19th Century Flashcards
Who discovered that nitrous oxide could be used as an anaesthetic?
Sir Humphrey Davy in 1799
What is Sir Humphrey Davy known for?
Discovering that nitrous oxide could be used as an anaesthetic
What is nitrous oxide more commonly known as?
Laughing gas
Who discovered that ether could be used as an anaesthetic?
William Morton in 1846
What were the negatives of ether?
- Irritated eyes and lungs
- Highly flammable
Who discovered that chloroform was an effective anaesthetic?
James Simpson in 1847
What is William Morton known for?
Discovering that ether could be used as an anaesthetic
What is James Simpson known for?
Discovering that chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic
What were the negatives of nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic?
It didn’t make patients completely unconscious
What problems were there with anaesthetics when first used?
Surgeons didn’t know the correct dosage which resulted in deaths
What is Joseph Lister known for?
Discovering the antiseptic qualities of carbolic acid and developing a carbolic spray
What happened to public health conditions in the 19th century and why?
They declined due to:
- Large growth in population
- People living in close proximity
- Lack of toilets and clean drinking water
Who wrote On the Sanitary Conditions of the Working Population?
Edwin Chadwick in 1842
What is Edwin Chadwick known for?
- Publishing a report On the Sanitary Conditions of the Working Population
- It said that ill health was caused by poor living conditions, not idleness
When was the first Public Health Act published?
1848
What did the 1848 Public Health Act include?
- National Board of Health set up
- Optional measures eg. improvements to local sanitary conditions
When was the second Public Health Act passed?
1875
Other than the Public Health Acts, what other pieces of legislation were passed to improve public health?
- 1870 Education Act
- 1875 Artisans’ Dwellings Act
What was the difference between the 1848 and 1875 Public Health Acts?
The 1875 act made the measures from the 1848 act compulsory
What did the 1870 Education Act do?
Make schooling compulsory
What did the 1875 Artisans’ Dwellings Act do?
Allow councils to buy, demolish and rebuild slum housing to improve living conditions
What is John Snow known for?
Identifying that cholera was spread by water during the 1854 cholera outbreak on Broad Street
What caused the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak?
A cesspit leaking into the water supply
Which people were unaffected by the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak?
The people who worked in the local brewery
What is Louis Pasteur known for?
- Coming up with his Germ Theory
- Inventing Pasteurisation
- Producing the first vaccination made in a lab
What is Germ Theory?
The idea that germs (pathogens) caused disease, not the other way round
What theory did Pasteur go against?
The Theory of Spontaneous Generation
What is Robert Koch known for?
- Proving that germs (pathogens) caused disease in humans
- Identifying the specific microbes that caused 21 different diseases
What is Paul Ehrlich known for?
Discovering magic bullets to kill syphilis, malaria & sleeping sickness
What is a magic bullet?
A nickname for antibodies that attacked specific disease causing microbes
Name 3 major inventions from the 19th century that helped to treat disease
- Stethoscopes
- Thermometers
- X-ray machines
