Medicine in the Industrial Period c.1700-1900 Flashcards
industrial revolution was a time of
rapid progress in technology
the church continued top have …. power than before
less
there was a ___ revolution. ____ scientific ideas began to replace old ones
scientific, new
Spontaneous generation
a new theory developed in the early 1700s
idea that disease was caused by small living things (bacteria) that were created by decaying things e.g rotting food
why was the theory of spontaneous generation wrong
bacteria are the cause of decay not created by it
what was the theory of spontaneous generation replaced by
the germ theory
who invented the germ theory
louis pasteur
how did Pasteur come up with this theory
studying wine vinegar he realised that living things in the air (germs) were what caused things to go ‘bad’
what did pasteur suggest
if germs caused things to decay, then they might also cause disease and infection
why did the germ theory have little impact in Britain to begin with
- Spontaneous generation was still promoted by doctors
- pasteur wasn’t a doctor so got ignored
- doctors argued that bacteria could be seen in healthy people so how could something that was everywhere in the body be harmful
who was Robert Koch
- the first person to identify a specific germ
- also discovered which germs caused tuberculosis and cholera
what was his simple method of studying bacteria
- grew them in a jelly substance
- coloured them with dye
- then photographed them under a microscope
how did Robert koch help
thanks to him other scientist discovered more germs
despite the new germ theorys people still believed in ____
miasma
why did miasma seem like a logical theory
industrial cities were filled with smoke and filth
what caused the great stink
all of Londons waste was emptied into the river thames
what did the government do as a result of the great stink
as the smell was so bad near parliament it finally encouraged the government to build proper sewers
what other theories about disease had died out in the industrial period
4 humours
god sent disease as a punishment
how many hospitals were there in 1700s
5
what were conditions like in hospitals
unhygienic
a major change in hospital care was that ___ ____ had access to proper ,medical care for the first time
poor people
what did Florence Nightingale do to hospital care
she transformed hospital care in the second half of the 19th century
what 3 things did Florence change about hospitals
- ordered them to be throughly cleaned
- made sure people got fresh clothing and bedding
- focused on getting fresh air through the building
what did the death rate at Scutari drop to due to Florences work
from 40% to 2%
what impact did Florence have on hospital care in Britain
encouraged more women to become nurses
new hospitals were based on her advice
before the 1800s what were the 3 major problems with surgery
pain
infection
bleeding
who tackled the problem of pain
james simpson
what was the first effective anaesthetic called
chloroform vapour
problems with chloroform
easy to overdose and kill patient
sometimes affected the heart
many people felt pain relief went against gods plan
which famous person used chloroform during childbirth in 1853
Queen Victoria
who tackled the problem with infection
Joseph lister
before doctors knew about germs patients would often survive surgery and then die after from
infections like sepsis and gangrene
after studying there germ theory Lister realised germs must cause
infection
what was the first antiseptic
carbolic acid
why was carbolic acid used
it killed germs /infection
antiseptics were slow to catch on because Lister
couldn’t explain the science behind them
what did listers work with antiseptics make doctors more aware of?
germs and helped improve hospitals in the long run
by 1900 what 3 things did hospitals do
surgical equipment was sterilised
operating theatres were cleaned
surgeons wore gloves, gowns and masks
By 1900, cleanliness had become ____ in hospitals
standard
The public health act 1848
first public health act
told local councils to provide clean water supplies, but few did as it was not compulsory
what did Edwin Chadwick do in 1842
published a report about the health of the working classes
what did Edwin chadwicks report show
how unhealthy Britains cities were and said the government should do more like provide clean water and sewage facilities
1852
government made smallpox vaccination compulsory although it wasn’t enforced until 1872
1860s
following the great stink of 1858, the government built a modern sewage system in London
The second public health act 1875
second public health act
brought stricter rules for local councils to follow (compulsory)
what happened as a result of all these government actions
epidemics of these major diseases become less common
what type of attitude did the government have towards healthcare
laissez-faire
what does laissez-faire mean
leave be
1875 (second) public health act
- provide clean water
- build proper sewage facilities
- build public toilets
- employ a public health officer to monitor disease
- have better building regulations to stop overcrowding in cities
- make sure shops sell good quality foods
- provide a public park so people can exercise
who developed the first vaccinations
Edward Jenner
before Jenner people tried to prevent small pox by being
inoculated
what does inoculated mean
when someone is given a small dose of the disease sop that their body would become immune to it
what were the risks with being inoculated
people may catch the full disease
what did Edward Jenner realise about the milkmaids
that they didnt catch small pox because had a similar disease called cowpox (non Fatal) which made them immune to smallpox
In 1796 jenner experimented by infecting a ___ ___, called James Phipps with cowpox
young boy
after a few weeks what did Jenner find out
the boy had become immune to smallpox
Jenner called this process
vaccination
vaccination was __ __ than inoculation
much safer
why was vaccination much safer than inoculation
because it gave the patient a weakened strain of the disease rather than the full version
in 1852 they made vaccination ___
compulsory
yet it wasn’t enforced till 1872
other scientists were ___ by jenners work
inspired
louis Pasteur developed the next vaccinations for diseases like
chicken cholera
rabies
anthrax
limitations of Jenners work
it was only a one off discovery that only prevented one disease
there was oppositions form the church
why did people oppose of vaccinations?
- felt it was unnatural
- many scientists didn’t trust Jenner beaqcuse he was just a country doctor
- doctors preferred to stick to inoculation
- royal society refused to share his ideas
impact of jenners work short term
vaccination was slow to catch on in britain at first but it soon saved many lives
impact of jenners work long term
- inspired other people to come up with more vaccinations
- encouraged government to get involved in public health
- by late 1800s vaccinations became ‘normal’
what were there several serious outbreaks of in the 1800s
cholera
how did people try and prevent cholera
thought it was caused by bad air so tried to prevent it by clearing up dirty streets
In 1854 there was a serious ___ of cholera in London
epidemic
what was John Snows new theory about what caused cholera ?
he thought it was caused by dirty water not bad air
what did John snow do
- created a map of all the cholera deaths in his area, most deaths seemed to be round the Broadstreet pump
- tested his theory by removing the handle of the pump so people couldn’t use the water there
- realised the area began to clear up fairly quickly proving it most likely was being caused by the pump
what had happened to the Broadstreet pump
a nearby cesspit had been leaking into the water and this caused the people who drank the water to develop chloera
why did snow show his evidence to the government
so he could suggest they built a proper sewer system
what impact did John snow have
- government was willing to listen because he was a respected doctor (worked with Queen Victoria, gave her anaesthetic
- government invested in new sewage system
- snow couldn’t explain the science behind his theory as he died beef the germ theory was invented
summary of John snow
had a big immediate impact in the Broadstreet area
but it took some them for his ides to have a wider impact
similarities from the previous period
miasma
herbal remedies
improvements since renaissance
- spontaneous generation
- germ theory
- better/more hospitals
- two major problems in surgery tackled (infection, pain)
- vaccination
- government took more action when it came to public health
- John snow and cholera
