement
Average life span 35-45 years

18th Century

1800

1714: Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) created the first mercury thermometer
1760: Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals
1778: John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures and introduced tube feeding
1798: Smallpox vaccine discovered
Average life span 40-50 years

19th Century

1800

Rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations
1893: First Open Heart Surgery
Infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease
1816: Invention of the stethoscope
1860: Formal training for nurses began
Women became active participants in health care
Average life span 40-60 year

20th Century

1900

RAPID GROWTH in Health Care
Increased knowledge about the role of blood in the body
1901: ABO blood groups discovered
Found out how white blood cells protect against disease
1953: Structure of DNA discovered and research in gene therapy begins

20th Century Continued

1950

New medications were developed
1922: Insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes
1928: Antibiotics developed to fight infections (penicillin)
New machines developed
1895: X-Ray
1943: Kidney Dialysis Machine
1953: Heart Lung Machine
Surgical and diagnostic techniques developed to cure once fatal conditions

21st Century

2000

2001: The first totally implantable artificial heart was placed in a patient in Louisville, Ky. In
2003: Human Genome Project Completed
Mapped out human diseases in an effort to get an handle on genetic and autoimmune diseases
2005: Face Transplants
Vaccines
2006: HPV (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine)
Prevent Cervical Cancer
2015: Malaria
2015: Ebola