Medicine through time

GREEKS AND KEY CHARACTERS
· Hippocrates- `father of
modern medicine'. He was a
ROMANS Greek doctor and came up
with the theory of the four
IDEAS ABOUT MEDICINE: humours. He showed the
· Based on religion- Asclepius was importance of rational
the god of healing and followers ideas progression.
built temple complexes called
Asclepion. · Galen- a Roman surgeon who
· Rational ideas- based on words wrote over 350 books which
observation and reason e.g. were used as the basis for
Plato, Aristotle and Hippocrates medical training for the next
1500 years. Added the theory
TREATMENT (based on four humours) of opposites and believed
· Bleeding dissections should be used to
· Purging learn about the human body-
· Vomiting only animal dissections
· Hygiene, diet and exercise allowed in Rome.
DARK AGES
IDEAS ABOUT MEDICINE: HOSPITALS
· Knowledge of ancient civilisations · Monasteries were the
lost due to destruction of Roman only hospitals in the Dark
empire Ages- ideas about
· Most of the ancient books were medicine and hygiene
scattered or destroyed. kept alive and books
· Faith and belief in magic became were preserved.
popular again and the church had
a great influence on ideas.
· Disease was a punishment from
God.…read more

REGRESS
MIDDLE AGES · Few medical schools, women
not allowed to attend uni,
religious ideas important.
TREATMENT · Church hampered medical
· Apothecary- trained but no development as new ideas
qualifications, mixed ingredients to were discouraged and the
produce medicine for physician. church controlled who could
· Trained physician- diagnosis using practice medicine.
astrology/urine charts, passed
exams and treats based on Galen, CONTINUITY
expensive. · Medical student learnt
· Housewife/physician- new astrology and read great
traditional remedies like childbirth. books- expected not to
· Prayer and pilgrimage- people would challenge ideas.
go on pilgrimage in hope of cure · Physicians learnt about
· Barber-surgeon- not trained or anatomy by dissection- demo
respected by physicians, practiced of Galen's descriptions.
blood letting and could do basic · Diagnosis and treatment
surgery but with no anaesthetics. based on four humours and
urine chart.
BLACK DEATH 1348
· Meant a return to superstition. PROGRESS
Disease caused by bad air, · Rise universities and return
punishment from God or by of physicians.
witches. · Many hospitals founded by
· Treatments involved fasting and the church e.g. St
praying, cutting open buboes and Bartholomew's.
draining pus, not letting people
enter or leave the village. HOSPITALS
· After the black death cleaning · Usually cared for the
rubbish from the streets began. elderly or specific
· People burnt tar in the streets. diseases such as leprosy.…read more

RENAISSANCE CONTINUITY
· Hospitals still looked after the
poor and rich people would
KEY CHARACTERS employ a doctor to come to the
· Vesalius- worked on anatomy. home.
Proved Galen wrong discovering · Works of Galen still used as basis
that there were no holes in the for medical training and
septum, the lower jaw is made up treatment still based on four
of one bone and the sternum has humours.
3 parts. He was strong, · Herbal remedies passed down
determined and courageous to go generations.
against Galen and his ideas were · Church controlled still powerful
not accepted at first. 1543- `The but people were more prepared
Fabric of the Human Body'. to criticise ideas.
· Pare- improved surgery- PROGRESS
developed metal clips to place on · Improved technology- the
arteries during operations and microscope, mechanical pump
found ointment that was better and printing press were invented.
for healing gunshot wounds. He · Royal Society was set up in 1660
joined the army as a barber- to promote the study of
surgeon and his ideas created medicine.
confusion. 1575- `Works on · Monasteries began closing from
Surgery'- people had more 1530 under Henry VIII in the
knowledge supported by Reformation decreased
evidence. authority of the Catholic Church.
· European travels to America and
· Harvey- realised the heart was a Asia led to discovery of new
pump that forced blood around ingredients that could be used in
the body through arteries. He herbal remedies.
used dissections to help him and WOMEN
the printing press to spread ideas. · Could train as midwives but not
His ideas were considered physicians. Men threatened to
eccentric and he lost patients but take over when the forceps were
invented.
he encouraged others to
· Not regularly educated.
investigate.1628- wrote book.…read more

RENAISSANCE
FACTORS AFFECTING CHANGE:
· Communications- printing press meant ideas could be
spread quicker and more easily
· Technology- mechanical pump helped Harvey to realise
that the heart was a pump. Also anaesthetics.
· Chance- Pare ran out of hot oil and found alternative
treatment which was better.
· War- discoveries made working on battlefields.
Despite all this, health hardly improved because new
ideas were not easily accepted and there was still no
knowledge of what caused diseases or how they
spread.…read more

EARLY MODERN AGE
KEY CHARACTERS IMPORTANCE OF VACCINATION
· Jenner- came up with the idea that · Encouraged others
inoculating patients with cowpox · Saved many lives
might give them immunity against · Scientific thinking
smallpox. He proved his theory and · Possible for disease prevention
called it vaccination. Published his · Can be seen as a dead end
work in 1798 after the Royal Society though as only dealt with one
refused. His work was recognised by disease and no explanation.
France and the USA and it encouraged
TRAINING OF DOCTORS & NURSES
other scientists to experiment using a
· 1815- intro of examinations
scientific approach. In 1802 the
before being awarded a
Jennerian Society was set up and in
certificate to practice-
1852 smallpox vaccination became
standardised.
compulsory in the Britain.
· 1832- Anatomy Act (take
corpses from workhouses for
· Louis Pasteur- French chemist who
dissections)
was asked to solve the problem of
· 1858- General Medical Act set
wine turning sour. He discovered that
up a General Medical Council.
heating liquids destroyed bacteria and
· Medical schools established-
in 1861 he published the germ theory-
mainly theoretical training and
microbes in the air cause decay. He
a few dissections.
proved miasma and spontaneous
generation wrong and his work meant IMPORTANCE OF THE GERM THEORY
AND IDENTIFICATION OF MICROBES
that other scientists could go on to · Cleaner hospitals
identify specific microbes. Later he · Antiseptic surgery- surgeons led by
discovered vaccines for chicken Joseph Lister realised microbes
cholera, anthrax and rabies. need to be removed from
operating theatres
· More government investment
· Robert Koch- German chemist who
· Increased life expectancy
was as determined and methodical as · Training of doctors and nurses
Pasteur. He extended the germ changed
theory, identifying microbes that · Magic bullets& antibiotics
caused disease- came up with a · Vaccinations…read more

EARLY MODERN AGE
KEY CHARACTERS FACTORS HOLDING BACK WOMEN
· Elizabeth Garrett Anderson- came · Invention of forceps
from a wealthy family and was the · Disrespected career
first English woman to qualify as a · Opposition from male students
doctor. She was accepted in 1856 and doctors
by the Society of Apothecaries and · Could not enter medical
in 1872 she founded the `New profession until 1876.
Hospital for Women'. Led to an Act
HOSPITALS
of Parliament being passed in 1876
· Hospitals became cleaner and
that allowed women to enter the
more organised due to the
medical profession.
germ theory. Nightingale
began a movement to clean up
· Mary Seacole- went to the Crimean
hospitals so patients no longer
war where she nursed sick and
shared beds. They became
wounded soldiers. She gave people
more for the ill than the old
food, blankets, clean clothes and
progress. Money still
kindness, and the soldiers called
determined the quality of
her `Mother Seacole'.
treatment though- middle and
upper class would be treated
· Florence Nightingale- took nurses
at home etc.
to the military hospital in Scutari
· 1852- `Great Ormond Street
during the Crimean war (1854-56).
Hospital' was opened for sick
She emphasised cleanliness and
children.
fresh air as she believed in the
· 1859- Cottage Hospitals set up,
miasmatic theory. 1859- `Notes on
first in Sussex
Nursing', 1863-'Notes on
Hospitals'.
TREATMENT INCREASED LIFE
· Rest, diet, exercise and quack remedies. EXPECTANCY
· Apothecaries- sold cure-alls- potions, pills and · Better conditions
ointments. They expanded into pharmacies like · Increased food supply
Boots. Also patent medicines. · Government
· The Industrial Revolution meant a growth in campaigns
pharmaceutical industries and mass production. · Vaccinations…read more