Revolutionary Things Flashcards
1
Q
what did elizabeth garret anderson do?
A
- became first uk female trained doctor, after passing an examination in the society of apothecaries to get a license
- was unable to work in a hospital so set up her own practice, incl. an outpatient service for the poor - became the new hospital for women and children
- by 1870 learned french in order to obtain a medical degree
- 1873 gained membership of the BMA but was the only female member for nearly 20 years
2
Q
what was the significance/impact of elizabeth garret anderson?
A
- faced lots of opposition - women not thought to be clever enough, have the correct disposition
- pioneer for the rights of women
- 1872 new hospital for women and children - staffed entirely by women
- 1874 helped found london school of medicine for women - only teaching hospital, in britain, to offer teaching courses to women
- by 1911, only 495 women on medical register in britain
3
Q
who was robert liston?
A
- famous surgeon in 1840s
- was able to carry out an operation to amputate a leg in under 40 seconds - necessary due to the lack of anaesthetics to make sure patients were still, as well as the risk of blood loss if an operation took too long.
4
Q
what did humphry davy do?
A
- 1799 - discovered that nitrous oxide worked as an effective local anaesthetic and wrote about its potential in surgery.
- did not become widely used until after he had died.
5
Q
what did horace wells do?
A
- American surgeon
- thought nitrous oxide could be used in dentistry
- 1845 - used nitrous oxide in a public demonstration to remove a tooth - patient wasn’t given enough of the gas and so made a noise during the procedure, which convinced people it didn’t work.
6
Q
what did william morton do?
A
- dental surgeon and colleague of horace wells
- experimented with using ether as an anaesthetic
- worked effectively in preventing patients from feeling pain and quickly became widely used by surgeons in England.
- 1846 first public demonstration of ether - risky, as ether was flammable and an irritant
7
Q
what did crawford long do?
A
- 1842 - discovered anaesthetic qualities of ether but didnt publish
- american doctor
8
Q
what were the issues with ether?
A
- flammable so needed to be carefully stored
- Patients often complained of a sore throat or feeling sick after
- an irritant
9
Q
what did james simpson do?
A
- Scottish doctor - Professor of Midwifery at Edinburgh Uni
- 1847 - he and some friends experimented with chloroform where they discovered that it was an effective general anaesthetic
10
Q
what was the significance/impact of james simpson?
A
- chloroform easier and safer to use than ether (took effect more quickly, less needed to produce same result)
- 1853 chloroform popularised by queen victoria - snow’s chloroform inhaler - much safer - became more widely available
- led to more precise procedures
- increased death rate - black period - infection and complexity
- replaced ether as the most widely used anaesthetic - surgeons could start to consider more complex operations.
11
Q
what did william halstead do?
A
1884 - investigated using cocaine as local anaesthetic
12
Q
why was there opposition to anaesthetics?
A
- Religion; argued that pain in childbirth was sent by God, so using anaesthetics for women in labour was interfering with God’s will.
- dangerous; When not used carefully, anaesthetics could be dangerous (eg Hannah Greener - 15-y/o girl who died during a procedure to remove an ingrown toenail because she was given too much chloroform.)
- British army banned the use of chloroform; Some army surgeons argued that patients being awake and in pain helped them to understand how the patient was feeling and it was said to be cowardly
13
Q
how did antiseptics improve surgery?
A
allowed surgeons to operate with less fear of infection
14
Q
describe how opposition to anaesthetics was weakened
A
- John Snow invented the chloroform inhaler in the 1850s; before, chloroform had been poured onto a cloth and placed over the patient’s mouth and nose but the inhaler made it possible for doctors to control the amount of chloroform a patient was given which made them safer
- 1853, when giving birth to her 8th child, Queen Victoria used chloroform - her doctor was John Snow and she later spoke of that ‘blessed chloroform’ in easing the pain of childbirth which reassured public that chloroform was safe and effective.
15
Q
what did ignaz semmelweiss do?
A
- insisted doctors washed hands in calcium chloride after dissection to reduce cross-contamination with patients
- called doctors who didn’t wash their hands ‘murderers’
- 1847 - proposed hand washing with chlorinated lime solutions at Vienna General Hospital’s First Obstetrical Clinic - doctors’ wards had 3 times the mortality of midwives’ wards
- maternal mortality rate dropped from 18% to less than 2%
- published a book of his findings, ‘Etiology, Concept and Prophylaxis of childbed fever’ in 1861.
16
Q
what was the significance/impact of ignaz semmelweiss?
A
- dramatic development in antiseptics reduced death rate on his wards from 35% to 1%
- findings ignored - was not able to prove them
- very unpleasant and went against current theories so wasn’t widely used
17
Q
what did joseph lister do?
A
- scottish surgeon
- read louis pasteur’s work on germ theory
- discovered use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic
- suggested doctors should lace operating theatre in fine mist of carbolic spray, after experimenting by spraying instruments and soaking bandages which he found prevented infection
- Carbolic acid spray started to be used widely in surgery - sprayed from a pump at the side of the operating table which sterilised the air and equipment being used in the surgery.
- insisted doctors who worked for him wash their hands in calcium chloride before and after operations
- faced lots of opposition - carbolic acid cracked people’s hands
- hugely effective; Lister reported mortality rates in his surgery fell from 40% to 15%
- 1877 - well-publicised operation at King’s College Hospital to promote use of carbolic spray
18
Q
what was the significance/impact of jospeh lister?
A
- Introduced antiseptic surgery, reducing infections and improving surgical outcomes.
- known as the ‘father of antiseptic surgery’
- death rate in patients dropped from 46% to 15%
- laid foundations of the move to aseptic surgery
19
Q
why was there opposition to lister’s antiseptic techniques?
A
- Some surgeons complained that the acid irritated their eyes and hands, making it difficult to carry out delicate surgery.
- Instruments and equipment were soaked in the acid, making them slippery.
- Some surgeons found the machine spraying the acid was getting in the way and making it more difficult for them to concentrate.
20
Q
what did the AMERICAN william halstead do?
A
- asked a tyre company to make rubber gloves for him to wear during operations
- came up with the idea after speaking to a nurse who had suffered from dry skin on her hands due to the use of carbolic spray - gloves helped to make surgery cleaner and therefore safer.
- he went on to encourage aseptic surgery
21
Q
what did florence nightingale do?
A
- during the Crimean War, stories emerged about Barrack Hospital in Scutari where British wounded were treated and Sidney Herbert - Secretary of War and family friend - asked her to go and help
- army opposed female nurses; considered inferior and a distraction but she went anyway and took 38 hand-picked nurses too
- using methods learned from training in europe, ensured all wards clean and hygienic, water supplies adequate, patients fed properly
- death rate 42% to 2% 2 years after she arrived
- many of her nursing practices employed in British hospitals
- 1859 published ‘Notes on Nursing’
- 1860 - public raised £44,000 to help her train nurses & set up Nightingale School of Nursing in St Thomas’ Hospital, London; nurses given 3 years of training before they could qualify - discipline & attention to detail very important
22
Q
what was the significance/impact of florence nightingale?
A
- lowered mortality rate from 40% to 2%
- fundamentally changed the role of nursing in hospitals - aimed to make nursing an honourable profession
- key figure in introducing new professional training standards
- revolutionised nursing, bedside manner, encouraged the opening of windows (miasma)
- helped nursing become more professional and disciplined
23
Q
what was ‘notes on nursing’?
A
-by florence nightingale
- explained ideas on nursing, how to nurse, how nurses should be trained, how to treat the sick, emphasised need for hygiene & professional attitude, becoming the standard textbook for generations of nurses
24
Q
what was the theory of spontaneous generation?
A
- Doctors aware that germs existed in late 17th century but there was not a belief that germs caused disease
- germs, which appeared at the site of disease or illness, were a consequence of the illness rather than the cause of the illness.
25
Q
what happened when Pasteur was asked by a French winemaker to investigate why their wine was going off?
A
- used a microscope to see that there were bacteria in the wine
- believed this was what was making it go off
- successfully heated the wine to kill the bacteria.
26
Q
how did Pasteur carry out experiments to prove his theory?
A
- put broth in two swan neck flasks and boiled it, to kill any microbes that were already there
- broke the neck off one of the flasks - flask exposed to the air went bad, but the sealed flask did not.
- proved his theory that microbes were in the air and caused disease in humans.
27
Q
impact of pasteur
A
- allowed further advances to take place in vaccines, surgery and antibiotics.
- he did not only influence other breakthroughs in medicine, but changed people’s understanding of the causes of diseases
- created pasteurisation
- his evidence helped reformers in britain pass the 1875 public health act
28
Q
what happened when pasteur tried to find a cure for chicken cholera?
A
- injected chickens with cholera germs and then trying to cure them.
- On returning from holiday, Chamberland injected a chicken with cholera germs but it did not become ill
- Pasteur told Chamberland to try again with fresh germs but the chicken still did not become ill
- Pasteur realised that the old germs had caused the chicken to develop immunity to cholera.
- lead to further vaccines quickly being discovered (eg for anthrax and rabies) as, unlike Jenner, Pasteur understood why his vaccine had worked, so he could replicate the process for other diseases.
29
Q
what happened in the 1881 public sheep anthrax experiment?
A
all 25 sheep that had not been inoculated by pasteur had died; all 25 inoculated sheep were in perfect health
30
Q
what research techniques did Koch develop?
A
- used industrial dyes to stain bacteria to make them easier to identify when viewed under a microscope
- his assistant, Julius Richard Petri, invented the Petri dish which enabled Koch to grow bacteria. He could then use industrial dyes to stain the bacteria. Finally, he could use powerful microscopes to identify the bacteria.
- used agar jelly to create solid cultures to breed lots of bacteria
- used newly-invented photography to record findings
