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4000 BCE
Primitive Times
Illness & Disease caused by evil spirits & demons, or believed to be a punishment from god.
Illnesses were treated by tribal witch doctors through ceremony.
Herbs & plants were used as medicine (morphine & digitalis).
Trepanation or trephining (surgically removing a piece of the skull).
Average lifespan : 20 years -
3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
Physicians were priests (Health Records were first recorded by the ancient Egyptians).
Blood letting/leeches used as medical treatment.
Average Lifespan : 20-30 years -
1700 BCE
Ancient Chinese
Believed to need to treat whole body, by curing the spirit & nourishing the body.
Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs.
Used therapies like acupuncture.
Began to search for medical reasons for an illness.
Average lifespan : 20-30 years -
1200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
Hippocrates (Father of Medicine) and other physicians.
First to observe the human body, & the effects of disease, which led to modern medical sciences.
Believed illness is a result of natural causes.
Used therapies EX: massage, art therapy, & herbal treatment.
Stressed diet, hygiene, & exercise used as ways to prevent disease.
Average Lifespan : 25-35 years -
753 BCE
Ancient Romans
First to organize medical care, provided care for injured soldiers.
Hospitals were later religious & charitable institutions in monasteries & convents.
First public health, sanitation systems - building sewers and aqueducts.
Galen established beleif that the body was regulated by 4 body humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.
Average Lifespan : 25-35 years -
400
Dark ages
saving the soul & the study of medicine was prohibited.
Prayer and divine intervention used to treat illness & disease.
Monks and priests provided custodial care for the sick.
Medications - mainly herbal mixtures.
(Disease Cause still blamed on circumstance, but no understanding)
Average Lifespan : 20-30 years -
800
Middle Ages
Renewed interest in medical practices of Greek and Romans.
1100: Arabs requiring physicians pass examinations & obtain licenses.
1346-1353: Bubonic Plague killed:75% of pop. in Europe & Asia.
(Major diseases included: Smallpox, Diphtheria, Tuberculosis, Typhoid, the Plague, & Malaria).
1220-1255: Medical Universities established.
Average Lifespan : 20-35 years -
1350
Renaissance
Science of medicine rebirth.
Body dissections led to increased understanding of anatomy & physiology.
1440: Invention: printing press- allowed med. knowledge to be shared.
1543: 1st anatomy book, published by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564).
(Disease cause STILL a mystery)
Average Lifespan : 30-40 years -
16th & 17th centuries
Knowledge about the human body GREATLY increased.
1500's: Ambroise Pare, French surgeon, known as: Father of modern surgery, established the use of ligatures to stop bleeding.
1600's: Apothecaries (early pharmacists): made, prescribed, &sold medications.
1670: invention: Microscope- allowed physicians to see disease causing organisms.
(HUGE advancement)
Cause of disease still unknown- many people died from infections, some enlightenment from microscope).
Average Lifespan : 35-45 years -
18th century
1714: Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) created first mercury thermometer.
1760: Benjamin Franklin invented: Bifocals
1778: John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures & introduced tube feeding.
1798: Small Pox vaccine discovered.
Average Lifespan : 40-50 years -
19th Century
Rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, & vaccinations.
1893: First Open heart surgery
Infection control developed after microorganisms were associated with disease.
1816: Invention- Stethoscope
1860: Formal training for nurses began.
Woman- active participants in healthcare.
Average Lifespan : 40-60 years -
20th Century
Health care grew RAPIDLY.
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: DNA structure discovered. Research in gene therapy begins. -
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 -
20th Century *Continued*
New medications developed
1922: Insulin discovered- used to treat diabetes
1928: Antibiotics developed- fight infections (penicillin)
(New machines developed)
1895: X-Ray
1943: Kidney Dialysis Machine
1953: Heart Lung Machine
Surgical & diagnostic techniques developed to cure once fatal conditions. 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 -
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 -
21st Century Top 10 *Continued*
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