Mariah Hairston- Health Care History

Primitive Time

3500 BCE

1. Illness and diseases were caused by supernatural spirits/demons
2. Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies to drive out evil spirits
3. Herbs and plants used as medicines (some still used today)
4. Trepanation or trephining (boring hole in skull) was used to treat insanity and epilepsy
5. Average lifespan was 20 years

Ancient Egyptians

1650 BCE

1. Earliest people known to maintain accurate health records
2. Called upon the gods to heal them when disease occurred
3. Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
4. Began the search for medical reasons for illness
5. Average life span was 20 to 30 years

Ancient Chinese

1000 BCE

1. Carefully monitored the pulse to determine the condition of the body
2. Recorded a pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs
3. Used acupuncture (puncture of the skin by needles) to relieve pain and congestion
4. Began the search for medical reasons for illness
5. Average life span was 20 to 30 years

Ancient Greeks

700 BCE

1. Began modern medical science by observing the human body and effects of disease
2. Biochemist Alcmaeon in 6th century BC identified the brain as the physiological site of the senses
3. Aristotle dissected animals and is called the founder of comparative anatomy
4. Believed illness is a result of natural causes
5. Average life span was 25 to 35 years

Ancient Romans

300 BCE

1. First to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers
2. Early hospitals developed when physicians cared for ill people in rooms in their homes
3. Later hospitals were religious and charitable institutions housed in monasteries and convents
4. Diet, exercise, and medications were used to treat disease
5. Average lifespan was 25 to 35 years

Dark Ages

550

1. Emphasis was placed on saving the soul and the study of medicine was prohibited
2. Prayer and divine intervention were used to treat illness and disease
3. Monks and priests provided custodial care for sick people
4. Medication were mainly herbal mixtures
5. Average lifespan was 20 to 30 years

Middle Ages

1100

1. Renewed interest in the medical practice of Greeks and Romans
2. Physicians began to obtain knowledge at medical universities in the 9th century
3. Arab physicians used their knowledge of chemist to advance pharmacology
4. Arabs began requiring that physicians pass examinations and obtain licenses
5. Average lifespan was 20 to 35 years

Renaissance

1500

1. Rebirth of science of medicine
2. Dissection of the body began to allow a better understanding of anatomy and physiology
3. Development of the printing press allowed knowledge to be spread to others
4. First anatomy book was published by Andreas Vesalius
5. Average lifespan was 30 to 40 years

16th and 17th Centuries

1650

1. Causes of disease were still not known and many people died from infections and puerperal (child birth) fever
2. William Harvey described the circulation of blood to and from the heart in 1628
3. First successful blood transfusion on animals performed in England in 1667
4. Apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed, and sold medications
5. Average lifespan was 35 to 45 years

18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries

2000

1. Gabriel Fahrenheit created the first mercury thermometer
2. First federal vaccination legislation enacted in 1813
3. The first heart-lung machine was used for open-heart surgery in 1953
4. Adult stem cells were used in the treatment of disease early in the 2000s
5. Average lifespan is 60 to 80 years