-
4000 BCE
Primitive Times
*Illness and diseases were caused by evil spirits and demons a punishment from the Gods
*witch doctors treated illness
*Herbs and plants used as medicine
*Trepanation or trephining (surgically removing a piece of bone from the skull)
*Average life span was 20 years -
3000 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
*Physicians were priests
*Egyptians were the first to record health records
*Bloodletting or leeches used as medical treatment
*Practiced splinting for broken bones
*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
*Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs
*Used therapies such as acupuncture
*Traditional Chinese Medicine is a complete medical system that has been used to diagnose, treat, and prevent illnesses for more than 2,000 years.
*Began to search for medical reasons for illness
*Average life span was 20-30 years -
1200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
*Hippocrates (Father of Medicine) and other physicians
*First to observe the human body and the effects of disease – led to modern medical sciences.
*Believed illness is a result of natural causes instead of spirits
*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 population in Europe and Asia
*Major diseases included smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plague, 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 -
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
*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
*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
*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 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 -
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