History of Medicine Timeline.

By laylidee
  • 4000 BCE

    Primitive Times

    Primitive Times
    *Illnesses/diseases- caused by evil spirits/demons (punishment from gods).
    *Witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies.
    *Medicines were used (herbs and plants).
    *Trepanation- surgically removing a piece of bone from the skull.
    *Average life span: 20 years.
  • 3000 BCE

    Ancient Egyptians

    Ancient Egyptians
    *Physicians were priests.
    -health records recorded by Ancient Egyptians.
    *Bloodletting (withdrawing blood of the wrist) or leeches used for medical treatment.
    *Average life span: 20-30 years.
  • 1700 BCE

    Ancient Chinese

    Ancient Chinese
    *Believed in treating the body as a whole by curing spirit & nourishing the body.
    -Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based on the use of herbs.
    -Therapies (used as acupuncture).
    *Searched for medical reasoning behind illness.
    *Average life span: 20-30 years.
  • 1200 BCE

    Ancient Greeks

    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.
    -Illness was a result of natural causes.
    -Therapies (massages, art therapy, herbal treatment).
    -Stressed diet, hygiene, and exercise as ways to prevent disease.
    *Average life span: 25-35 years.
  • 753 BCE

    Ancient Romans

    Ancient Romans
    *First to organize medical care.
    -Providing care for injured soldiers.
    *Hospitals were religious & charitable institutions in monasteries and convents.
    *First public health/sanitation systems.
    -Building sewers & aqueducts.
    *Galen est. belief that the body was regulated by four body humors; blood, phlegm, black bile & yellow bile.
    *Average life span: 25-35 years.
  • 400

    Dark Ages

    Dark Ages
    *Emphasis on saving the soul & studying medicine was PROHIBITED.
    *Prayer and divine- used to treat illness and disease.
    *Monks/Priests provided custodial care for sick people.
    *Medications (mainly herbal mixtures).
    *Disease cause is still blamed on circumstance.
    *Average life span: 20-30 years.
  • 800

    Middle Ages

    Middle Ages
    *Created interest in medical practices of Greek & Romans.
    *1100- Arabs required physicians to pass examinations/obtain licenses.
    *1346-1353- Bubonic Plague wiped out 75% of the population in Europe/Asia.
    *(Major diseases)- smallpox, typhoid, the plague, malaria, etc.
    *1220-1255- Medical Universities were established.
    *Average life span: 20-35 years.
  • 1350

    Renaissance

    Renaissance
    *Rebirth of Science & Medicine.
    *Body dissecting- lead to better knowledge of the anatomy.
    *1440- Invention of the printing press (helped share medical knowledge).
    *1543- First anatomy book published by Andreas Vesalius.
    *Average life span- 30-40 years.
    (Disease cause was still a mystery.

  • 16th & 17th Centuries

    16th & 17th Centuries
    *Knowledge of the human body INCREASED.
    *1500's- Ambroise Pare (French Surgeon & Father of Modern Surgery) established use of ligatures to stop bleeding of wounds.
    *1600's- Apothecaries (Early Pharmacists) made, prescribed and sold medicines.
    *1670- Invention of micrscope.
    -Allowed physicians to see disease-causing organisms.
    -HUGE ADVANCEMENT.
    *Average life span- 35-45 years.
    *Many causes of diseases are unknown & people continue to die from infections.

  • 18th Century

    18th Century
    *1714- Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) developed the first mercury thermometer.
    *1760- Bifocals invented (Ben Franklin).
    *1778- John Hunter established scientific surgical procedures along with tube feeding.
    *1798- Smallpox vaccine discovered.
    *Average life span- 40-50 years.

  • 19th Century

    19th Century
    *Rapid advancements- discoveries of microorganisms, anesthesia, and vaccinations.
    *1895- X-ray machine developed.
    *1893- First open heart surgery.
    -Infection control developed.
    *Invention of the stethoscope.
    *Formal training of nurses.
    *Average life span- 40-60 years.

  • 20th Century

    20th Century
    *1901- ABO blood groups discovered.
    -Found out how white blood cells protect from diseases.
    *New medications developed.
    -1922-28: Insulin & Antibiotics.
    *New machines are developed.
    -1943-53: Kidney Dialysis/Heart lung Machine.
    -1953: Structure of DNA discovered. Research in gene therapy begins.
    -1956: First Bone Marrow Transplant.
    -Test tubes babies.
    *Organ transplants.
    -1960: Kidney.
    -1963: Liver.
    -1967: Heart.
    -1982: Artificial Heart.

  • 20th Century

    20th Century
    *1910- Laparoscopic Surgery (minimal invasive surgery).
    *1970s- Targeted Cancer Therapy.
    *1990s- Smoke free laws (decrease in second hand smoking).
    *1996- Advances in HIV medication (normal life span).
    *1999- Rapid advancement in stem cell research.

  • 20th Century Vaccines

    20th Century Vaccines
    *Diphtheria- 1921 *Rubella- 1970
    *Tuberculosis- 1925 *Chicken Pox- 1974
    *Pertussis- 1927 *Streptococcus Pneumonia- 1977
    *Typhus- 1937 *Meningitis- 1978
    *Influenza- 1945 *Hepatitis B- 1981
    *Oral Polio- 1962 *Hepatitis A- 1982
    *Measles- 1963 *Lyme Disease- 1998
    *Mumps- 1967 *Rota virus- 1998

  • 21st Century

    21st Century
    *2001- First artificial heart transplanted into the patient.
    *2003- Human genome project completed.
    -Mapped out human diseases.
    *2005- Face transplants.
    *Vaccines.
    -2006: HPV
    -2015: Malaria
    -2015: Ebola