Medicine and Health Through Time Flashcards

Question

Robert Koch

Answer 1

 German scientist. He began linking diseases to the microbe that caused that specific disease.  Koch developed a solid medium to grow cultures, and dyeing techniques to colour microbes, which he viewed through high-powered microscopes.  He identified anthrax spores and the bacteria that cause septicaemia, tuberculosis and cholera.

Answer 2

Hearing of Koch’s, Pasteur came out of retirement and competed to find new microbes and combat them.  Pasteur looked for cures to anthrax and chicken cholera. Both he and Koch worked with large teams of scientists. Charles Chamberland was in Pasteur’s team.  Chamberland was told to inject chickens with chicken cholera, but it was the day before his holiday and he forgot. He left the germs on his desk and injected the chickens when he returned from his holiday.  The chickens survived, Pasteur and Chamberlain tried again with new germs, but the chickens survived.  The cholera had been weakened by being left out, and the weakened cholera made the chickens immune. Chamberland’s error had produced a chance discovery.

Answer 3

Louis Pasteur – Anthrax Vaccine

Answer 4

Nitrous Oxide or ‘laughing gas’ was discovered by Sir Humphry Davy. It was never really widely used as Davy’s findings were published in a book that was not well known, the book was given an obscure name. Ether used by J.R. Liston during a leg amputation. However, it had very unpleasant side effects. Chloroform used by James Simpson and some friends at his home. They realised that it could be used as during surgery. However, it led to unexplained deaths. The dose given could not be measured or controlled.

Answer 5

They were uncomfortable for patients.  Some doctors believed that pain was good for healing.  People didn’t understand how they worked.  Didn’t understand the side effects that new substances could have on the body.

Answer 6

Joseph Lister and the discovery of antiseptics:  Heard that carbolic spray was used on sewage. He knew sewage had a similar smell to gangrene.  He had read the work of Pasteur on his germ theory.  He was prepared to take risks.

Answer 7

Lister’s methods slowed down surgery.  The spray was uncomfortable for doctors to use, it affected their skin.  Pasteur’s germ theory was not widely accepted in 1857.  Surgeons did not copy his methods correctly and were therefore disappointed with their results.

Answer 8

By the late 1890s Lister’s antiseptic methods led to aseptic surgery. This is the removal of all possible germs from theatres to ensure absolute cleanliness. The following methods were introduced…  Operating theatres and hospitals were rigorously cleaned.  All surgical instruments were steam sterilised.  Sterilised rubber gloves were first used and surgeon’s hands were scrubbed.

Answer 9

Jenner was a country doctor. He heard that milkmaids didn’t get smallpox, but instead a milder cowpox.  Jenner investigated and discovered people who had already had cowpox didn’t get smallpox.  In 1796 he took a small boy and injected him with pus from the sores of a milkmaid with cowpox. Jenner then injected James with smallpox. James didn’t catch the disease!

Answer 10

Jenner could not scientifically explain how it worked.  Inoculators were afraid of losing money.  Many were worried about side effects; they worried about giving themselves a disease that from cows.  Some members of the Church believed that vaccination was not natural.

Answer 11

Scientists thought microbes were caused by disease and appeared because of illness. This was the theory of spontaneous generation. Instead of blaming microbes, people looked for miasmas.  Louis Pasteur was employed in 1857 to find the explanation for the souring of sugar beet used in fermenting industrial alcohol. His answer was to blame germs in the air.  He proved there are germs in the air by sterilising water and keeping it in a flask that didn’t allow airborne particles to enter. This stayed sterile – but sterilised water kept in an open flask bred microbes again.

Answer 12

Operating theatres and hospitals were rigorously cleaned.  All surgical instruments were steam sterilised.  Sterilised rubber gloves were first used and surgeon’s hands were scrubbed.

Answer 13

Once William Harvey had discovered the circulation of the blood, the first blood transfusions were attempted. Early blood transfusions often ended disastrously because…  Blood groups had not been discovered.  They could not prevent the blood from clotting.  Infection could be passed on.

Answer 14

During the late 1700s and the first half of C19th, conditions in British towns became worse than ever.  Houses were built as close together as possible as more people crowded into factory towns to work.  Towns could not cope with the need to provide people with water and sewage disposal facilities.  In these squalid conditions, diseases spread easily and rapidly.  The conditions were so bad that many people’s health may have even become worse than ever before

Answer 15

 Some thought that the government should force local councils to clean up their towns.  However, many believed that the government shouldn’t interfere – this attitude is called laissez-faire.  They believed the government should allow each local area to control its own affairs.  This meant that local ratepayers made all the decisions. Local ratepayers didn’t want the government to force them to pay for improvements to their towns.

Answer 16

 In 1842 he was asked by the government to report on the living conditions and health of the poor.  Chadwick concluded that poverty was caused by ill health which was caused by the terrible conditions in which people lived.  He said that ratepayers can cut their taxes and save money in the long-term by looking after the poor and to spend money improving their health.  In his “Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population” he said industrial towns should: o Organise drainage and refuse collection o Provide a pure water supply o Appoint a Medical Officer of Health For over 30 years an argument went on about the need for town councils or the government to take action. Towns such as Liverpool and Manchester did start to build sewage and water-supply systems.

Answer 17

The government did nothing at first about Chadwick’s recommendations.  However, in 1848 there was another outbreak of cholera, this put pressure on the government to do something. Parliament reluctantly agreed to pass Public Health Act.  Although it was not compulsory. The government set up a Board of Health to encourage, but not to force, local authorities to improve conditions.  They gave local authorities money to make improvements in their areas if they wanted to and had the support of local ratepayers.  Only a few local authorities took any new measures.  By 1872 only 50 Medical Officers of Health had been appointed.  The Board of Health was abandoned in 1854.

Answer 18

In 1854 John Snow proved that there was a link between cholera and water supply. He used research, observation and door-to-door interviews to build a detailed map of a cholera epidemic in Broad Street.  Nearly all the deaths had taken place within a short distance of the water pump.  Near to the pump, there was a brewery and none of the people there had cholera. The brewery had its own water pump, and the men had been given free beer. They didn’t use the Broad Street Pump at all.  After collecting evidence, John Snow removed the handle from the Broad Street pump.  There were no more deaths. It later came to light that a cesspool near to the pump had a cracked lining which allowed the contents to contaminate the drinking water.  Snow put pressure on water companies to clean up their water supplies.

Answer 19

For years human waste made its way from the latrines in London into the River Thames.  In 1858 the hot weather caused a ‘great stink’. The putrid smell was right under Parliament’s nose.  Parliament considered moving and had to coat their curtains with a deodorant to get rid of the smell.  The Great Stink prompted Parliament to sort out London’s sewage and drainage system and to clean up the River Thames.  Within a year Sir Joseph Bazalgette had begun to build an extensive system of sewers and drains that are still in operation today

Answer 20

Working class men were given the right to vote.  For the first time, it wasn’t just the ratepayers who got a say in improving public health.  MPs were forced to improve the living conditions of the poor.

Answer 21

Unlike the 1848 Public Health Act, the 1975 Public Health Act actually forced local authorities to introduce the following measures:  Provision of clean water  Proper drainage and sewage  The appointment of a Medical Officer of Health

Answer 22

 Improved the standards of housing  Stopped the pollution of rivers from which people got water  Shortened working hours in factories for women and children  Made it illegal to add ingredients that made food unhealthy  Made education compulsory

Answer 23

Surgeons had the opportunity to experiment with new techniques. Surgeons developed techniques to repair broken bones, and perform skin grafts – plastic surgery.  Soldiers promised good housing when they returned. This helped to get rid of unhealthy slum housing.  Surgery of the eye, ear, nose and throat all improved rapidly. Brain surgery also advanced

Answer 24

X-rays were first discovered 20 years before the war.  Hospitals installed X-ray machines, but it was the First World War which confirmed their importance.  More were manufactured to meet demand and they were installed in hospitals along the Western Front.  X-rays immediately improved the success rate of surgeons in removing deeply lodged bullets and shrapnel which would otherwise have caused fatal infections.

Answer 25

 In the renaissance, Harvey proved blood circulates and this encouraged experiment with transfusions.  It sometimes worked and sometimes failed. Scientists didn’t know about different blood groups.  Blood groups were discovered in 1901 by Karl Landsteiner. The discovery made transfusions successful.  During the First World War vast amounts of blood was needed. On-the-spot donors were impractical. Many soldiers bled to death in the trenches before blood could get to them.  The search began for a better method of storage and transfusion. Doctors discovered how blood can be bottled, packed in ice and stored where it was needed. This discovery helped to save many lives.

Answer 26

Fleming discovered mould killed germs. Writes articles but publishes them in book with an obscure name. 2 Chain and Florey begin research in Oxford after reading an article by Fleming. They experiment with mice. 3 Penicillin is first tested on a human being in Oxford. 4 U.S. and Britain fund production of penicillin. 5 Enough penicillin is produced to treat all the allied forces wounded in the D-Day invasion of Europe.

Answer 27

Government – British government funded Florey’s research, U.S. government funded mass production.  Technology – microscopes and bacteria growing mediums.  Scientific experiment – testing on mice.  Individuals – Florey and Chain were skilled scientists supported by a skilled team of researchers.  War – the growing casualties of World War Two added to the urgency to mass produce penicillin.  Chance – Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by chance in 1928.

Answer 28

 Blood transfusion –blood could be stored for longer, civilians donated blood.  Diet – rationing improved some people’s diet, government encouraged healthy eating.  Drugs – penicillin was developed as the first antibiotic.  Poverty – evacuation took children out of urban areas. Highlighted contrast between rich and poor.  Surgery – developments in the use of skin grafts and treatment of burns.  Hygiene – government posters education people about health and hygiene.

Answer 29

WW2 broke down social distinctions and brought people together.  The raising of armies made powerful people take notice of the health problems of the poor.  Evacuation of children increased awareness of how disadvantaged many people were.  After the Second World War people looked for improvements in society. Such feelings led to the 1945 victory for the Labour Party.

Answer 30

Sir William Beveridge published his famous Beveridge Report in 1942. In it he called for the state provision of social security “from the cradle to the grave”. The report became a bestseller.  Aneurin Bevan was the Labour Minister for Health who introduced the National Health Service.  National Insurance was introduced to pay for the NHS. Doctors and dentists were wooed with a fixed payment for each patient. They were also allowed to continue treating private fee-paying patients.

Answer 31

Governments have reduced how much of the NHS is free – charging for prescriptions and dental health.  Long waiting lists and doubts about the quality of treatment have led to paying for treatment outside NHS.  Longer life expectancies have meant more need for care of the elderly and increased costs for the NHS.