History Of Medicine Flashcards
What are the overarching goals of the course MED 111?
To study spatial development and practice of medicine in antiquity and evolution of modern medicine, examine traditional and modern health care systems in Nigeria, and understudy global modern health care revolutionary programs and goals.
List the learning objectives for students in MED 111.
- Demonstrate knowledge of medical development and practices in ancient times
- Understand basics and distinguishing features of ancient medical practices
- Compare ancient and modern medical practices
- Recognize pioneers of scientific medicine and public health
- Understand health care revolution programs and strategies
- Demonstrate knowledge of traditional medicine and health care developments in Nigeria
What does the history of medicine encompass?
The evolution of human knowledge regarding medicine, biographies of those who developed medicine, and reviews of accomplishments and errors in medical understanding.
What were the early medical traditions mentioned?
- Babylon
- China
- Egypt
- India
What is the significance of the Hippocratic Oath?
Written in ancient Greece in the 5th century BC, it serves as an inspiration for oaths that physicians swear upon entering the profession today.
What characterizes primitive medicine?
It is dominated by magical and religious beliefs, and practices include appeasing gods, using herbs, and employing crude instruments.
Define Ayurveda.
A traditional Indian system of medicine meaning ‘knowledge of life and longevity’, associated with the balance of three humors: wind, gall, and mucus.
What are the three humors in Ayurveda?
- Vata (space or air)
- Pitta (fire)
- Kapha (earth and water)
What is Siddha medicine?
A traditional system from South India emphasizing the balance of body, mind, and spirit, attributed to the founding father Agasthya.
What key principle does homeopathy follow?
The law of similars, meaning ‘like cures like’, where substances causing symptoms can treat similar symptoms in smaller doses.
What is Unani medicine?
A system of alternative medicine originating in ancient Greece, now practiced mainly in India, Pakistan, and South Africa, involving herbal remedies and dietary practices.
What are the main practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine?
- Herbal medicine
- Acupuncture
- Tai Chi
- Massage (tui na)
- Dietary therapy
True or False: The concept of Yin and Yang is applicable to the human body.
True
What is the role of hygiene in ancient Indian medicine?
Considered very important for health and prevention of disease.
What is the significance of acupuncture in Traditional Chinese Medicine?
A technique that stimulates specific points on the body to help ease chronic pain and improve overall health.
What belief did ancient Egyptian medicine hold regarding disease?
Disease was believed to be due to the absorption of harmful substances from the intestine.
Fill in the blank: The three elemental bodily humors in Ayurveda are known as _______.
[doshas]
What characterized Egyptian medicine during its peak?
Specialization in different medical fields, such as eye and tooth doctors, and the intertwining of medicine with religion.
What is moxibustion?
A treatment in which small cones of an herb are burned on top of needles placed in designated points on the body.
What is the main focus of Chinese medicine?
Health promotion and disease prevention rather than curative medicine.
Who is considered the founding father of Siddha medicine?
Agasthya
What does Naturopathy emphasize?
A drugless treatment of diseases and a way of life based on natural laws.
What is the historical significance of the 19th century in public health?
Development of public health measures due to rapid urban growth requiring sanitary interventions.
What are the Millennium Development Goals in health care?
Goals aimed at improving health care access and outcomes globally.
What were the main roles of priests in Egyptian medicine?
They helped care for the sick who were brought to the temples for treatment.
Who is considered the doctor and priest associated with Egyptian medicine?
Imhotep (2800 B.C.)
What types of specialization existed in Egyptian medicine?
- Eye doctors
- Head doctors
- Tooth doctors
What was the belief regarding the cause of disease in ancient Egypt?
Disease was due to absorption of harmful substances from the intestine.
What did the Egyptians believe about the pulse?
The pulse was considered the speech of the heart.
What were some treatments used in Egyptian medicine?
- Cathartics
- Laxatives
- Enema
- Blood-letting
- Drugs
What are the Edwin Smith and Ebers papyrus known for?
- Edwin Smith papyrus: describes partial paralysis secondary to cerebral lesions
- Ebers papyrus: records 800 prescriptions/remedies
What diseases were reported in ancient Egypt?
- Worms
- Eye diseases
- Diabetes
- Rheumatism
- Polio
- Schistosomiasis
What public health measures did the Egyptians excel in?
- Built public baths
- Created underground drains
What civilization is contemporary with Egyptian medicine?
Mesopotamian civilization
What were the types of doctors in Mesopotamian medicine?
- Herb doctors
- Knife doctors
- Spell doctors
What was the Code of Hammurabi?
The first code of medical practice formulated by Hammurabi, King of Babylon (2000 BC).
Who is regarded as the father of medicine in Greek medicine?
Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.)
What did Hippocrates introduce into medicine?
Application of clinical methods and classification of diseases based on observation.
What are the four humors according to Greek medicine?
- Phlegm
- Yellow bile
- Blood
- Black bile
What significant medical center existed in ancient Greece?
Alexandria’s huge museum, the first university in the world.
What sanitation advancements did the Romans make?
- Development of baths
- Sewers
- Aqueducts
Who was a prominent Roman medical teacher?
Galen (130-250 A.D.)
What period is referred to as the ‘Dark Ages of Medicine’?
The Middle Ages (500-1500 A.D.)
What major diseases affected Europe during the Middle Ages?
- Plague
- Smallpox
- Leprosy
- Tuberculosis
What marked the beginning of scientific medicine?
The period following 1500 A.D.
Who is known as the father of surgery?
Ambroise Pare
What significant public health act was enacted in 1848 in the UK?
Public Health Act
What did John Snow study in London?
Epidemiology of cholera.
What were some early theories about the causation of disease?
- Supernatural theory
- Theory of humors
- Miasma theory
- Theory of contagion
What did Louis Pasteur demonstrate in 1860?
The presence of bacteria in air.
What concept did the WHO establish regarding health?
Health is a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely absence of disease.
What are the four phases of public health development?
- Disease Control Phase (1880-1920)
- Health Promotion Phase (1920-1960)
- Social Engineering Phase (1960-1980)
- Health for All Phase (1981-2000)
What was the focus of the Disease Control Phase?
Sanitary legislation and reforms aimed to control the physical environment.
What health services emerged during the Health Promotion Phase?
- Mother and child health services
- School health services
- Mental health services
- Rehabilitative services
What was a significant outcome of Edwin Chadwick’s investigations?
Improvement in housing and working conditions in Britain.
Who demonstrated that malaria was transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito?
Ross (1898)
What is the modern concept of preventive medicine?
Promotion, protection, and maintenance of health; prevention of disease, disability, and death.
Fill in the blank: The germ theory of disease was advanced by _______.
Louis Pasteur
True or False: Preventive medicine was equated with the control of infectious diseases.
True
What was the main focus of the SOCIAL ENGINEERING PHASE (1960-1980)?
Shift from acute infectious illnesses to chronic diseases like cancers, diabetes, and CVD
This phase marked a change in public health priorities due to the chronic burden of disease on society.
What new concept emerged during the SOCIAL ENGINEERING PHASE (1960-1980) regarding chronic diseases?
Risk factors as determinants of chronic diseases
This concept emphasized the social and behavioral aspects of health.
What was the resolution of the 30th WORLD Health Assembly in 1977?
‘Health For All’ by the year 2000
This goal aimed to ensure access to primary healthcare for all individuals.
What key conference identified Primary Health Care as essential for achieving ‘Health For All’?
Alma Ata World Conference in 1978
This conference emphasized the importance of primary healthcare in public health.
List the major components covered by Primary Health Care.
- Promotion
- Prevention
- Treatment
- Rehabilitation
- Palliative care
Primary Health Care aims to address health needs from birth to end of life.
What were the eight goals agreed upon during the Millennium Conference in September 2000?
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development
These goals were aimed at improving global health and development by 2015.
What are the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
- No poverty
- Zero hunger
- Good health & well-being
- Quality education
- Gender equality
- Clean water & sanitation
- Affordable & clean energy
- Decent work & economic growth
- Industry, innovation & infrastructure
- Reduced inequalities
- Sustainable cities & communities
- Responsible consumption & production
- Climate action
- Life below water
- Life on land
- Peace, justice & strong institutions
- Partnerships for the goals
These goals provide a blueprint for sustainable development globally.
Define ‘deprofessionalization of medicine’.
Condition where the autonomy of a professional is lost
This concept reflects the shift towards a patient-centered and shared decision-making approach in healthcare.
What are the key qualities that define modern medical professionalism?
- Communication of specialist knowledge
- Confidentiality
- Continuity
- Trust
- Honesty
- Compassion
These qualities foster trust between doctors and patients.
What is the public health view of de-professionalization?
Making health services meaningful and accessible to the common person
This involves improving health system building blocks to achieve better health outcomes.
What strategies are common for correcting healthcare workforce shortages?
- Training new public health cadres
- Improving in-service training
- Task shifting
- Retention strategies in rural areas
- Contracting private health workers
These strategies aim to enhance healthcare delivery in underserved areas.
What are the four terms commonly used in public health medicine?
- Preventive medicine
- Social medicine
- Community health
- Community medicine
These terms reflect different facets of public health practice.
What is ‘primordial prevention’?
Measures taken to prevent disease prior to the development of risk factors
This is a proactive approach in public health.
List the fundamental assumptions of Social Medicine.
- Health is a birthright
- Health is the responsibility of the state
- Development and health are inter-related
- Education promotes health
- Social factors profoundly influence health
- Health begins at home
- Poverty is a major cause of ill health
These assumptions guide social interventions to improve public health.
What is the main goal of community health services?
To protect the health of the community
These services include environmental sanitation, immunization, and health education.
What was the role of missionaries in the history of medicine in Nigeria?
Established health services as part of their missionary activities
They played a crucial role in introducing Western medicine in Nigeria.
What was the first Medical Training Institution established in Nigeria?
Yaba Medical Training College in 1930
This institution was significant for training medical assistants.
What is the timeline of health care development phases in Nigeria?
- Colonial era
- Era of Fixed Term planning (1962-1985)
- Era of Rolling Plan (1990-1998)
- New Democratic Dispensation (1999 till date)
Each phase reflects the evolution of healthcare policies and strategies in Nigeria.
What is the traditional system of healthcare delivery in Nigeria?
Traditional Medicine, which includes herbalists, divine healers, soothsayers, midwives, spiritualists, bone-setters, mental health therapists, and surgeons.
These practices remain a viable part of the healthcare system in Nigeria.
When was Western-style healthcare introduced in Nigeria?
1472–1880
Introduced by doctors brought by explorers and traders.
What period saw the foundation of hospitals mainly by Christian missionaries in Nigeria?
1880–1945
What significant development in healthcare began in Nigeria in 1945?
Development of nationwide healthcare service through national development plans.
What was the first national development plan in Nigeria?
First Colonial Development plan in 1945
What is the timeframe of the Five Year Strategic Plan in Nigeria?
2004–2008
What are two major obstacles to healthcare improvement in Nigeria?
- Poverty
- Large-scale corruption
How is health linked to economic development in Nigeria?
Health sector is critical to social and economic development.
What is the vision for Nigeria in terms of its economy by 2020?
To be one of the top 20 economies in the world.
What is the relationship between health sector development and human capital in Nigeria?
The vision of becoming a leading economy is closely tied to the development of its human capital through the health sector.
Fill in the blank: Health is _______.
wealth
True or False: Traditional healing practices have been completely replaced by Western-style healthcare in Nigeria.
False
What type of plans articulate strategies for healthcare development in Nigeria?
Three/four year plans
