-
4000 BCE
Primitive Times
- Devils and evil spirits caused illness and diseases and were thought to be a punishment from the gods.
- Witch doctors treated illness.
- Trepanation or trephining was used to surgically remove a piece of bone from the skull.
- Herbs and plants were used as medicines.
- Average life span was 20 years.
-
3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
- Priests were physicians.
- Ancient Egyptians recorded the first health records.
- Bloodletting or leeches were used as a medical treatment
- Average lifespan was 20-30 years
-
1700 BCE
Ancient Chinese
- Believed in treating the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
- Used therapies such as acupuncture
- Began to search for actual medical reasons for illness
- The average life span was 20-30 years
-
1200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
- Hippocrates (Father of Medicine) and other physicians
- They were the to observe the human body and the effects of the disease which led to modern medical sciences.
- Believed illness is a result of natural causes
- Used therapies like massage, art therapy, and herbal treatment
- Stressed diet, hygiene, and exercise were ways to prevent disease
- The average life span was 25-35 years
-
753 BCE
Ancient Romans
- First to organize medical care by caring for injured soldiers
- Hospitals were religious and charitable institutions in monasteries and convents
- First public health and sanitation systems by building sewers and aqueducts
- Established the belief that the body was regulated by four senses of humor; blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile
- Life span was 25-35 years
-
400
Dark Ages...
- Emphasized saving the soul and the study of medicine was prohibited
- Prayer and divine intervention was used to treat illness & disease
- Monks and priests provided custodial care for the sick people
- Medications were mainly just herbal mixtures
- Disease Cause still blamed on circumstances, but no understanding
- Average life span was 20-30 years
-
800
The Middle Ages
- Showed more interest in the medical practices of Greek and Romans
- 1100: Arabs began requiring physicians to pass examinations and obtain medical licenses
- 1346-1353: Bubonic Plague killed 75% of the population in Europe and Asia
- Major diseases included: smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, plaque, and malaria
- 1220-1255: Medical schools were established
- Average life span was 20-35 years
-
1350
Renaissance
- Science of medicine was rebirthed
- Body Dissections led to understanding of anatomy and physiology
- 1440: The invention of the printing press allowed medical knowledge to be shared
- 1543: First anatomy book was published
- Disease cause was STILL a mystery
- Average life span was 30-40 years
-
1500
16th and 17th Centuries
- Knowledge regarding the human body increased exponentially
- The 1500s: The French surgeon, Ambroise Pare, known as the Father of Modern Surgery established the use of ligatures(stitches) 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.
- Average life span 35-45 years
-
18th Century
- 1714: Gabriel Fahrenheit created the first mercury thermometer
- 1760: Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals
- 1778: John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures and introduced tube feeding
- 1798: Smallpox vaccine was discovered
- Average life span 40-50 years
-
19th Century
- Rapid advancements because of discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations
- 1895: X-Ray Machine was Developed
- First Open Heart Surgery
- Infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease
- 1816: Invention of the stethoscope
- 1860: Formal nurse training started
- Women became active participants in healthcare
- Average life span 40-60 years
-
20th Centuery continued...
- 1956: First Bone Marrow Transplant
- Embryonic Stem Cell Research
- 1978: Test tube babies
- Organ Transplants
- 1960: Kidney
- 1963: Liver
- 1967: Heart
- 1982: Artificial Heart
-
20th Century
- 1901: ABO blood groups discovered
- Found out how white blood cells protect against disease
- New medicines were made
- 1922: Insulin was discovered 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 and gene therapy begins
-
20th-21st Century- Top 10!!!!
- 1910: Laparoscopic Surgery
- Minimally 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
-
21st Century
- 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 a handle on genetic and autoimmune diseases
- 2005: Face Transplants
- Vaccines
- 2006: HPV (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine) to prevent Cervical Cancer
- 2015: Malaria
- 2015: Ebola