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4000 BCE
4000 BC – 3000 BC Primitive Times
-Illness and diseases were
Caused by evil spirits and demons
a punishment from the Gods
-Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies
-Herbs and plants used as medicines (morphine and digitalis)
-Trepanation or trephining (surgically removing a piece of bone from the skull)
-Average life span was 20 years -
3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
-Physicians were priests
Health Records were first recorded by the ancient Egyptians
-Bloodletting or leeches used as medical treatment
-Average life span was 20-30 years -
1200 BCE
1200 BC –200 BC Ancient Greeks
-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
*Used therapies such as massage, art therapy, and herbal treatment
*Stressed diet, hygiene and exercise as ways to prevent disease
-Average life span was 25-35 years -
753 BCE
753 BC – AD 410 Ancient Romans
-First to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers
-Later hospitals were religious and charitable institutions in monasteries and convents
-First public health and sanitation systems by building sewers and aqueducts
-Galen established belief that the body was regulated by four body humors; blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile
-Life span was 25-35 years -
17
18th Century
-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 -
17
16th and 17th Centuries
-Knowledge regarding the human body GREATLY increased
-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
-Cause of disease still not known – many people died from infections -
19
19th Century
-Rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations
-1895: X-Ray Machine Developed
-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 years -
20
20th Century
-1901: ABO blood groups discovered
Found out how white blood cells protect against disease
-New medications were developed
-1922: Insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes
-1928: Antibiotics developed to fight infections (penicillin)
New machines developed
-1943: Kidney Dialysis Machine
-1953: Heart Lung Machine
-Surgical and diagnostic techniques developed to cure once fatal conditions
-1953: Structure of DNA discovered and research in gene therapy begins -
20
20th Century Vaccines
Diptheria – 1921
Tuberculosis – 1925
Pertussis – 1927
Typhus – 1937
Influenza – 1945
Oral Polio – 1962
Measles – 1963
Mumps – 1967
Rubella – 1970
Chicken Pox – 1974
Streptococcus Pneumonia – 1977
Meningitis – 1978
Hepatitis B – 1981
Hepatitis A – 1992
Lyme Disease – 1998
Rotavirus - 1998 -
20
20th Century (continued)
-1956: First Bone Marrow Transplant
Initiated Embryonic Stem Cell Research
-1978: Test tube babies
Organ Transplants
-1960: Kidney
-1963: Liver
-1967: Heart
-1982: Artificial Heart -
21
20th-21st Century – Top 10
-1910: Laparoscopic Surgery
Minimal Invasive Surgery
-1970’s: Targeted Cancer Therapies
Interfere with the spread of cancer by blocking cells involved in tumor growth
Identify and kill the cancer cells
-1990: Smoke Free Laws
Decrease in 2nd Hand Smoke
-1996: Advances in HIV Medication
-Turned a “death sentence disease” into a manageable -chronic disease – Normal Life Span
-1999: Rapid advances in Stem Cell Research
Re-Create lost/damaged tissue -
21
21st Century – Top 10
-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 -
800
AD 800 – AD 1400 Middle Ages
-Renewed interest in medical practices of Greek and Romans
-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 -
800
AD 400 – AD 800 Dark Ages
-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
-Disease Cause still blamed on circumstance, but no understanding -
1350
AD 1350 – AD 1650 Renaissance
-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)
-Average life span was 30-40 years
-Disease cause STILL a mystery -
1700 BC – AD 220 Ancient Chinese
-Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs
Used therapies such as acupuncture
-Began to search for medical reasons for illness
-Average life span was 20-30 years