Medicine through time

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Medicine in medieval Britain. 1000-1500

Illness was a punishment from God

To make them better people

The way to remove the illness from God is through prayer

Illness was given by witches and supernatural

Some people believed evil spirits caused disease- which lived in people

Churches read holy verses to remove the spirits

Roman catholic church was really important in medicine.

Church made people believe that disease was from God

This prevented people from doing further research into medicine

Church made people believe in the works of Galen

As his ideas fit in the sense that God made human bodies to be perfect.

Church never allowed dissection

Doctors were not able to see the inside of the body themselves they had to rely on Galen

Movement of astrology was also a big thing during this period-the movement of stars and earth

Astrology was developed in Arabia

Different star signs affected different parts of the body.

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Four humours

Hippocrates created the theory

Body made up of 4 liquids which he called humours

Liquids were- Blood, phelgm, yellow bile and black bile

These liquids had to be in balance for good health

This was further developed by Galen

Galen believed that using opposites to treat disease

Miasma Theory

Bad ai causes disease when someone breaths it in.

This could come from bad breath death people or humanly rubbish/ deposits

The idea was mixed with the four humours and became popular

People started to become more hygienic to stop the spread of miasma

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Hippocrates and Galen

They wrote down their beliefs about medicine which where wrote down and translated to Latin books

Their ideas where seen as the absolute truth

These were taught for centuries

Galen based his ideas on the dissection of animals as it was prohibited to dissect humans.

Their ideas are still in use today

E.g the Hippocratic oath

Islamic Medicine

Islamic members used Galen's and Hippocrates work and mixed them up to create and Arabic book about these ideas

This was to spread the work of Galen and Hippocrates

Islamic doctors made new discoveries

The doctors wrote different books about different injuries

Islamic doctors was the first to question Galen's work in public

They correctly argued and stated that the blood flows from one side of the heart through the lungs and doesn't cross the septum.

This wasn't recognise until the 20th century

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Treating disease

This was established through prayer and repentance

Some people whipped themselves in public to show God they are sorry for their past actions

Blood letting and purging aimed to make the Humours balanced

Someone had too much blood doctors would cut a hole to remove the blood some people would die due to a huge amount of blood release.

Purifying the Air was thought to prevent disease

Remedies were popular ways to treat disease

Physician were mainly doctors. They never had physical teaching. They were taught via books. These physicians were really expensive s there was less then 100 of these physicians in England

There were really few hospitals

Hospitals were ran by the catholic churches

Hospitals had clean water supply

Surgery was really rare and really dangerous

they were carried out by barbers

They started to realise that wine would remove pain and treat injured people faster.

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Black death in Britain

Huge impact

Reduced the population

Highlighted the lack of medicine there was

Swept through Europe in 14th century

It was a Bubonic plague which was spread by the bites of fleas from rats carried on ships Caused headaches and puss on skin

Pneumonic plague was airborne- spread through coughs and sneezes It attacked the lungs

Black death was a judgement by God

Some blamed the humour imbalances

Some believed you can catch the plague from being close to the bodies of the victims

Some people locked themselves at home

Black death allowed the peasants to evolve

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Medical Renaissance in Britain 1500-1700

The renaissance start to believe in the science to treat patients.

People started to think on how the human body functioned

This is because many of the new books that had been discovered said anatomy and dissection was really important

The Church power started to decrease rapidly

Many doctors trained at the college of the physicians

They studied recent medical developments. Dissection- showed how the body really worked

The college encouraged licensing the doctors to stop the influence of quacks who sold fake medicine

Medicine was started to come from abroad

Invention of printing

Printing meant books can be copied more easily

Students in universities could have their own textbooks which allowed them to study in depth

People could debate about existing ideas and have scientific debates

600 new books of Galen ideas were printed

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Old treatment was still used

Many Doctors were reluctant Galen was wrong

Doctors were expensive

Superstition was still a huge role

People believe the Kings touch could cure any pin

Poor living conditions

Many people lived in terrible conditions increasing the spread of diseases

Overcrowding was a huge problem

No rubbish collection facilities

Hospitals were basic

They never had that many rooms for all of the ill people

Doctors were not the best

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Vesalius

Born 1514

Believed that successful surgery would only occur if doctors had a better understanding of the human anatomy

Performed dissection on criminals

He wrote books on the performances with accurate diagrams

His findings allowed to question Galen

His findings was better and more reliable

William Harvey

Discoveries on how blood circulates around the body

His work advanced peoples knowledge on anatomy

Discovered the circulation of blood

Born in 1578

Studied animals and humans for his work

People thought there was 21 bloods- before Harvey

Harvey said this experiment was wrong

After discovery of the anatomy it changed the whole perspective o the way people looked at the anatomy

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The great plague

1665

London

Rare but deadly

London's death toll raised significantly

Richer people fled the city leaving the poorer people to suffer

Doctors and priest were more sick as people went to them

Superstition dominated the great plague

Preventive measures

Council quarantined the sick

Victims of the plague had a red cross on their door

Crowded areas were closed

People social distanced

Dead bodies were buried far away from houses

Carts went around asking for dead bodies

Dogs and cats were killed as it was thought that they carried the plague

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Medicine in 1700-1900 Medicine in the 18th and 19th century.

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Vaccination

1970s people had few ways to prevent diseases

Edward Jenner discovered smallpox vaccine

Before smallpox vaccine the only treatment was inoculation

1970 smallpox= deadly disease

Inoculation involved cutting patients arm and soaking in pus in someone who had smallpox

Edward Jenner

Country doctor

He heard that milk maid never caught small pox they caught mild cowpox

He investigated his theory and found he was right that people who had cowpox never had smallpox

Tested his theory on a small boy, injected pus from a milkmaid with cowpox. Then injected smallpox into James and James never caught the disease

Published his finding in 1798

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Opposition to Jenner

Some resisted vaccination

Many people were scared of giving themselves a disease from cows

Jenner's discovery got approved

Given £10,000 to open a vaccination clinic in 1802

1840 vaccination made free for infants

1853 made compulsory for infants

It decreased the cases significantly

Jenner didn't know how his vaccine worked and with lack of knowledge he could make anymore vaccines

Germ theory

Pasteur suggest germs caused disease

Germs and microorganisms were discovered in early 17th century

People first believed that diseases caused germs

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Louis Pasteur

Proved germs in air

Showed by sterilised water in closed flask stayed sterile, in open flask it would be infected

1861 published his findings

He argued that microbes ain air caused disease not the other way round and also germs caused disease

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Robert Koch

Built on Pasteur's work

By linking diseases to a specific microbe

He seen that stain bacteria was able to be seen under a microscope clearly

The Fight against Germs

Pasteur and Koch were not friends

Germany beat France in the war so both of the scientists were separated

This competition fuelled their new discoveries

Pasteur discovered rabies and anthrax

Pasteur's assistant started to inject cholera into chickens, the chickens survived

They discovered weak cholera made the chickens immune

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Surgeries and Hospitals

Surgeons became more important and developed their approach to surgeries

18th century hospitals focused more on treating people rather then caring for them

Surgeons came more important and respected

1700-1800s surgeons gained same status as doctors

1800 Royal surgeon hospital was created for training doctors

Joh Hunter

Hunter and William joined a anatomy school where they dissected bodies

Hunter became an army surgeon and a teacher

He learned about STI's

And introduced a new approach to gun wounds

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18th Century

Charity hospitals were opened

Funded by rich people

Offering a free treatment to the poor

They were specialised in different stuff

Only the ones who were best to survive had a chance to go hospital

Due to lack of space and disease spread

Most workers were treated in work houses

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Developing in Nursing

1800s present- hospitals were dirty and were associated with peoples death and infections

Florence Nightingale- helped change the hygiene of the hospitals

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale went to the Crimean War to nurse wounded soldiers.

She even nursed soldiers during the night, and became known as ‘The Lady with the Lamp’. She and her nurses saved many lives.

Florence Nightingale is remembered for making changes to nursing and showing people that nursing was a very important job.

She decreased the death rate by 40 percent

Public raised 44,000£ to support her

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Anesthetic's

Nitric oxide was a anesthetic which help recover people

The gas was dismissed by a dentist and argued that it was only useful in his area of work

The first public demonstration of an anesthetic was done in 1864

It was for Ether

Ether was irritant and explosive

The discovery was aimed for women who were pregnant

The doctor first tried the experiment of Ether on himself

He discovered side effects e.g Chloroform

Queen Victoria gave birth to her first child using Chloroform in 1853

It become widely used in operating theatres to reduce pain

Chloroform affected the heart causing patients to die

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Antiseptics

Reduced infections

Antiseptic method was used to kill germs that got near surgical wounds

Aseptic surgical method to stop any germs getting near the wound

Lister pioneered the use of antiseptics

He seen that carbolic acid sprays used in sewage works to keep the smell down

So he used these in operating rooms and saw a reduction of infection rates

Public Health

Industrial revolution began in 18th century

People moved into cities to work in factories

Places became over cramped and dirty

And a great way to spread diseases

Overcrowding lead to poor living conditions

Housings wasn't able to fit everyone in

Houses were built close together leaving ventilation to be poor

Workers had little money so stayed in small places

Families with 4 or 5 lived in small rooms

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Chadwick

Published a report on poverty and health

Living conditions were poor

Suggested that government should pass laws for proper drainage and sewage system funded by local tax

His report and the cholera cases put pressure on the government

1848 Act was set up and allowed any town to set up a boar of health as long as the town's tax payers agreed

John Snow

Showed a connection between contaminated water and cholera

He suspected the disease was waterborne but had little proof

Cholera broke out in London Broad street in 1854 Snow tested his theory

Interviewed people living on the street and mapped out an area where the cases of disease had been seen

Snow investigation showed the victims used the same water pump on Broad Street

He removed the pump and this brought cholera to an end

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Government Made Changes

They understood the importance of medicine

1875 public health act was made more effective as it was compulsory

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Medicine in Modern Britain

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Impacts of WW1

Made X rays more reliable and Mobile

X rays pass through soft flesh

They were used to find broken bones

Found in hospitals far away

Blood Loss Problems

Blood groups cannot mix Or blood will clot

Donors blood group had to be same as patients

In WW1 bullet wounds made soldiers die due to a lack of blood

So blood became really important

1914 Sodium citrate was found to stop blot loss

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DNA

Working with Franklin’s pictures, Crick & Watson made a model of DNA.

This model became the Double Helix.

This Double Helix was the structure of DNA and it could unzip itself and make copies, which is what is passed on.

They had essentially, discovered the secret of life and could now work on identifying which parts of DNA caused hereditary disease, and eventually, removing it, even as early as in the embryonic stage or womb

Crick & Watson discovered the structure of human DNA and how it passed on from parents to children. In 1990s, the Human Genome Project began working out exactly how each part of human DNA affects the human body

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