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4000 BCE
Primitive Times
- Illness and diseases were caused by evil spirits and demons or a punishment from the Gods
- Tribal witch doctors treated illness
- Herbs and plants were used as medicine *Trepanation was used which was a surgery removing part of the skull *Average life span was 20 years
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3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
- Physicians were priests
- Health records were first recorded by Ancient Egyptians *Bloodletting or leeches was used as medical treatment
- The average lifespan was 20-30 years
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1700 BCE
Ancient Chinese
- Believed that you had to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
- Recorded medicines based mainly on uses of herbs
- Acupuncture
- Searched for medical reasons for illness
- Lifespan 20-30 years
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1200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
- Hippocrates the father of medicine
- Were the first to observe the human body and the effects of disease which led to modern medical sciences.
- Believed illness was caused by natural causes
- Massage, art therapy, and herbal treatment used
- Diet, Hygiene, and exercise were stressed to prevent illness
- Lifespan 25-35 years
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753 BCE
Ancient Romans
- First to organize medical care by caring for injured soldiers
- Hospitals were religious
- First public health and sanitation systems by building sewers and aquaducts
- Galen believed that the body was regulated by four body humors, blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile
- Life Span 25-35 years
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400
Dark Ages
- Emphasis was on saving the soul *Study of medicine prohibited
- Prayer and divine intervention used to cure illness and disease
- Medicines were herbal mixtures
- Disease blamed on circumstance *Lifespan 20-30 years
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800
Middle Ages
- Used Medical practices of Greeks and Romans
- 1100- Required physicians to pass examinations and obtain licenses
- 1346-1353: Bubonic plague killed 3/4 of population in Europe and Asia
- Smallpox, Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, Typhoid, The Plague, and Malaria
- 1220-1255: Medical universities were established
- Lifespan 20-35 years
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1350
Renaissance
- Science of medicine
- Body dissections helped understanding anatomy and physiology *1440- Invention of printing press enabled medical knowledge to be shared *1543- First anatomy book published by Andrea Vesalius
- Cause of disease was still a mystery
- Life span 30-40 years
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1500
16th and 17th Centuries
- Knowledge about the human body greatly increased
- 1500's Ambroise Pare established use of ligatures to stop bleeding
- 1600's Apothecaries made, prescribed, and sold medicines *1670- Hans Janssen invented the microscope allowed physicians to see disease causing organisms
- Cause of disease still unknown *Life Span 35-45 years
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Thermometer Invented
*Gabriel Fahrenheit created the first mercury thermometer -
Bifocals and Procedures
- 1760- Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals
- 1778- John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures and introduced tube feeding
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Smallpox and Immunization
*Smallpox Vaccine discovered
*Incorporation of immunization as a prevention against disease
*Life Span 40-50 years -
Stethoscope
*Infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease
*1816- Invention of the stethoscope -
Nurses
*Formal training for nurses began
*Women became active participants in health care
*Life span 40-60 years -
Advancements 19th Century
*Rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations
*1895- X-Ray Machine Developed
*1893- First Open Heart Surgery -
20th Century Blood And Discoveries
- ABO blood groups discovered
- Found out how white blood cells protect against diseases *New Medication Developed *Insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes *1928- Antibiotics developed to fight infections
- Penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming
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Laparoscopic
- 1910- Laparoscopic Surgery
- Minimal Invasive Surgery: Cuts holes big enough for camera and tools and does surgery that way
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1920's Vaccines
- 1921- Diptheria
- 1925- Tuberculosis
- 1927- Pertussis
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1930-40's Vaccines
- 1937- Typhus
- 1945- Influenza
- 1935- Early Polio vaccine trials started
- 1948- Laboratories researcher Hilary Koprowski tests Polio vaccine on himself
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Machines and More Discoveries
*1943- Kidney Dialysis Machine invented
*1953 -Heart Lung Machine invented
*Surgical and diagnostic techniques developed to cure stuff that used to be fatal
*1953- Structure of DNA discovered and research in gene therapy begins
* DNA discovered by Friedrich Miescher a Swiss chemist -
More 20th Century Advancements
*First Bone Marrow Transplant
*Initiated Embryonic Stem Cell Research
*1978- Test tube babies -
Organ Transplants
1960- Kidney
1963- Liver
1967- Heart
1982- Artificial Heart
1983- Single lung
1986- Double lung -
1960's Vaccines
- 1962- Oral Polio
- 1963- Measles
- 1967- Mumps
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1970's Vaccines
1970- Rubella
1974- Chicken Pox
1977- Streptococcus Pneumonia
1978- Meningitis
1980- Smallpox was declared eradicated -
Cancer Therapies
*1970’s- Targeted Cancer Therapies
*Interfere with the spread of cancer by blocking cells involved in tumor growth
*Identify and kill the cancer cells
*The first targeted cancer therapy was tamoxifen approved in 1970s. -
1980-90's Vaccines
1981- Hepatitis B
1992- Hepatitis A
1998- Lyme Disease: A tick borne illness
1998- Rotavirus: a very contagious virus that causes diarrhea -
Smoke Free Laws
*1990- Smoke Free Laws
*Decrease in 2nd Hand Smoke
*The first 100% smoke-free law prohibited smoking in restaurants and freestanding bars. 2 August 1990 in San Luis Obispo, CA -
Advances In HIV Medicine and Stem Cells
*1996- Advances in HIV Medication
*Turned a death sentence disease into a controllable chronic disease
*Normal Life Span
*1999- Rapid advances in Stem Cell Research
*Re-Create lost/damaged tissue -
Success!
*2001- The first totally implantable artificial heart was placed in a patient in Louisville, Ky.
*Robert Tools received the heart
*He died from stroke 5 months later -
Human Genome Project
*2003- Human Genome Project Completed
*Mapped out human diseases to try to get a handle on genetic and autoimmune diseases
*Started in 1990 and finally completed in 2003 -
Face Transplants
*2005- Face Transplants
*Isabelle Dinoire was the world's first partial face transplant patient in Amiens, France in 2005 -
More Vaccines!
*2006- HPV (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine)
*Prevent Cervical Cancer
*2015- Malaria
*2015- Ebola
*2021- Covid-19 Vaccine approved