Health History and Trends Flashcards
4000 BC-3000 BC Primitive Times
Believed that illness and disease caused by supernatural spirits and demons. Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies to drive out evil spirits. Herbs and plants used and medicines and some, such as morphine for pain and digitalis for the heart, are still used today. Trepanation to trephining, boring a hole in the skull, was used to treat insanity, epilepsy, and headache. Average life span was 20 years.
3000 BC-300 BC
Ancient Egyptians
Earliest people mown to maintain accurate health records. Called upon the gods to heal them when disease occurred. Physicians were priests who studied medicine and surgery in temple medical schools. Believed body was a system of channels for air, tears, blood, urine, sperm, and feces. If channels became “clogged,” bloodletting or leeches were used to “open” them. Used magic and medicinal plants to treat disease. Average life span was 20 to 30 years.
Imhotep
(2725 BC, Ancient Egypt) first physician
1700 BC-220 AD
Ancient Chinese
Religious prohibitions against dissection resulted in inadequate knowledge of the body structure. Carefully 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. Used acupuncture, or puncture of the skin by needles, to relieve pain and congestion. Also used moxibustion (a powdered substance was placed on the skin and then burned to cause a blister) to treat disease. Began the search for medical reasons for illness. Average life span was 20 to 30 years.
1200 BC-200 BC
Ancient Greeks
Began modern medical science by observing human body and effects of disease. Believed illness is a result of natural causes. Used therapies such as massage, art therapy, and herbal treatment which are still used today. Stressed diet and cleanliness as ways to prevent disease. Average life span was 25 to 35 years.
Alcmaeon
(6th century BC, Ancient Greece) biochemist who identified the brain as the physiological site of the senses
Hippocrates
(460-377 BC, Ancient Greece) Father of Medicine; Developed organized mat hod to observe the human body. Recorded the signs and symptoms of many diseases. Created a high standard of ethics, the Oath of Hippocrates, used by physicians today.
Aristotle
(384-322 BC, Ancient Greece) dissected animals and is called founder of comparative anatomy
753 BC-410 AD
Ancient Romans
First to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers. Early hospitals developed when physicians cared for ill people in rooms in their homes. Later hospitals were religious and charitable institutions housed in monasteries and convents. Began public health and sanitation systems (e.g. aqueducts carried clean water to cities, sewers carried waste materials away to prevent disease, filtering systems in public baths prevent disease, and marshes were drained to reduce the incidence of malaria). Diet, exercise, and medications wee used to treat disease. Average life span was 25 to 35 years.
Claudius Galen
(129-199 AD, Ancient Rome) physicians who established many medical beliefs: body regulated by four fluids or humors (blood phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile); imbalance in humors resulted in illness; described symptoms of inflammation and studied infectious diseases; dissected animals and determined function of muscles, kidney, and bladder
400-800 AD
Dark Ages
Emphasis was placed on saving the soul and the study of medicine was prohibited. Prayer and divine intervention were used to treat illness and disease. Monks and priests provided custodial care for sick people. Medications were mainly herbal mixtures. Average life span was 20 to 30 years.
800-1400 AD
Middle Ages
Renewed interest in the medical practice of Greeks and Romans. Physicians began to obtain knowledge at medical universities in the 9th century. A pandemic (worldwide epidemic) of the bubonic plague (black death) killed ¾ of the population of Europe and Asia. Major diseases were smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plague, and malaria. Arab physicians used their knowledge of chemistry to advance pharmacology. Arabs began requiring that physicians pass examinations and obtain licenses. Average life span was 20 to 35 years.
Rhazes (al-Razi)
(Middle Ages, Persia) Arab physician, known as Arab Hippocrates. Based diagnoses on observations of the signs and symptoms of disease. Developed criteria for distinguishing between smallpox and measles in 910 AD. Suggested blood was the cause of many infectious diseases. Began the use of animal gut for suture material.
Avenzhoar
(12th Century, Middle Ages) Arab physician who described the parasite causing scabies
1350-1650 AD
Renaissance
Rebirth of the science of medicine. Dissection of the body began to allow a better understanding of anatomy and physiology. First chairs (positions of authority) of medicine created at Oxford and Cambridge in England in 1440. Development of the printing press allowed knowledge to be spread to others. Average life span was 30 to 40 years.
Michelangelo & Leonardo Da Vinci
(15th & 16th Centuries, Renaissance) used dissection in order to draw the human body more realistically
Andreas Vesalius
(1514-1564, Renaissance) published first anatomy book
Isaac Judaeus
(Renaissance) wrote first book on dietetics (the science or art of applying the principles of nutrition to the diet)
Michael Servetus
(1511-1553, Renaissance) Described the circulatory system in the lungs. Explained how digestion is a source of heat for the body.
Roger Bacon
(1214-1294, Renaissance) Promoted chemical remedies to treat disease. Researched optics and refraction (bending of light rays).
16th and 17th Centuries
Causes of disease still not known and many people died from infection and puerperal (childbed) fever. Scientific societies, such as the Royal Society of London, were established. Apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed and sold medications. Average life span was 35 to 45 years.
Ambroise Pare
(1510-1590) French surgeon, known as Father of Modern Surgery. Established use of ligatures to bind arteries and stop bleeding. Eliminated use of boiling oil to cauterize (stop bleeding of) wounds. Improved treatment of fractures and promoted use of artificial limbs.
Gabriel Fallopius
(1523-1562) Identified the fallopian tubes in the female. Described the tympanic membrane in the ear.
William Harvey
(1578-1657) described the circulation of blood to and from the heart in 1628
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
(1632-1723) invented the microscope in 1666
Bartolomeo Eustachio
identified the eustachian tube leading from the ear to the throat
18th Century: average life span
Average life span was 40 to 50 years
Gabriel Fahrenheit
(1686-1736) created the first mercury thermometer in 1714
Joseph Priestly
(1733-1804) discovered the element oxygen in 1774
John Hunter
(1728-1793) English surgeon. Established scientific surgical procedures. Introduced tube feeding in 1778.
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) invented bifocals for glasses
Dr. Jesse Bennet
performed first successful Caesarian section operation to deliver an infant in 1794
James Lind
prescribed lime juice containing vitamin O to prevent scurvy in 1795
Edward Jenner
(1749-1823) developed a vaccination for smallpox in 1796
19th Century
Royal College of Surgeons (medical school) founded in London in 1800. French barbers acted as surgeons by extracting teeth, using leaches for treatment, and giving enemas. International Red Cross was founded in 1863. Bacteria causing gonorrhea and leprosy were discovered and identified.
James Blundell
performed first successful blood transfusion on humans in 1818
Rene Laennec
(1781-1826) invented the stethoscope in 1819
Dr. Philippe Pinel
(1755-1826) began humane treatment for mental illness
Theodor Fliender
started one of first training programs for nurses in Germany in 1836; provided Florence Nightingale with her formal training
Ignaz Semmelweis
(1818-1865) Encouraged physicians to wash hands with lime after performing autopsies and before delivering babies to prevent puerperal (childbed) fever, but the idea was resisted by hospital and medical personnel in the 1840s
Dr. William Morton
(1819-1868) American dentist who began using ether as an anesthetic in 1846
Dr. James Simpson
(1811-1870) began using chloroform as an anesthetic in 1847
Elizabeth Blackwell
(1821-1910) became first female physician in the United States in 1849
Florence Nightingale
Founder of modern nursing. Established efficient and sanitary nursing units during Crimean War in 1854. Opened Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London in 1860. Began the professional education for nurses.
Dorothea Dix
appointed Superintendent of Female Nurses of the Army in 1861.
Joseph Lister
(1827-1912) started using disinfectants and antiseptics during surgery to prevent infection in 1865
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
(1836-1917) became the first female physician in Britain in 1870 and the first woman member of the British Medical Association in 1873
Paul Ehrlich
(1854-1915) German bacteriologist who developed methods of detecting and differentiating between various diseases, developed the foundation for modern theories of immunity, and used chemicals to eliminate microorganisms.
Clara Barton
(1821-1912) founded the American Red Cross in 1881.
Louis Pasteur
(1822-1895) proved that microorganisms causes disease. Pasteurized milk to kill bacteria. Created a vaccine for rabies in 1885.
Gregory Mendel
(1822-1884) established principles of heredity and dominant/recessive patterns
Robert Koch
(1843-1910), called the Father of Microbiology, developed the culture plate method to identify pathogens and isolated the bacteria causing tuberculosis
Dimitri Ivanofski
discovered viruses in 1892
Lillian Wald
(1867-1940) established the Henry Street Settlement in New York City in 1893 (the start of public health nursing)
Wilhelm Roentgen
(1845-1923) discovered Roentgenograms (X-rays) in 1895
Almroth Wright
developed vaccine for typhoid fever in 1897
20th Century
Health insurance plans and social reforms developed in the 1920s. First kidney dialysis machine was developed in 1944. Birth control pills approved by FDA in 1960. Medicare and Medicaid 1965 Amendment to Social Security Act marked the entry of the federal government into the health care arena as a major purchaser of health services. First hospice was founded in England in 1967. Physicians used amniocentesis to diagnose inherited diseases before birth in 1975. Computer axial tomography (CAT) scan was developed in 1975. Genetic engineering led to development of vaccines against hepatitis, herpes simplex, and chicken pox in 1980s. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was identified as a disease in 1981. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified in 1984. The first gene therapy to treat disease occurred in 1990. President George H. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Identification of genes causing diseases increased rapidly in the 1990s. A sheep was cloned in 1997. First successful larynx (voice box) transplant was performed in 1998. International team of scientists sequenced the first human chromosome in 1999. Average life span was 60 to 80 years.
Walter Reed
demonstrated that mosquitos carry yellow fever in 1900
Carl Landsteiner
classified the ABO blood groups in 1901
Dr. Elie Metchnikoff
(1845-1916) identified how white blood cells protect against disease
Marie Curie
(1867-1934) isolated radium in 1910
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939) his studies formed the basis for psychology and psychiatry
Frederick Banting & Charles Best
discovered and used insulin to treat diabetes in 1922
Mary Breckinridge
(1881-1965) founded Frontier Nursing Service in 1925 to deliver health care to rural Kentuckians
John Enders & Frederick Robbins
developed methods to grow viruses in cultures in the 1930s
Sir Alexander Fleming
(1881-1955) discovered penicillin in 1928
Gerhard Domagk
(1895-1964) developed sulfa drugs to fight infections
Dr. George Papanicolaou
developed the Pap test to detect cervical cancer in females
Jonas Salk
(1914-1995) developed the polio vaccine using dead polio virus in 1952
Francis Crick & James Watson
described the structure of DNA and how it carries genetic information in 1953
Albert Sabin
(1906-1993) developed an oral live-virus polio vaccine in the mid 1950s
Thomas Starzl
performed first liver transplant in 1963
James Hardy
performed first lung transplant in 1964
Christian Barnard
performed first successful heart transplant in 1968
Hargobind Khorana
became first scientist to synthesize a gene in 1970
Louise Brown
became the first “test tube” baby when she was born in England in 1978
Dr. William DeVries
implanted the first artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, in 1982
Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973
established standards for HMOs and provided an alternative to private health insurance
Cyclosporine
a drug to suppress the immune system after organ transplants, approved in 1983
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987
established regulations for education and certification of nursing assistants
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989
created an agency for health care policy and research to develop outcome measures of health care quality
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research and establish standards of quality care in 1992
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
signed into law by President Clinton in 1996; protected patient privacy and made it easier to obtain an keep health insurance
21st Century
Adult stem cells used in treatment of disease in wary 2000s. FDA approved use of abortion pill RU-486 in 2000. President George W. Bush approved federal funding for research using only existing lines of embryonic stem cells in 2001. Advanced Cell Technology announced it cloned a human embryo in 2001 but the embryo did not survive. First totally artificial implantable artificial heart was placed in a patient in Louisville, Kentucky in 2001.
