-
4000 BCE
Primitive Times
- Illnesses and diseases were caused by evil demons and spirits and they were a punishment from the Gods -Herbs and plants used as medicines -Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies -Average life span was 20 years -Trepanation or trephining (surgically removing a piece of bone from the skull)
-
3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
-Physicians were priests
-Bloodletting or leeches used as medical treatment
-Average life span was 20-30 years -
1700 BCE
Ancient Chinese
-Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
-Used acupuncture
-Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs
-Average life span was 20-30 years
-Began to search for medical reasons for illness -
1200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
-Hippocrates and other physicians
-First to observe the human body and the effects of disease
-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
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 -
400
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 -
800
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 the 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 -
1350
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 -
1500
16th and 17th Centuries
-Knowledge regarding the human body greatly increased
-1500’s: Ambroise Pare 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
-Some enlightenment though due to microscope -
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 -
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 -
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)
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 -
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 -
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 -
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