Medicine in the 1800s onwards Flashcards
What did Robert and Daniel Sutton do?
Became very wealthy by carrying out thousands of inoculations, charging up to £20 per patient.
What were the dangers with inoculation?
Could get a strong dose of smallpox and die
Could pass smallpox onto someone else
Most people couldn’t afford inoculation
When did Jenner publish his book, what was it called and what wa included in it?
1798 - An Enquiry into the Causes and Effects of Variola Vaccinae , known by the name of CowPox
Showed that vaccination could save people from catching cowpox
Described 23 different cases
Did Jenner idea of Vaccination get far?
He had opposition buy by 1803 vaccination was being used in the USA an in 1805 Napoleon had the whole of the French army vaccinated
How did the Government help Jenner and his idea of Vaccination?
In 1802 and 1807, Parliament gave Jenner 30,000 to develop his work on Vaccination.
When was Vaccination made compulsory in Britain and did this help?
1852
Helped to cause a huge drop in smallpox cases
How did Individual Genius help Jenner in his idea with Vaccination?
Had the insight and intelligence to realise that the link between Cowpox and Smallpox was significant and was determined to prove this despite criticism.
What was formed in 1866?
Anti-Vaccine League
What else played apart in the drop in the number of smallpox deaths in the later 1800s?
Other factors played a part in keeping people healthier such as clean water supplies, cleaner housing and a better diet
Name a reason why it was hard to believe Jenners idea of vaccination.
He didn’t know that germs caused diseases so did not know ewe toy how vaccination worked
Was not possible to learn from this discovery how to prevent spread of other diseases
What was some of the main Criticism and opposition of Vaccinations?
Against Gods law to give people animal disease
Country doctor - some people had never heard of him
Government shouldn’t interfere in people’s lives
Enough to worry about - finding work and food
Clumsy and it doesn’t work
Royal society said the idea is to revolutionary
Cost inoculators their jobs and profits
Only cure is prayer and living a godly life
What did Louis Pasteur discover in 1861?
Published his germ theory
Germs cause human and animal diseases
Carried out series of experiments to prove that bacteria (germs) make milk and bee go bad
What did Robert Koch discover in 1870? What was the result of this?
Him and his research team developed the scientific methods that helped scientists to identify specific bacteria that cause individual diseases
Made the first discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis
Other scientists discovered bacteria that caused other diseases
What did Pasteur discover in 1880?
Vaccines to prevent individual diseases
Firstly against animal diseases - chicken cholera, anthrax - and then against a human disease, rabies.
Other scientists then developed vaccines against other diseases
What was inoculation?
Trying to prevent smallpox by spreading pus from a smallpox pustule into a cut in the skin of a healthy person
If the person was lucky, they’d get a small dose of small pox and not catch it again because their body had developed antibodies to fight against it- however they didn’t know this
What was the ocular explanation for what caused diseases?
Bad air/miasma
Towns were crowded and filthy than ever before
People could see rotting food and flesh and even faeces in the streets
They knew this dirt gave of terrible smells and assumed that these smells caused and spread disease
What idea of what caused diseases were fading fast in the 1800s?
Supernatural explanations and the theory of the 4 humours which had dominated explanations of causes of disease for you sands of years
Why was the Microscope a key development?
1600 - Anthony van Leeuwenhoek made a microscope that magnified things by 300 times.
He wrote descriptions of what he saw, including tiny living organisms that he found in food, water human waste. He called them ‘ animalcules ‘ but non connected these organisms to diseases
In the 1800s a new theory about what caused diseases developed. It was called the spontaneous generation. Describe what it was.
Scientists used microscopes to look at bacteria on rotting food
They decide that the organisms were spontaneously generated by the process of decay in for example the meat and then the organisms spread disease
Describe Louis Pasteur personality.
Loved to demonstrate his experiments in public, especially if he was proving he was right and someone else was wrong
Hugely determined man
1868 - was paralysed down the left side of his body but pushed through and made some of his best discoveries
Pasteur helped the Alcohol industry in Lille. The Alchool was going sour. What did Pasteur discover from this?
Studied the liquid under his microscope and saw 2 differently shaped micro-organisms; one in the fresh liquid, one in the sour liquid
Concluded that it was the organism that was making the Alchool go sour
As a result of his work in the Alcohol industry in Lille, what did the government ask him to do?
Help the wine and milk industries
Suggested gently heating (pasteurisation) would kill these organisms or bacteria p, making them safe to drink
Who supported Louis Pasteur in his idea that germs in the air were causing the liquids to go sour? Who mocked him?
Mocked by scientists that believe in the theory of spontaneous generation.
Supported by the Emperor of France and the government, who believe that Pasteur success was making France respected abroad
They paid for his research assistants and a new laboratory to carry out his experiments with specially designed equipment.
Why was improvements in technology helpful in the 1800s?
Made it possible to have much more precisely designed flasks
