The Story of Medicine

Question 1

Stethoscope

Answer 1

Laennec. Greek word to explore, used to use the hand or an ear to the chest, difficult with some patients. Observed children sending signals using wood and a pin.

Question 2

Mediate auscultation

Answer 2

Immediate auscultation involved pressing the ear to the chest. Sounds were difficult to hear and interpret. The stethoscope in 1818 revolutionised this

Question 3

The four humours

Answer 3

Hippocrates. yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm

Question 4

Cancer

Answer 4

Been described in texts since 10,000 BCE.

Question 5

Ehrlich

Answer 5

Laid the foundations for chemotherapy (medical therapy with chemicals). Looked for ‘magic bullets’ that would target only the disease in the body developed an injectable cure to syphilis.

Question 6

National Cancer Act

Answer 6

1971, introduced due to pressure from the public to cure Cancer. Independent, self-governing agency for cancer research.

Question 7

Potts

Answer 7

Increased scrotum cancer in chimney sweeps in London. Identified occupational cancer and the idea of a carcinogen (soot lodged in the workers skin)

Question 8

Gastrisis

Answer 8

Warren and Marshall. Set out to investigate the cause of stomach inflammation. Found the bacteria and to prove it caused it, drank it themselves.

Question 9

Pap smear

Answer 9

Papanikolaou, discovered cancer shed abnormal cells. Later realised the potential of the pap smear, diagnosing early stage cervical cancer

Question 10

Palliative medicine

Answer 10

Focuses on symptom relief and comfort, rather than cure. Movement launched by Saunders who had tended to patients dying from Cancer. She later qualified as a doctor and advocated for her new approach.

Question 11

Mammography

Answer 11

Egan. The concept of taking photos of cancer using X-ray. Was started pre WW2 but halted due to the rise of the Nazi party

Question 12

Beginnings of vaccines

Answer 12

Jonas Salk, identified that you could kill a virus whilst retaining the ability to stimulate anti-body production. NYC health department research lab prepared a polio vaccine extracted from the spinal cord of infected monkeys but these vaccines were ineffective and caused paralysis.

Question 13

NFIP

Answer 13

national foundation for infantile paralysis. Comprehensive attack on polio. Invited Salk to participate. Eventually a trial of half a million school children were vaccinated. Vaccine deemed safe, effective and potent

Question 14

First contribution of American medical science to the world

Answer 14

anaesthesia

Question 15

Hurdles to anaesthesia development

Answer 15

belief that pain served God’s purpose and an ignorance surrounding dosages and strengths of active ingredients

Question 16

Franz Mesmer

Answer 16

Introduced mesmerism, a form of hypnosis

Question 17

Laughing gas

Answer 17

Davy and Coleridge. Davy to relieve pain, Coleridge for entertainment

Question 18

Ether

Answer 18

Long. Had similar effects to NO. Removed cysts whilst a patient breathed into a towel with ether.

Question 19

Wells

Answer 19

Noticed that during a show, volunteer showed no pain until laughing bas wore off. Thought it could be used to extract teeth. Initial demonstrations were poorly performed.

Question 20

Morton

Answer 20

Worked with Wells, but was the first to report an effective method for using laughing gas as an anaesthesia

Question 21

Forceps

Answer 21

Came about as a solution to difficulties delivering babies. Chamberln family developed some but kept them a family secret. The first use of equipment to avoid both maternal and neonatal death.

Question 22

Quetelet

Answer 22

Developed tables of weight and height to study their relationship. Needed an index on relative body weight and developed the Quetelet Index in 1832, deemed the BMI in 1972 after connections between weight and health impacts were made

Question 23

Glycaemic index

Answer 23

ranking of carbohydrates on a scale according to the extent they raise glucose levels. Wolever and Jenkins 1981 for diabetics