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4000 BCE
primitive times
-Illnesses and diseases were caused by demons and spirits and were a punishment by the gods.
-Tribal witch doctors treated illnesses with ceremonies.
-Herbs and plants were used as medicine (morphine and digitalis)
-Transportation or trephining (surgically removing a bone piece of the skull)
-average lifespan was 20 years -
3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
-Physicians were priests and health records were first created by ancient Egyptians
-Blood letting or leaches were used as a medical treatment
-Avarage lifespan was 20-30 years -
1700 BCE
Ancient Chines
-Believed in treating the whole body as one and curing the spirit and the body, recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs, used therapies such as acupuncture
-Begin to search for medical reasons for illnesses
- Average lifespan 20-30 years -
1200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
-Hippocrates (father of medicine) and other physicians, first to observe the human bodies and the affects of diseases led to modern medical sciences, believes illnesses are a natural cause, used therapies such as massages, art therapy, and herbal treatment. stressed diet hygiene and exercise as ways to prevent disease.
- Average lifespan was 25-35 years. -
653 BCE
Ancient Romans
- First provided medical care by helping 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 -Average lifespan was 25-35 years
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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 -
1100
Middle Ages
-Renewed interest in medical practices of Greek and Romans
-1100 Arabs began requiring physicians pass examinations and obtain licenses -
1220
middle ages
-1220-1255: Medical Universities were established
-Average life span was 20-35 years -
1351
middle ages
-1346-1353: Bubonic Plague killed 75% of population in Europe and Asia
-Major diseases included smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plaque, and malaria -
1400
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 -
1500
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 -
1543
Renaissance
-1543: First anatomy book was published by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)
-Average life span was 30-40 years
-Disease cause STILL a mystery -
16th and 17th centuries
-1600’s: Apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed, and sold medications -
16th and 17th centuries
-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 -
18th century
1760: Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals -
18th century
-1778: John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures and introduced tube feeding -
18th century
-1798: Smallpox vaccine discovered
-Average life span 40-50 years -
19th century
-1816: Invention of the stethoscope -
19th century
-1860: Formal training for nurses began
-Women became active participants in health care
-Average life span 40-60 years -
19th century
-1893: First Open Heart Surgery
-Infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease -
19th century
-Rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations
-1895: X-Ray Machine Developed -
20th century
-1901: ABO blood groups discovered
-Found out how white blood cells protect against disease
-New medications were developed -
top 10
1910: Laparoscopic Surgery
Minimal Invasive Surgery -
20th century
1922: Insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes -
20th century
1928: Antibiotics developed to fight infections (penicillin)
New machines developed -
20th century
1943: Kidney Dialysis Machine -
20th century
1953: Structure of DNA discovered and research in gene therapy begins -
20th century
1953: Heart Lung Machine
Surgical and diagnostic techniques developed to cure once fatal conditions -
20th century
1956: First Bone Marrow Transplant
Initiated Embryonic Stem Cell Research -
20th century
Organ Transplants
1960: Kidney
1963: Liver
1967: Heart
1982: Artificial Heart -
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1970’s: Targeted Cancer Therapies
Interfere with the spread of cancer by blocking cells involved in tumor growth
Identify and kill the cancer cells -
20th century
1978: Test tube babies -
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1990: Smoke Free Laws
Decrease in 2nd Hand Smoke -
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1996: Advances in HIV Medication
Turned a “death sentence disease” into a manageable chronic disease – Normal Life Span -
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1999: Rapid advances in Stem Cell Research
Re-Create lost/damaged tissue -
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2001: The first totally implantable artificial heart was placed in a patient in Louisville, Ky. In -
top 10
2003: Human Genome Project Completed
Mapped out human diseases in an effort to get an handle on genetic and autoimmune diseases -
top 10
2005: Face Transplants
Vaccines -
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2006: HPV (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine) -
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Prevent Cervical Cancer
2015: Malaria
2015: Ebola