Medicine - Treatment of Illness and Disease

Question 1

problems in 1848

Answer 1

• miasma
• spontaneous generation
• limited doctors knowledge
• technology

Question 2

pasteur and germ theory 1860s

Answer 2

• Pasteur was the chemist who fundamentally changed our understanding of biology.
• 1850s. Pasteur experimented on milk, vinegar and alcohol (beer and wine) to prove that germs caused disease.
• In 1860 he disproved spontaneous generation at a competition organised by the French Academy of Science
• however Pasteur’s ideas were often ridiculed and resisted

Question 3

Pasteur and Germ Theory 1860s-1870s

Answer 3

• 1861 published Germ Theory (micro-organisms in the air cause disease)
• 1865 silkworm experiments to link micoorganisms to disease in animals.
• 1878 published Germ Theory and its Application to Medicine
• His work led to the development of vaccines and to safer surgery - it led to an understanding of why infection developed after an operation
• But he had not identified specific bacteria or applied his knowledge to finding vaccines or cures.

Question 4

Koch and bacteriology 1870s- 1880s

Answer 4

• Koch is the scientist who identified different bacteria and inspired other scientists (the microbe hunters)
• 1872 set up a lab and developed a method of staining and identifying microorganisms
• 1876 identified anthrax
• 1878 identified septicaemia
• 1880 develops technique of growing cultures in a petri dish
• 1882 identified TB
• 1883 identifies cholera
• Inspires the microbe hunters to identify 21 germs within 21 years (by 1900)
• But there were still no cures or treatments for humans

Question 5

Pasteur and vaccines 1870s-1880s

Answer 5

• Pasteur was spurred on by rivalry caused by Franco-Prussian War
• 1878 develops vaccine for chicken cholera
• 1881 developed vaccine against Anthrax in cows and sheep
• 1882 developed vaccine against rabies (even experimented on humans with this vaccine in 1885)
• But there were still no effective vaccines for humans

Question 6

Chemical Cures - Radiotherapy 1890s-1900s

Answer 6

• Curie paved the way for the use of radioactivity to treat cancer
• 1898 discovered polonium and radium
• 1908 Nobel prize for Physics for work on radioactivity
• 1910 Sorbonne built first radium institute for study of radioactivity - to shrink tumours
• However, there were side effects and exposure to radiation could lead to radiation sickness and even death

Question 7

Chemical Cures - Magic Bullet Salvarsan 606 1900s

Answer 7

• Paul Ehrich worked as part of Koch’s research team (using the staining technique)
• Believed a magic bullet chemical could target a specific germ and focused on syphilis. He experimented with arsenic
• 1909 Salvarsan 606 discovered to kill the syphilis germ. 1911 first used on humans.
• But it only cured syphilis and had side effects such as liver failure

Question 8

WW1 1914-18

Answer 8

• WW1 accelerated the pace of change in treating some illnesses
• Better storage of blood = can treat contagious diseases and tissue damage with blood transfusions
• Delousing stations set up to deal with the flu like symptoms of trench fever that developed from lice
• Chloride added to water to purify it to prevent diarrhoea and vomiting/dysentery
• But some measures were temporary, specific to war and were not long-term solutions. Penicillin had not been discovered. Trench fever and dysentry could come back.

Question 9

Penicillin 1928-45

Answer 9

• Penicillin = first antibiotic which targets bacterial infections and has saved millions of lives.
• 1928 Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin mould acts on staphylococcus bacteria. He grew more of the mould and found that it acted against anthrax and diphtheria without harmful side effects.
• 1930s Florey and Chain became interested in Fleming’s findings and in 1939 assembled a research team to investigate further. IN 1940 they effectively tested penicillin on mice and in 1941 on a human.
• 1941 Florey asked the US government to fund production and in 1942 the US government gave $80 million to 4 drug companies to find ways to mass produce penicillin.
• By 1945 the US army was using 2 million doses of penicillin a month and there was enough to treat all of the casualties at D-Day