Topic 1 Flashcards
Miasma Theory
Belief that ‘bad air’ causes disease
Spontaneous Generation Theory
Theory that decaying matter produced organisms that make disease
Why was there little progress before 1848?
People didn’t want to learn new stuff
The government did not feel responsible so hospitals weren’t paid properly
Conditions at Scutari before Nightingale
Clothes infested with lice
Food supplies limited
Poor air quality
Men sharing beds
No funding, no medical supplies
Conditions at Scutari after Nightingale
Washed all the sheets
Cleaned kitchens
Separation of patients based on disease
Got funded by ‘Times Newspaper’ so she was able to get supplies
Pain relief before 1840’s
Opium
Alcohol
Getting knocked out
Why did only simple operations occur
Patients felt too much pain - Surgeons carried out surgery quick to ease the pain
How was blood loss prevented before 1848
Problems with it?
Tourniquets were wrapped around arteries
Nerves were damaged
When was Chloroform discovered
1848 by James Simpson
Problems with Chloroform
Surgeons took their time with surgery, increasing mortality rates after surgeries due to infection
Caused ‘The Black Death’
Hygenic conditions before 1848
Doctors didn’t wear gloves
Used the same sheets
Wore the same clothes with blood and puss on it
Equipment wasn’t cleaned
Surgeries carried out in theatres
Causes for Public Health Act 1848
Problems of house and hygiene
Disease (50,000 dead from epidemic in 1849)
Workhouses paid for by ratepayers
Edwin Chadwick’s report
Public Health Act 1848
Local authorities could:
Set up their own board of health
Appoint a local officer
Build a sewer system
Remove rubbish
(LOCAL AUTHORITIES WERE NOT REQUIRED TO DO THIS - ONLY OPTIONAL)
Who discovered Cholera was water-bourne in 1854
John Snow
Great Stink 1858 and Consequences
Great Stink - Hot summer caused the sewer in the River Thymes to stink up so bad that even parliament could not stand it
Consequences - Parliament provided money for a new sewer system to Joseph Balzagette
