Medicine in 18th and 19th Century Britain (1750-1900) The Industrial Period Flashcards
Define Innoculation
Giving somebody a small dose of disease to create immunity
Define Vaccination
Creating antibodies against a disease
Define ‘Spontaneous generation’
A belief that decay caused germs to appear
Define Pasteurisation
Heating the liquid to kill germs
Define Bacteriology
The study of bacteria
Define Cholera
Disease causing severe vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, and death
Define Antiseptic
Kill germs on a wound
Define Aseptic
A germ free environment
Define Pharmaceutical
Using drugs for medicine
Define Anaesthetic
Making the patient unconscious
Define Gangrene
Death of body tissue
Define Antibodies
Particles inside the body that can identify and fight off germs
Define Laissez-faire
Governments who do not get involved in the lives of their people
Deine Epidemic
A wide-spread outbreak of a disease
Define Cesspit
A pit for storing sewage.
Describe what Edward Jenner did to create the first vaccines
1) He noticed that milkmaids who got cowpox did not go on to develop smallpox and thought that the two must be connected
2) He injected cowpox matter into the eight-year-old James Phipps
3) He repeated this several times
4) He wrote up his findings and named the technique ‘vaccine’ after the Latin word ‘Vacca’, which means ‘Cow’
What did the Royal Society do with Jenner’s findings?
They refused to publish it
Give 3 ways people opposed Jenner’s discovery
1) Jenner could not explain the link between vaccinations
2) It only worked for Smallpox, not any other disease
3) The Church said using animal matter to protect against human diseases was against God’s will
Give 3 effects of Jenner’s discovery
1) From the 1800’s onwards, the government supported this idea of vaccination
2) It was safer, more reliable, and cheaper
3) Vaccination became compulsory after 1872
Give 2 ideas people had about the causes of disease by 1750?
1) Bad air - Miasmas
2) Spontaneous Generation
Explain Spontaneous generation
Scientists thought that the germs were spontaneously generated by the decay, and this spread the disease further, not the other way round.
What year did the world health organisation announce that the Small pox disease had been completely wiped out?
1979
In what year did the government enforce compulsory vaccination?
After 1872
Louis Pasteur was…
The first scientists to identify microbes and their role in disease
Pasteur investigated…
The problem of liquids turning sour in the brewing and vinegar industries
What technological advancements allowed Pasteur to do his work?
What was his work?
More powerful microscopes were invented
He could observe the growth of unwanted small organisms in the liquids
What did Pasteur discover?
That heating the liquid killed the bacteria and stopped liquid going sour - pasteurisation
In what did year did Pasteur publish his germ-theory?
What did it state?
1861
It showed that there were microbes in the air and that they caused decay
How did Pasteur disprove the idea of spontaneous generation?
Because no decay happened if matter was placed in a sealed container. This showed the microbes causing decay were not produced from the matter itself, but from the air around it.
Give 5 points about what hospitals were like in 1800
1) nurses were often dirty and drunk
2) There were few toilets and poor sewage systems
3) Wards were not cleaned frequently - death rates from infections were high
4) Nursing staff were not trained and poorly educated
5) Doctors did not wash their hands or change their clothes
Who was Elizabeth Garrett?
The first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain
Florence Nightingale was born into a …..
Wealthy family
Nightingale became a
Superintendent Nurse in a London hospital
Describe 3 changes Nightingale made to the Crimean hospital
1) Scrubbed the hospital wards thoroughly
2) Nurses were organised and could treat 2,000 patients
3) Clean bedding and good meals were given
Give 4 ways Florence changed the way hospitals were designed
1) Better ventilation
2) More windows
3) Larger rooms
4) Isolation areas for infectious diseases
Florence Nightingale set up a …
Nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Training focused on hygiene and cleanliness to prevent infections and diseases spreading in hospitals
By 1900, hospitals were very different, give some reasons why…
1) Separate wards were introduced
2) Operating theatres and different departments
3) Cleanliness was important
4) Doctors were common; trained nurses lived in nearby accommodation
5) The function had changed from a place of rest to a place of treatment
How did the workhouse system lead to an improvement in medical care?
It separated the mentally ill from the contagious from the standard ill so it doesn’t ‘spread’
What was ‘health reform’?
A religious movement that recommended a healthy lifestyle - run by John Kellogg whose brother invented cornflakes!
What was Christian Science?
They taught that disease only existed in the mind.
State the 3 key problems in the development of surgery in the 19th century
1) Pain
2) Infection
3) Bleeding
Who discovered Laughing gas?
Humphrey Davy
What was the name of the gas that put people to sleep and was used successfully as an anaesthetic?
Ether
Who developed Chloroform?
James Simpson
How did James Simpson develop chloroform?
They inhaled the vapours of various chemicals, after sniffing Chloroform, they all passed out and Mrs Simpson discovered them under a table!
State 3 reasons why people opposed the use of Chloroform
1) The dose had to be carefully controlled - in 1848, 14-year-old Hannah Greener died from an overdose after having an infected toenail removed
2) It created the black period of surgery
3) Nobody knew what the long-term effects would be
Who was Joseph Lister?
1) He studied Pare’s work and suggested that microbes in the air were causing infections in humans.
2) He used Carbolic acid and developed the use of carbolic spray - to clear the air during operations
What was the Black period in Surgery?
When surgeons attempted more complex and deeper surgery’s because of the aid of chloroform, many patients died due to blood loss
Why did people oppose Lister’s carbolic spray?
1) The germ theory was not fully accepted - people did not believe in germs
2) Carbolic spray cracked the surgeons skin and made everything smell - it was very unpleasant for the surgeons.
3) Surgeons still focused on speed, Lister’s antiseptics slowed things down
What was the short-term impact of Lister’s work?
Surgery did not change that much because of the opposition
What was the long-term impact of Lister’s work?
Attitudes changed and more antiseptic methods were developed
How was aseptic surgery done?
1) Cleaning all operating theatres and hospitals thoroughly
2) Steam cleaning instruments
3) Rubber gloves and surgical gowns were introduced
4) Face masks for surgeons
What were the problems for public health in the 19th century?
1) Towns grew very quickly so houses were built very quickly and cheaply
2) Rubbish on the streets
3) Fresh water came from street pumps and often got contaminated with sewage
What was Edwin Chadwick’s report called?
“Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring classes”
What did Edwin Chadwick prove?
1) The poor lived in dirty, overcrowded conditions
2) This causes a huge amount of illness
3) Many people were too sick to work - therefore became even poorer
4) Therefore, other people had to pay higher taxes to help the poor
What did Edwin Chadwick recommend?
1) Drainage and sewers to be improved
2) Rubbish was removed from streets and houses
3) Clean water supplies
4) Medical officers to check that these things actually happen
In what year was the public health act?
1875
What things happened in result of the Public health act?
1) In London, sewers were built
2) In Birmingham, slums were demolished
3) In Leeds, sewage was prevented from being drained into the river
What was important about the First Public health act of 1875?
It was advised, but not mandatory
What is the difference between the first and second public health acts?
The first one was advised but not compulsory
The second was advised and compulsory
