History of Medicine - Phoebe Mason

By Phoebe Mason
  • 4000 BCE

    Primitive Times

    Primitive Times
    • Illness and diseases were caused by evil spirits
    • Punishment from the Gods
    • Witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies
    • Herbs and plants used as medicines
    • Trepanation used (surgically removing a piece of bone from the skull)
    • Average life span was 20 years
  • 3000 BCE

    Ancient Egyptians

    Ancient Egyptians
    • Physicians were priests
    • Health Records were first recorded by the ancient Egyptians
    • Bloodletting or leeches used as medical treatment
    • Average life span was 20-30 years
  • 1700 BCE

    Ancient Chinese

    Ancient Chinese
    • Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit
    • Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based on herbs
    • Used therapies such as acupuncture
    • Began to search for medical reasons for illness
    • Average life span was 20-30 years
  • 1200 BCE

    Ancient Greeks

    Ancient Greeks
    • Hippocrates 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
    • 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

    Ancient Romans
    • Organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers
    • 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

    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

    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 plaque, and malaria
    • 1220-1255: Medical Universities were established
    • Average life span was 20-35 years
  • 1350

    Renaissance

    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

    Ligatures Invented

    Ligatures Invented
    • Knowledge regarding the human body is increased
    • Ambroise Pare, a French surgeon, established use of ligatures to stop bleeding

  • Apothecaries Made

    Apothecaries Made
    • Apothecaries (Pharmacies) made, prescribed, and sold medications

  • Microscope Invented

    Microscope Invented
    • 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
    • Some enlightenment due to microscope

  • Thermometer Invented

    Thermometer Invented
    • Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) created the first mercury thermometer

  • Bifocals Invented

    Bifocals Invented
    • Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals in 1760
    • First time to help people be able to see better

  • Tube Feeding Introduce

    Tube Feeding Introduce
    • John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures and introduced tube feeding

  • Smallpox Vaccine Discovered

    Smallpox Vaccine Discovered
    • Smallpox vaccine discovered
    • Average life span 40-50 years

  • Stethoscope Invented

    Stethoscope Invented
    • Invention of the stethoscope
    • Rapid advancements due to discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations

  • Women Can Become Nurses

    Women Can Become Nurses
    • Formal training for nurses began
      • Women became active participants in health care

  • First Open Heart Surgery

    First Open Heart Surgery
    • First Open Heart Surgery -Infection control developed once microorganisms were associated with disease

  • X-Ray Machine Developed

    X-Ray Machine Developed
    • X-Ray Machine Developed
    • Average life span 40-60 years

  • Blood Groups Discovered

    Blood Groups Discovered
    • ABO blood groups discovered
      • Found out how white blood cells protect against disease

  • First Laparoscopic Surgery

    First Laparoscopic Surgery
    • Laparoscopic Surgery was created Minimal Invasive Surgery

  • 20th Century Vaccines

    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

  • Insulin Discovered

    Insulin Discovered
    • Insulin discovered and used to treat diabetes

  • Penicillin Discovered

    Penicillin Discovered
    • 1928: Antibiotics developed to fight infections (penicillin) New machines developed

  • Kidney Dialysis Machine Invented

    Kidney Dialysis Machine Invented
    • Kidney Dialysis Machine invented by Dr. Willem Kolff
    • First made in the Netherlands

  • First Bone Marrow Transplant

    First Bone Marrow Transplant
    • First Bone Marrow Transplant
      • Initiated Embryonic Stem Cell Research

  • First Kidney Transplant

    First Kidney Transplant
    • First Kidney Transplant
    • Done by Joseph Murray and his team
    • Used the recipient's identical twin as the donor

  • First Liver Transplant

    First Liver Transplant
    • First Liver Transplant
    • Done by Thomas Starzl

  • First Heart Transplant

    First Heart Transplant
    • First Heart Transplant
    • Finished by Christiaan Barnard and his team

  • Cancer Therapies Begin

    Cancer Therapies Begin
    • Targeted Cancer Therapies Start
    • The concept of targeted Cancer Therapies were first proposed by Judah Folkman

  • First Test Tube Babies

    First Test Tube Babies
    • First Test tube babies
    • British scientist Robert Edwards helped to create the first test tube baby Louise Brown

  • First Artificial Heart Created

    First Artificial Heart Created
    • First Artificial Heart made
    • Paul Winchell was first to make the artificial heart

  • Smoke Free Laws

    Smoke Free Laws
    • Smoke Free Laws -Decrease in 2nd Hand Smoke

  • Advances In HIV Medication

    Advances In HIV Medication
    • Advances in HIV Medication
      • Turned a “death sentence disease” into a manageable chronic disease

  • Stem Cell Research Advancements

    Stem Cell Research Advancements
    • Rapid advances in Stem Cell Research Re-Create lost/damaged tissue

  • Artificial Heart Placed In Patient

    Artificial Heart Placed In Patient
    • The first totally implantable artificial heart was placed in a patient in Louisville, Ky. In

  • Human Genome Project Complete

    Human Genome Project Complete
    • Human Genome Project Completed
      • Mapped out human diseases in an effort to get an handle on genetic and autoimmune diseases

  • HPV Vaccine Discovered

    HPV Vaccine Discovered
    • HPV (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine)
    • Discovered by Professor Ian Frazer

  • First Face Transplant

    First Face Transplant
    • First Face Transplant
    • Done by Bernard Devauchelle

  • 21st Century Vaccines

    21st Century Vaccines
    • Malaria Vaccine
    • Ebola Vaccine