History of medicine: Industrial Flashcards
What were similarities in ideas about the causes of disease in the first half of industrial times?
People still believed in miasma although it was less popular
Disease was somehow linked to diseases in the air or animalcules
What were changes in the ideas about the causes of disease in the first half of industrial times?
People no longer believed God caused disease as they believed God played a less active role in people’s lives
The Four Humours was completely discredited at this point
Spontaneous generation suggested that animalcules were the product of decay
What were key events that affected ideas at the time?
The Enlightenment - it became fashionable to seek answers about the world
Scientific revolution - new theories began to replace the discredited old ones
the growth of urban environments - new cities adn towns were not planned and disease spread quickly and often
What changed in ideas about the cause of disease from the first to second half of industrial times?
Germ Theory (1861, Louis Pasteur) suggested the air contains living microbes, microbes in the air cause decay, microbes aren't equally distributed in the air, and microbes can be killed by heating them This was slowly accepted and replaced Spontaneous Generation
What was the knock on effect of Germ Theory?
Robert Koch found specific germs that caused specific disease:
1882 - Tuberculosis
1883 - Cholera
1884 - Meningitis
1894 - Plague
This led to scientists searching for cures for these germs
What were similarities in approaches to treatment and care?
Herbal remedies continued to be popular
The old belief that prevention was the best method became even more popular
What were changes to approaches to treatment and care?
Hospitals greatly improved during the 1800s, partially attributed to Florence Nightingale
Britain benefitted from the first vaccine (smallpox)
There were major developments in surgery
The governemnt got gradually more involved in prevention
How did the smallpox vaccination come about?
In 1796 Edward Jenner observed that milk maids didn’t get smallpox and theorised it had something to do with cowpox. He injected a child with a small amount of cowpox, and then exposed them to smallpox.. When they didn’t get smallpox he started vaccinating more people
What were the developments in Edward Jenner’s vaccine?
1796 - develops smallpox vaccine
1803 - Royal Jennerian Society set up to promote and facilitate vaccines
1852 - Governemnt made smallpox vaccine compulsory
1871 - Public vaccinators appointed
Smallpox is now completely eradicated
How did the first anaesthetic happen?
James Simspon discivered chloroform had the ability to knock people out for a period of time in 1847 and this was used as an anaesthetic
This initally created a “Black Period” of surgery as surgeons would try more invasive surgeries which would lead to bad infections and a higher death rate
How did the Black Period of surgery begin to end?
Joseph Lister discovered infected wounds were basically rotting flesh. He started to use carbolic spray in 1865 to kill germs during surgery and his death rate fell drastically Carbolic spray was widely used by 1882 Aseptic surgery (where everything was completely rid of germs) began to become popular towards the end of industrial times
Why was there opposition to anaethetics?
In 1848 a 14 year old became one of the first patients to die from anaesthetic
It created the Black period of surgery
People believed interfering in pain relief was interfering with God’s plan
Some doctors believed patients were more likely to die
Why was there opposition to antiseptics?
People didn’t fully understand the science of Lister’s work because it spread faster than Germ Theory
Carbolic spray smelled funny and was an irritant on skin
It took a long time for doctors to accept germs caused infections
What were some key individuals from the time?
Edward Jenner - smallpox vaccine (1796)
Edwin Chadwick - Report on the poor in London (1842)
Florence Nightingale - Better hospitals (1853-)
John Snow - Cholera in London (1854)
Joseph Bazalgette - London sewers (1858)
Louis Pasteur / Robert Koch - Germs (1860/70s)
How did physicians change?
They became more like the doctorws we know today and were egaer to learn from hand on experience and observation
Many doctors offered their services for free to hospitals to practice their skills
How did apothecaries change?
They began to lose influence however there was still a relience on herbal cures in the lack of chemical cures
They were based in hospitals
How did hospitals change?
New hospitals opened using donations from wealthy people
Increasingly they became places where the sick would be treated
Florence Nightingale proffesionalised nursing and made big changes to the layout of hospitals
What was the first sign of the governemnt taking action in concern of public health?
In 1750 they raised the price on gin to stop the poor from drinking themsleves to death
How did John Snow discover the cause of cholera?
He developed a spot map that linked 93 deaths of Cholera to a water pump on Broad Street
When he removed the handle and it could no longer be used, the outbreak went away
Later inspection found it was extremely close to a cesspit which had cracked and leaked into the water supply
What happened as a result fo John Snow’s findings?
In 1855 when presented with these findings, the government did nothing
Many people rejecetd the idea as they didn’t want to spend time and money fixing the problem
The government took steps to improve the sewage system in 1858 due to the “Great Stink” in London. The work was completed in 1875
What was public health like at the start of industrial times?
The inudstrial revolution caused towns to become overcrowded, there was dirty water, no basic cleanliness and killer diseases had regular outbreaks
How did the government begin to take action?
First (1848) and Second Public Health Act (1875)
1853 - Compulsory smallpox vaccinations
1858 - Began to fix sewers in London
What factors affected the increased amount of change in this period?
Science - Germ Thoery was a massive breakthrough
Religion - This was no onger a hindrance to discovery or progress and people believed God took a more passive role in day to day life
Attitudes in society - poeple were more accepting of rational ideas
Technology - Industrial strength dyes developed allowed for staining of microbes and better glass allowed for better microscopes
