Medicine in the 19th century

Question 1

How did Louis Pasteur’s germ theory show the link between germs and disease?

Answer 1

-Pasteurs wok was a major breakthrough in mcrobiology

-Using jenners work on vaccination, Pasteur’s
experimented and developed new vaccinations (rabies)

-Inspired by Pasteur, Joseph lister used antiseptics to reduce infection during and after surgery

Question 2

How did Koch help identify specific bacteria which cause disease?

Answer 2

• Koch found a way to stain bacteria, making them easier to identify under a microscope. It allwed him to link specific bacteria to specific disease
• Koch identified the causes of britains major killers including diphtheria and typhoid, so fewer people died
• His technique allowed other scientists to do their own microbe hunting

Question 3

How did Erhlich crate the first chemical treatment, changing the way disease was treated?

Answer 3

• Erhlich used scientific experiments to identify and treat disease
• In 1910 he created the magic bullet salvarsan 60. This chemical killed germs causing syphilis
• Salvarsan only targeted the specific germ that caused syphilis, this as a major breakthrough in treatments

Question 4

What impact did the germ theory have on medicine?

Answer 4

• The theory helped inspire Joseph Lister to develop antiseptics
• Theory confirmed John Snows findings about Cholera
• The theory linked disease to poor living conditions. This put pressure on the government to pass the 1875 Pubic health act

Question 5

How was diagnosis improved by new technology?

Answer 5

• Stethoscope - enabled doctors to hear the internal workings of the body and asses patient’s heath more precisely
• Xray machine - allowed surgeons to see bones and assess patents’ illness more accurately
• Thermometers - Gave doctors accurate records pf patients temperatures

Question 6

Types of anaesthetic used in the 19th century

Answer 6

Nitrous Oxide or ‘laughing gas’ was discovered by Sir Humphry Davy. It was never really widely used

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.

Question 7

How did Simpson develop effective anaesthetics in 1847, solving the problem of pain?

Answer 7

• In 847, Simpson discovered chloroform was an effective anaesthetic after experimenting with friends
• He quickly used chloroform during child birth and other operations
• Chloroform was not accepted byevryine until Queen Victoria used it for childbirth in 1853 and ‘blessed’ the drug

Question 8

Why did early anaesthetics actually lead to a rise in death rates?

Answer 8

• Anaesthetics helped solve the problem of pain but patients were still dying of infection.
• This meant that the attempts at more complex surgery actually led to increased death rates amongst patients

Question 9

What are the two main approaches to reducing infection during an operation?

Answer 9

• Antiseptic methods are used to kill germs that get near to surgical wounds
• Aseptic surgical methods aim to stop any germs getting ear the wound

Question 10

How did Lister develop antiseptic surgery in 1867?

Answer 10

• After reading about germ theory, Lister experimented with carbolic acid spray to reduce infection during surgery.
• Mortality rates fell from 46% to 15% from 1867 -1850
• In 1871 Lister invented a machine to automatically spray his operating room with carbolic acid

Question 11

Why were Lister’s methods not accepted by everyone?

Answer 11

• Carbolic spray slowed down operation
• It made operating conditions unpleasant
• Some surgeons were not careful so they did not have the same success as Lister

Question 12

How did the rapid growth of industrial towns in the 1800s lead to significant public health problems?

Answer 12

• Overcrowding was a common problem
• Infectious diseases such as typhoid and typhus spread quickly
• Very few safety rules in the work place
• No regulation of food and hygiene

Question 13

Cholera

Answer 13

• Cholera reached Britain i 1831 and by 1832 it was an epidemic - over 21,000 people died of cholera that year
• At the time people didnt know what caused cholera - the best theory was miasma

Question 14

How did Chadwick’s report lead to the 1848 public health act?

Answer 14

• In 1842 the social reformer Chadwick published a report on poverty ad health. The report showed that living conditions in towns were worse for peoples health than living conditions in countrysides
• Chadwick report suggested that the government should pass lass for proper drainage and sewage systems funded by local taxes
• Chadwicks report and another cholera epidemic in 1848 put pressure on parliament to publish a public health act.
• The 1848 Act set up a central board of health and allowed any town to set up its own board of health as long as the towns taxpayers agreed

Question 15

How did John Snow link cholera to contaminated water?

Answer 15

• John snow saw that there was a connection between contaminated water and cholera in 1853-54
• He studied a cholera outbreak in the Broad street area of London and noticed that all the victims used the same water pump
• So he removd the handle from the ump and ended the outbreak

Question 16

The great stink in London 1858

Answer 16

-In the summer of 1858, the hot weather caused the river thames’ water levels to drop and bacteria to grow in the waste. This produced a smell that was so bad it affected large parts for London and stopped parliament from meeting

• To reduce the smell, Joseph Bazalgette was appointed in 1859 to build a new London sewer system
• The sewers transported waste that was normally dumped into the river Thames away from heavily populated areas to the Thames estuary

-The sewer system was officially opened in 1865. Bazalgettes design became the blueprint fr most cities in Western Europe

Question 17

Individuals played an important role in public health reforms in the 1800s:
William Farr

Answer 17

• Farr introduced compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths in 1837.
• This meant authorities were more aware of health problems

Question 18

Individuals played an important role in public health reforms in the 1800s:
Thomas Southwood Smith

Answer 18

• Studied disease caused by poverty

- His work was used by edwin Chadwick as evidence for the need to improve public health

Question 19

Public health laws

Answer 19

1848: Public health act - voluntary, allowed councils to raise money to improve conditions in their towns, however very few opted to use this power
1864: factory act - unhealthy conditions in factories became illegal
1866: Sanitary act - local authorities became responsible for sewers,water and street cleaning