Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

History > Medicine Through Time > Flashcards

Medicine Through Time Flashcards

To learn key words and key people from the Medicine through time syllabus.

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® U.S. History flashcards World History 101 flashcards European History 101 flashcards AP® European History flashcards AP® World History flashcards World History 102 flashcards U.S. History 101 flashcards U.S. History 102 flashcards
1
Q

Prehistory

A

The time before writing existed. Before 3000B.C

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Ancient

A

After writing was developed – Egypt, Greece and Rome. 3000B.C-500A.D

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Medieval

A

After the collapse of Rome. 500A.D – 1500A.D

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Renaissance

A

Meaning ‘rebirth’ of learning. From 1500-1750A.D.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Industrial

A

The growth of factories in towns when people moved from farming to manufacturing (making things). 1750-1900.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

20th Century

A

1900s

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

19th Century

A

1800s

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

18th Century

A

1700s

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

animism

A

The belief that illness came from evil spirits.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

trephining

A

A surgical technique in which a bore hole is cut into the skull.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

archaeology

A

The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

immunity

A

When the body builds up a resistance to certain bacterial diseases and viruses.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Aboriginals

A

The people native to Australia.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

American Indians

A

The people native to North America.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Shamans

A

Someone who has access to the spirit world.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

sewers

A

A system to dispose of human waste in a living space.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

witch-doctors

A

A magician credited with the powers of healing.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

channel theory

A

Egyptian theory of how the body worked, based on their knowledge of the irrigation of farmers fields.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

hieroglyphs

A

Egyptian writing system.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

irrigation

A

A system to move water from a river to the farmers’ fields.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

hygiene

A

Keeping clean and healthy.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

mummified

A

A dead body that has been embalmed and wrapped.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

papyri

A

Egyptian Medical Texts written on papyrus paper made of reeds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Ebers Papyrus

A

A famous Egyptian medical text.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

surgical instruments

A

Equipment used in surgery.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

diagnosis

A

Recognising a medical problem with a patient.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

examination

A

Studying a patient to work out what is wrong.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

prognosis

A

Predicting what will happen in the future of a persons’ illness.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Public Health

A

A system to protect the health of a whole population.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

cautery

A

A hot iron or boiling oil, used to stop bleeding wounds.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

empirical

A

Based on a scientific method of working things out.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

priest

A

A religious leader.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

progressive

A

Going forward and making advances

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

regressive

A

Not going forward, perhaps going backwards.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

4 humours

A

Greek Theory of how the body worked.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Hippocrates

A

Famous Greek doctor.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

dissect

A

To cut open a dead body.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

phlegm

A

One of the four humours.

Cold and Wet – winter

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

black bile

A

One of the four humours

Cold and dry – autumn

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

yellow bile

A

One of the four humours.

Hot and dry – summer

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

blood

A

One of the four humours.

Hit and wet – spring

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

opposites

A

Galen’s theory of balancing the humours.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

clinical

A

Related to a clinic, a medical practice.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

Asclepion

A

A Greek temple-hospital; a place to treat the sick. Devoted to the God of Health Asclepius.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

Hygeia

A

The daughter of Asclepius.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

Panacea

A

The daughter of Asclepius.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

aqueducts

A

Roman system of water transportation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

Galen

A

Famous Roman doctor.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

corpses

A

Dead bodies.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

nervous system

A

The system of electrical messages inside the body, controlled by the brain.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

astrology

A

The study of the sky and the stars.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
52
Q

septum

A

The wall between the two sides of the heart, according to Galen this had holes in it.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
53
Q

superstition

A

Belief in the supernatural.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
54
Q

supernatural

A

Unnatural beings – such as gods and spirits.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
55
Q

Ibn Sina

A

Famous Arabic doctor who challenged Galen.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
56
Q

Arabic

A

Language of the Arab world.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
57
Q

Leeches

A

Animals, used to suck blood out of people.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
58
Q

Edward Jenner

A

British country doctor from Gloucester who discovered vaccination.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
59
Q

Ambroise Pare

A

French army-surgeon who stopped using cauterisation and started using ligatures.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
60
Q

William Harvey

A

British surgeon who proved that the heart is a pump and circulates blood around the body.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
61
Q

bubonic plague

A

Plague spread by rats and fleas.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
62
Q

pneumonic plague

A

Plague spread from person to person.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
63
Q

Black Death

A

The plague in 1348-1350 that killed 33% of the European population.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
64
Q

amputation

A

Cutting off a limb because it is infected or wounded.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
65
Q

Paracelsus

A

Swiss-German Renaissance physician.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
66
Q

stagnation

A

Not going forward or backwards in terms of learning and development.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
67
Q

anatomy

A

Knowledge of the parts of the human body.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
68
Q

physiology

A

Knowledge of how the body works.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
69
Q

germs

A

Microbes that cause infection.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
70
Q

bezoar

A

Stone-like mass that develops inside the body.

71
Q

spermatic vessels

A

Produced in the testicles.

72
Q

circulation

A

Blood moves around the body in this way.

73
Q

Thomas Sydenham

A

Master of the English medical world in mid 1600s; Known as the English Hippocrates; fought for Parliament during the English Civil War. Discovered Sydenhams Chorea.

74
Q

Nicholas Culpeper

A

An English herbalist who wrote a book about herbs called the Complete Herbal which had a lot of detail about herbal medicine.

75
Q

syphilis

A

A sexually transmitted disease.

76
Q

contagious

A

A disease which can spread from person to person.

77
Q

septicaemia

A

Blood poisoning.

78
Q

poultice

A

The potion created by Pare of egg yolks, rose oil and turpentine.

79
Q

laudanum

A

A painkiller developed from opium poppies.

80
Q

scrofula

A

Belief that a touch from a royal could cure disease.

81
Q

antidote

A

A cure for a disease or illness.

82
Q

vaccination

A

The use of ‘cowpox’ to create immunity from ‘smallpox’ in people.

83
Q

inoculation

A

The use of a small dose of a disease to create immunity from a more dangerous infection later.

84
Q

barber-surgeon

A

A surgeon in the medieval and early modern period.

85
Q

country doctors

A

Doctors who worked in the countryside.

86
Q

quacks

A

Quack doctors were fake doctors who were more interested in making money than treating people. They would travel around the country and perform operations like ‘tooth-pulling’ at fares.

87
Q

wise women

A

Each village had a wise woman who treated patients with herbal remedies. If she got it wrong she could be accused of being a witch.

88
Q

apothecaries

A

These were like medieval and early modern pharmacists – they could make and sell medicine, but they were not supposed to prescribe it or treat patients although many did.

89
Q

industry

A

The development of factories during the 18th and 19th centuries.

90
Q

evolution

A

The theory that animals develop from more primitive states to more advanced states.

91
Q

genetics

A

The study of genes, heredity and variation in living organisms.

92
Q

William Beaumont

A

(America: 1822) studied the digestive system of Alexis St Martin, a Canadian who had an open hole into his stomach.

93
Q

Henry Gray

A

(Scotland: 1858) wrote ‘Gray’s Anatomy’, which had over 1,000 illustrations. Many people bought a copy to own at home. After the 1870s, pupils started studying anatomy in schools.

94
Q

Starling and Bayliss

A

(England: 1902) discovered the first hormone.

95
Q

Casimir Funk

A

(Poland: 1912) discovered the first vitamins, and realised that some diseases were caused simply by poor diet.

96
Q

Theodor Schwann

A

(Germany: 1839) realised that animal matter was made up of cells, not ‘humours’. This was the vital breakthrough of knowledge that at last destroyed belief in the old ‘humoral’ pathology of the Greeks.

97
Q

Robert Koch

A

(Germany: 1878), who discovered how to stain and grow bacteria in a Petri dish (named after his assistant Julius Petri). He was thus able to find which bacteria caused which diseases:
septicaemia (1878)
TB (1882)
cholera (1883).

98
Q

Patrick Manson

A

(Britain: 1876) discovered that elephantiasis was caused by a nematode worm, and that mosquitoes were the vector (carrier). This was a breakthrough discovery, because researchers soon found out that other tropical diseases were transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes (malaria and yellow fever) or tsetse flies (sleeping sickness).

99
Q

Charles Chamberland

A

Worked with Louis Pasteur and developed the Chamberland-Pasteur filter to rid a solution of bacteria in 1884.

100
Q

Louis Pasteur

A

A French scientist who developed Germ Theory in the 1860s after studying how microbes cause decay in organic matter.

101
Q

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

A

Dutch scientist known as the ‘father of microbiology’ for his additions to and popularization of the microscope in the late 17th and early 18th century.

102
Q

Crawford Long

A

1815-1878: American surgeon best known for his use of ether as an anaesthetic.

103
Q

Horace Wells

A

1815-1848: American dentist who used laughing gas as an anaesthetic.

104
Q

Lady Grace Mildmay

A

1552-1620: English diarist and medical practitioner who practiced on her family and left a record of extensive medical cures and treatments.

105
Q

Jean de Vigo

A

1450s-1520: Spanish Renaissance surgeon best known for his early work on the surgery related to gunshot wounds.

106
Q

Robert Liston

A

1794-1847: was a pioneering Scottish surgeon. Liston was noted for his skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival

107
Q

James Simpson

A

1811-1870: Scottish doctor and pioneer of the use of chloroform as an anaesthetic.

108
Q

Carl Koller

A

1857-1944: Austrian surgeon who used cocaine as a local anaesthetic for eye surgery.

109
Q

Ignaz Semmelweiss

A

1818-1865: Austrian-Hungarian physician known for his early work in antiseptic surgery

110
Q

Florence Nightingale

A

Florence Nightingale: 1820 - 1910 was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War (1850s), where she tended to wounded soldiers.

111
Q

Mary Seacole

A

Mary Jane Seacole 1805-1881: A Jamaican-born woman of Scottish and Creole descent who set up a ‘British Hotel’ behind the lines during the Crimean War (1850s).

112
Q

Joseph Lister

A

1827-1912: British surgeon and pioneer of antiseptic surgery using carbolic spray and sterilised catgut ligatures.

113
Q

WS Halstead

A

1852-1922: American surgeon who used a strict anti-sceptic technique.

114
Q

transfusions

A

Transferring blood from person to person to save lives.

115
Q

clotting

A

Blood turning solid.

116
Q

Karl Landsteiner

A

Austrian physician and biologist who discovered blood groups in 1901 and with others identified Rhesus factors in 1937.

117
Q

anaesthetic

A

Used to reduce pain during surgery.

118
Q

antiseptic

A

Used to kill infections in wounds

119
Q

Crimean War

A

War between Britain and France on one side and Russia in the 1850s.

120
Q

World War 1

A

Major war between 1914 and 1918

121
Q

World War 2

A

Major war between 1939 and 1945

122
Q

penicillin

A

The first anti-biotic. To kill harmful microbes in the body.

123
Q

cholera

A

A deadly water-borne disease.

124
Q

Elizabeth Blackwell

A

1821-1910: The first woman to receive a medical degree in the USA, she promoted the medical education of women in the UK and USA.

125
Q

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

A

1836-1917: The first woman to qualify as a physician and surgeon in Britain.

126
Q

Sophia Jex-Blake

A

1840-1912: One of the first women to become a qualified physician in the UK. A leading campaigner for women’s medical education in the UK.

127
Q

Alexander Flemming

A

Discovered the enzyme lysozyme in 1923 and the antibiotic substance penicillin in 1928 for which he received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1945.

128
Q

Howard Florey

A

Australian pharmacologist who carried out the first clinical trial of Penicillin and received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his contribution.

129
Q

Sir Ernst Boris Chain

A

Worked with Florey and Flemming to develop Penicillin and received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his efforts.

130
Q

epidemic

A

The spread of a disease amongst a population.

131
Q

IVF

A

In vitro fertilization – a process where a human egg is fertilized outside of the body.

132
Q

stem cells

A

Basic human cells that can translate into specialised cells in the body to replace cells that are lost.

133
Q

DNA

A

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms

134
Q

electron microscope

A

Co invented in 1931 in Germany, this microscope uses electricity to speed electrons up and create a high resolution image of the target cells.

135
Q

testosterone

A

Primary male sex hormone – found mainly in the testicles.

136
Q

Oestrogen

A

Primary female sex hormones.

137
Q

histamine

A

A compound involved in local immune responses inside the human body.

138
Q

keyhole surgery

A

Minimally invasive surgery which often uses TV to project images of a small area inside patients’ body.

139
Q

transplant

A

Moving an organ from one body to another.

140
Q

open-heart surgery

A

Surgery on the heart that keeps the heart open to operate on the internal structures.

141
Q

plastic surgery

A

Corrective surgery to make good the form and function of bodily parts.

142
Q

neurosurgeon

A

Surgery that focuses on the nervous system, including the brain, spine or nerves.

143
Q

viral infections

A

Infections from viruses that are small infectious agents that can only live in the cells of living things – they are not alive themselves.

144
Q

genetic engineering

A

Changing the characteristics of an animal by altering its DNA.

145
Q

pacemakers

A

Artificial machines inserted into the chest to regulate a person’s heartbeat.

146
Q

incubators

A

A device used to care for babies after they are born.

147
Q

polio vaccine

A

A vaccine used to defend against the deadly and debilitating disease polio.

148
Q

hormones

A

Biochemicals in animals that are used to coordinate physiological activity.

149
Q

thalidomide

A

A drug. Given to women to women to help with morning sickness during pregnancy but it caused horrible birth defects in their babies.

150
Q

contraception

A

Something which is used to stop fertilization of human eggs during sexual intercourse.

151
Q

antihistamine

A

Bio-chemicals that are transported around the body to regulate physiology.

152
Q

antibiotic

A

A drug that can be used to fight bacterial infections in the body.

153
Q

insulin

A

A hormone used to regulate carbohydrate and fat intake in the body.

154
Q

vitamins

A

Organic compounds required by living organisms in their diet.

155
Q

inequality

A

The gap between the rich and the poor.

156
Q

NHS

A

The National Health Service, founded in 1948 in the UK.

157
Q

Aneurin Bevan

A

Secretary of State for Health who introduced the NHS in 1948.

158
Q

Welfare State

A

A state that provides for its people, for example in healthcare, education, housing, unemployment benefit.

159
Q

sanitation

A

Hygienic means of promoting human health through prevention human contact with hazards and wastes.

160
Q

‘From the cradle to the grave’

A

The call that Aneurin Bevan made to look after people for their whole lives.

161
Q

B.C

A

Before Christ - the years before Jesus was born, 2014 years ago.

162
Q

A.D

A

Anno Domini - Latin for ‘the year of our lord’ meaning the years after Jesus was born. 1A.D - 2014A.D

163
Q

miasma

A

The belief that bad air or a bad atmosphere caused illness.

164
Q

laissez-faire

A

A ‘hands-off’ approach to the economy and government. Not getting involved.

165
Q

small government

A

A government that is laissez-faire. Not involved. Low taxes but no free education, healthcare, pensions or unemployment benefit.

166
Q

big government

A

A government that sets taxes high but provides free education, healthcare, pensions, unemployment benefits.

167
Q

Edwin Chadwick

A

Wrote a report in 1842 on the poor sanitary conditions of the working class population in England.

168
Q

squalid conditions

A

Horrible working and living conditions. damp/dark/dangerous/dirty.

169
Q

slums

A

The cheap housing areas of the working class, usually cramped together, dirty and unsanitary. E.g back-to-backs.

170
Q

Back-to-backs

A

Slum housing for working class in Birmingham.

171
Q

Great Stink

A

Name for the smell coming from the River Thames during the Industrial Revolution whilst it was heavily polluted.

172
Q

Vested interests

A

The interests of the rich classes in the countryside and industrial classes in the cities. Concerned with money and profit rather than the rights of the poor classes.

173
Q

Tax

A

Money paid to the government from people’s earnings; from sales of goods and services etc…

History (1 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions