disease and technology through theages

Ancient Greece - 776 BC
1st to study cause of disease
-looked for natural explanations not just divine ones
Ancient Greek god of medicine & health
made discoveries in science, math & astronomy

Hippocrates, most famous of all ancient Greek physicians
based knowledge of anatomy on observation of external body
human dissection during this time was taboo
responsible for writing oath of medical ethics: Hippocratic Oath
became known as the “Father of Modern Medicine”

Greek thinkers emphasized idea of balance in all things.
The idea of balance was reflected by belief in four humors of human body:
yellow bile
black bile
blood
phlegm

Their Balance Theory for “fours”:
theory that four elements:
earth, air, fire & water &
the four seasons:
summer, autumn, winter & spring
were all linked to the four humors in human body

doctors could restore balance by, for example, by bloodletting
Cupping vessels for bloodletting
bloodletting scalpels
Believed that imbalance in any of these humors, elements or seasons caused illness

1. How many elements were involved in the “balance theory”? .
2. What was the 1st code of medical ethics called? .
3. Name one of the body’s humors.
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4. Imbalance of the humors resulted in: ⎢
a. bad weather
b. some type of illness
c. a depletion of blood
d. environmental disasters .

Romans - 9th Century BC
Learned about disease & sanitation from Greeks
Developed sanitation system of aqueducts to bring clean water to cities
Built sewers to carry off waste
Built public baths with filtering systems
Marks beginning of public health & sanitation.

Aqueducts –
collected water from several natural springs, located far away from city
Water was chosen according to many factors:
position of its springs
purity of its water
its taste
alleged medical properties due to mineral salts

Gravity moved the water towards the city.
Aqueduct acted as a continuous slope
Water had to be drawn from springs located in hilly areas, above Rome's position

Ancient Roman aqueduct System

Roman Sewers –
carried waste away from cities
Cutaway view of typical Roman street. Shows lead water pipes & central channel for sewage under pavement

Ancient Roman Sewer
underground sewers emptied at streams away from cities

Roman bath and spa--not just for bathing

Public baths were cheap to enter, so both rich & poor could afford to go often.
Men & women bathed in separate facilities.
People did not go to baths just to get clean.
Baths were a place to meet friends, relax or gamble & play games.
People would have a massage, then have their body scrubbed down before swimming in outdoor pool.

5. The Romans learned about disease and hygiene from . . . .
6. Roman aqueducts carried: ⎢
a. clean water to cities
b. sewage away from cities .
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7. Only rich people could afford the Roman baths. ⎢
a. True b. False .

Dark Age (early Middle Age) - AD 400-800 &
High Middle Ages - AD 800-1400
Beginning of Dark Ages
Roman Empire was conquered by Huns

Hun Empire
Roman Empire

Here comes the Huns

During this time church began to dominate the practice of science & medicine
Study of medical science all but stopped
Instead of medical intervention, the church held fast to belief “healing through Christ”

Treatment for ill during this time:
Prayer
Exorcism
Saintly relics
Superstition

Terrible epidemics during this period:
Bubonic plague (Black Death)
Smallpox
Syphilis
Diphtheria
Tuberculosis
Bubonic plague was responsible for death of 60 million people

The Renaissance
(AD 1350 - 1650)
Building of universities & medical schools
Search for new ideas
(rather than unquestioning acceptance of disease as will of God)
Period which marked rebirth of learning.

Acceptance of dissection for study
Development of printing press & publishing books
(allowed more access to knowledge from research)

8. Who conquered the Roman empire? ⎢
a. Greeks
b. Mesopotamians
c. Germans
d. Huns .
9. Why did the study of medicine come to a stop during the Dark Ages? .
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10. Approximately how many deaths was the Bubonic plague responsible for? ⎢
a. six thousand
b. six million
c. sixty million .

11. What does the word “Renaissance” mean? ⎢
a. rebirth
b. academia
c. new ideas
d. scholar .
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Discoveries of Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Italian artist, scientist, engineer
Studied anatomy of body by dissection of human corpses

Anton van Leeuwenhoek
1632 - 1723
Dutchman
Invented microscope in 1673 & discovered “animacules”

Leeuwenhoek’s microscope was a lens mounted in a tiny hole of a brass plate.
He held it to the light to see his specimen.

12. Leonardo da Vinci is known as: ⎢
a. an engineer
b. an artist
c. a scientist
d. all .
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13. What is the name Leeuwenhoek used to describe microorganisms? ⎢
a. microbes
b. organelles
c. animacules
d. pathogens .

Discoveries of Eighteenth Century

Edward Jenner (1749-1823)
Country doctor in England
Found vaccination
protected people against smallpox

Jenner observed that milkmaids who caught less serious cowpox generally did not catch smallpox.
Led him to discover technique of vaccination when he deliberately infected a small boy with cowpox.

Jenner found that this gave the child immunity against deadly smallpox.

The word ”vaccination," made up by Jenner for his treatment
(comes from Latin vacca, a cow).
Word later adopted by Pasteur for immunization against any disease.

Rene Laënnec (1781-1826)
French physician
Invented cylinder stethoscope
Originally made from paper; later made from hallow wooden tube
Hailed as Father of Thoracic Medicine

Before stethoscope, doctors put ear directly to body

What led to invention of stethoscope?
Laënnec:
“In 1816, I was consulted by a young woman
laboring under general symptoms of diseased
heart, and in whose case percussion and the
application of the hand were of little avail on the
account of the great degree of fatness…”
“I rolled a quire of paper (24 sheets) into a kind
of cylinder and applied one end of it to the region
of the heart and the other to my ear.”

14. The word vaccination is derived from a Latin word, which means . . ?.
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15. Laënnec’s first stethoscope was made of: ⎢
a. paper
b. wood
c. copper
c. hardened rawhide .

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16. Before Laënnec’s stethoscope, how did physicians listen to heart & lung sounds? .

Nineteenth Century Disease & Medicine

James Blundell (1790-1877)
1818- performed 1st successful human blood transfusion
transfused blood from husband to his wife by means of syringe

Blundell performed 10 transfusions up to 1830
about half were successful
At this point, blood typing had not been developed & transfusions were risky.
In 1870's, doctors began using milk from cows, goats & humans, as blood substitute
This was replaced with saline solution in 1880's

William Morton (1819-1868)
Dentist who developed anesthesia techniques that made surgery painless

1st operation using anesthesia

Ether inhaler invented by William Morton, about 1846

Florence Nightingale
(1820 - 1910)
pioneer of nursing
reformer of hospital sanitation methods

Florence Nightingale tending the ill

Although bedridden for many years, she campaigned tirelessly to improve health standards
published 200 books, reports & pamphlets
In recognition of her work Queen Victoria awarded Miss Nightingale the Royal Red Cross in 1883.
She died at age 90

MATCHING:
17. Reformed hospitals; pioneered nursing
18. Successful blood transfusions
19. developed anesthesia techniques.
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Morton
Nightingale
Snow
Blundell

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Father of Bacteriology
Discovered that microorganisms were everywhere
Proved that microbes caused disease

The process of boiling a liquid to destroy bacteria is still used today; most dairy products are pasteurized.
Discovered that heating of milk killed germs--hence the term “pasteurization”.

Pasture also developed vaccines against anthrax & rabies.
Louis's pupil, Emile Roux, inoculating boy against rabies at Pasteur Institute

Sir Joseph Lister (1827-1912)
Discovered that carbolic acid killed germs
Used as an asepsis in surgery
Carbolic acid sprayer

Lister Introduces Antisepsis
For six weeks, Lister had treated a boy's compound fracture wound with carbolic acid.
When Lister removed dressings from fracture, he found wound had healed without infection--something unheard of!

Wilhelm Roentgen (1845-1923)
German physicist
Discovered x-rays in 1895

Roentgen’s wife, Bertha, & his x-ray of her hand

Poem appeared in Photography magazine, 1895
The Röntgen Rays, the Röntgen Rays,
What is this craze,
The town's ablaze,
With the new phase
Of X-rays ways.
I'm full of daze,
Shock and amaze,
For nowadays,
I hear they'll gaze,
Thro' cloak & gown- and even stays,
These naughty, naughty Röntgen Rays

MATCHING:
20. Developed rabies vaccine
21. Discovered x-rays
22. Used carbolic acid to kill germs .
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Lister
Laennec
Pasture
Roentgen.

Biomedical firsts of the 20th-century:
Organ transplants
Pacemaker
Respirators
Open-heart surgery
EKG Machine
MRI, CT scans
Laser surgery