Medicine Unit 3 - Accelerating Change, 1875-1905 Flashcards
1
Q
Robert Koch
A
- German doctor interested in Pasteur’s ideas
- Koch wanted to prove scientifically it was the anthrax microorganism which caused the disease - wife bought a microscope in 1872, set up a small lab & published his work in 1876
- Carried on research w/developing methods of staining & photographing microorganisms
- Published work on bacterial infections of wounds in 1878
2
Q
Pasteur & chicken cholera
A
- 1878 - published his germ theory of infection
- Pasteur’s team of scientists were studying chicken cholera by injecting chickens w/culture of bacteria - assistant went on holiday and left a culture that was not used for weeks
- Chickens injected w/this culture didn’t develop chicken cholera even when injected with a fresh culture
- Team realized that a weakened culture stimulated the natural defenses - paved way for vaccinations
3
Q
Pasteur’s anthrax vaccine
A
- 1881 - Pasteur used his work w/Koch’s to prove an anthrax vaccine could protect sheep & cows
- Publicly vaccinated 24 sheep, 1 goat & 6 cows w/24 sheep, 1 goat & 4 cows not vaccinated
- 31st May - animals inoculated with/anthrax bacilli
- Crowd reassembled 2 days later - all alive but the goat & all sheep were dead alongside 4 cows being swollen & feverish
- Couldn’t use such with humans until in 1885 when a 9-year-old boy was bitten by a rabid dog & Pasteur used his rabies vaccine - boy’s life was saved
4
Q
Koch & bacteriology
A
- Began to identify specific microorganisms that caused particular diseases
- Would test microorganisms to create culture to inject in test animals
- koch & team identified microorganism for tuberculosis in 1882 + cholera in 1883
- Developed use of agar jelly to grow cultures in Petri dishes & investigated industrial chemical dyes to stain microorganisms to see under a microscope
- Led to finding tetanus, pneumonia, meningitis, diphtheria & dysentery in the 1880s &1890s
5
Q
Pasteur & Koch
A
- Somewhat rivals
- Increased due to hostility between France & Germany such as 1870-71 when they were at war
- Both countries keen to gain honor from their scientists so they provided funding & research teams & equipment
- Knew of each others work due to published scientific journals & conferences
- Doubtful scientists & doctors mean public wasn’t aware of their work for a while
6
Q
Impact of Lister’s antiseptics
A
- Many doctors not convinced
- 1877 - became Professor of Surgery at King’s College Hospital, London - germ theory & antiseptics slowly become accepted especially w/Koch identifying blood poisoning microorganism in 1878
- Koch - developed steam sterilizer in 1878 - sterilized equipment & dressings
7
Q
Aseptic surgery
A
- Surgeons tried to prevent microorganisms getting anywhere near the open wound and creating infection
- Operations now carried out in clean operating theaters without spectators
- Surgeons wore clean clothes, masks over mouths & rubber gloves
8
Q
Blood loss
A
- Always a problem in surgery - operations had to be done quickly before too much blood loss
- Lister experimented with reduction of blood loss
- Pressure usually placed on an artery & blood vessels sealed - done by cauterization - hot iron against blood vessels to seal by heat
- End of blood vessels could be tied with ligatures - ligatures could become hard & prevent wound healing properly or become source of a new infection - experimented with silk ligatures
- 1881 - Lister published his work with catgut as ligatures - could be soaked in carbolic acid & dissolved in the body after 2-3 weeks
9
Q
Pain relief; cocain
A
- Cocaine used for pain relief but wasn’t suitable due to addictive aspect
- 1884 - found cocaine could be used as a local anesthetic - numbing in just a part of a body
- Safer version of novocain developed in 1905
- Improved conditions & techniques made surgery safer for patients & surgeons could have more complicated operations
10
Q
Impact of the public health act 1875
A
- Made local authorities responsible for:
- Ensuring sewage was properly treated & could not contaminate the water supply
- Providing clean water
- Keeping streets clean
- Lighting streets
- Local authorities to appoint a Medical Officer to be in charge of public health
- Inspecting new houses + slums could be demolished
- Inspecting quality of food
- Illegal for factories to dump waste in rivers
11
Q
Succeeding acts after the public health act 1875
A
- 1875 - Artisans’ Dwellings Act - gave local authorities the power to buy & demolish slum housing
- food and Drugs Act 1875 - tried to improve standard of food
- 1876 - River Pollution Prevention Act - illegal for factories to put their waste including chemicals
- 1889 - Infectious Disease (Notification) Act - householders or doctors in London had to report cases of infectious disease to Local Medical Health Officer - extended to rest of country in 1899 - led to isolation hospitals
12
Q
Factors affecting public health
A
- More people allowed to vote - governments ban to do more to win the support of the ordinary people
- New technology e.g. piped water & were systems
- New understanding about disease
13
Q
Blood transfusions
A
- 1901 - Austrian Karl Landsteiner discovered the different blood types of A, B & O - doctors realized wrong blood type could cause death
- 1902 - discovery of blood type AB
- 1907 - discovered type O could be given safely to anyone
- Helped with anaemia, leukemia, liver problems or jaundice
- Main problem - donor had to be present for the transfusion & blood would clot as soon as it left the body so the tubes would be blocked
14
Q
Improvements in scientific knowledge
A
- Pasteur & Koch led to rapid changes in scientific knowledge e.g. agar jelly development & dyes
- Milk was being pasteurized
- Russian scientists, Metchnikoff, showed diphtheria microorganism generated a poison that made a membrane in the throat to stop breathing
- 1890 - Emil Von Behring identified antitoxins produced by the body to fight diphtheria - found upon injection that the disease was more able to be fought
15
Q
Paul Ehrlich & the first magic bullet
A
- Ehrlich - member of Koch’s team & worked w/Behring
- Became leader of his own team - wondered if he could combine Behring’s antitoxins only attacking a specific microorganism w/Koch’s work on certain chemicals only dying specific microorganisms - a magic bullet
- Syphilis - can affect the brain when untreated - lead to stroke, dementia, vision problems & heart problems
- 1905 - Ehrlich began experimenting a magic bullet for syphilis - tried various compounds based on different strengths of the poison arsenic
- 1909 - 606 compounds made & first magic bullet found - given the name Salvarsan 606
16
Q
Development of X-rays
A
- 1895 - German physicist, Wilhelm Röntgen - studying cathode rays with a glass tube w/gases at low pressure & electric current passed through - bright glow with minerals on another piece of black cardboard in the dark - found normal light couldn’t do such and therefore named them x-rays
- Could see an image of his wife’s hand with the bones when replicating such
- Published his findings in December 1895 - Didn’t take out a patent so other could use it freely
- 1896 - many hospitals had it installed already
- Could identify broken bones - used in times of war - could show where bullets were
- Could identify tuberculosis as a shadow on the lungs & bone tumors could be seen & could see internal organs when patient is given a specific drink
17
Q
Impact of Marie Curie on medicine
A
- Polish chemist
- 1896 - Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity
- 1898 - Marie & Pierre Curie founded polonium & radium
- 1903 - Becquerel & Curies jointly won a Nobel in Physics
- 1910 - Radium Institute created for Marie - could continue her research
- Led research in radioactivity to shrink or kill tumors - basis of radiotherapy
- Curie didn’t;t patent her work so it could be used freely - doctors used it for epilepsy & acne
- Won another Nobel in 1911 for Chemistry
- Used her own money to equip ambulances w/x-rays & drove them to the front lines
- International Red Cross made Curie head of Radiological Service - ran a training course
