-
Period: 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE
Primitive Times
People believed that illness and disease were caused by supernatural spirits and demons. herbs and plants were used as medication. -
Period: 3000 BCE to 300 BCE
Ancient Egyptians
Earliest people known to maintain accurate health records
Called on the gods to heal them when disease occurred
Physicians were priests who studied medicine and surgery in temple medical schools
Used magic and medicinal plants to treat disease
Average life span was 20 to 30 years -
Period: 1700 BCE to 220 BCE
Ancient Chinese
Religious prohibitions against dissection resulted in inadequate knowledge of body structure
Monitored the pulse to determine the condition of the body
Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body
Recorded a pharmacopoeia (an official drug directory) of medications based mainly on the use of herbs Used acupuncture to relieve pain and congestion
Began the search for medical reasons for illness
Average life span was 20 to 30 years -
Period: 1200 BCE to 200 BCE
Ancient Greeks
Began modern medical science by observing the human body and effects of disease
Hippocrates (460-377 BC), called the Father of Medicine:
• Developed an organized method to observe the human body
• Recorded signs and symptoms of many diseases
• Created a high standard of ethics, the Oath of Hippocrates, used by physicians today
Believed illness is a result of natural causes
Stressed diet and cleanliness as ways to prevent disease
Average life span was 25 to 35 years -
Period: 753 BCE to 410 BCE
Ancient Romans
Created aqudents to carry clean waters to the city. they built swears to carry the dirty water. drained marshes to reduce in incidence -
Period: 400 to 800
Dark Ages
the average life span was 20 to 30 years. monks provided care for the sick. -
Period: 800 to 1400
Middle Ages
thought blood was the cause of infections and dieses. began using animals for medical work. -
Period: 1350 to
Renaissance
described the circulatory system was in the lungs. explained how digestion is a source of heat for the body. -
Period: to
16th and 17th Centuries
Causes of disease were still not known, and many people still died from infections and puerperal (childbirth) fever Ambroise Paré (1510-1590), a French surgeon, known as the Father of Modern Surgery:
• Established the use of ligatures to bind (use of thread or suture to tie off) arteries and stop bleeding
• Promoted use of artificial limbs -
Period: to
18th Century
Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) created the first mercury thermometer in 1714
John Hunter (1728-1793), an English surgeon:
• Established scientific surgical procedures
• Introduced tube feeding in 1778 -
Period: to
19th Century
Royal College of Surgeons (medical school) founded in London in 1800
French barbers acted as surgeons by extracting teeth, using leeches for treatment, and giving enemas René Laënnec (1781-1826) invented the stethoscope in 1816
In 1818, James Blundell performed the first successful blood transfusion on humans Dr. Philippe Pinel (1755-1826) began humane treatment for mental illness Cholera pandemic in 1832 -
Period: to
20th Century
The first heart-lung machine was used for open-heart surgery in 1953
Joseph Murray performed the first successful kidney transplant in humans in 1954
Albert Sabin (1906-1993) developed an oral live-virus polio vaccine in the mid-1950s Birth control pills were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1960
An arm severed at the shoulder was successfully reattached to the body in 1962 -
Period: to
21st century
In 2005, the first face transplant was performed in France on a woman whose lower face was destroyed by a dog attack Stem cell researchers at the University of Minnesota coaxed embryonic stem cells to produce cancer-killing cells in 2005 The National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute started a project in 2006 to map genes associated with cancer so mutations that occur with specific cancers can be identified
Researchers proposed a new method.