History - Medicine

• Important innovations in antiseptic surgery were introduced by Joseph Lister in the late 19th century, reducing surgical mortality rates.
• In 1546, Vesalius published his book 'De humani corporis fabrica' which showed that Galen was wrong about how the body worked.
• By 1600, there were over 250 hospitals in England
• The discovery of antibiotics such as penicillin revolutionized medicine in the mid-20th century.
• Medical research has led to new treatments and cures for diseases.
• The Black Death killed around one-third of Europe's population between 1347 and 1350.
• During the Renaissance, there was an increase in knowledge about medicine due to advances in printing technology.
• Medieval doctors believed that illness came from evil spirits or bad air (miasma).
• During WW1, many soldiers died from infection rather than injuries because they had been treated badly at field hospitals
• During the Black Death, people believed that it was caused by bad air (miasma) or God punishing them for their sins.
• Medieval doctors used bloodletting to treat illnesses like smallpox, but this often made patients worse.
• Doctors during the medieval period had little knowledge of anatomy and relied on ancient Greek texts written by Hippocrates and Galen.
• Improvements in sanitation and hygiene practices have reduced the spread of infectious diseases.
• Government policies and initiatives have contributed to improvements in public health.
• During the Renaissance, people began to question traditional beliefs and look at evidence instead.
• Galen believed that bloodletting could cure illnesses like fever or headaches.
• William Harvey discovered that blood actually flows from the heart into the arteries and then back into the veins.
• Harvey also found out that the heart is made up of four chambers and pumps blood throughout the body.
• Doctors during the medieval period were often priests who used prayer instead of medicines to heal patients.
• Hospitals were run by monks and nuns who cared for sick pilgrims on their way back from religious sites like St Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury.
• In medieval times, surgeons were not allowed to operate on humans as they could only perform surgery on animals.
• Surgeons during the medieval period did not have much training and learned through apprenticeships with other surgeons.
• The discovery of antibiotics has revolutionized medicine and allowed us to fight bacterial infections more effectively.
• In the 18th century, Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine against smallpox.
• Joseph Lister introduced antiseptic surgery in the mid-19th century, which greatly improved surgical outcomes.
• Louis Pasteur developed pasteurization as a way to kill bacteria in milk and wine.
• Joseph Lister used carbolic acid to sterilize surgical instruments and reduce infection rates during surgery.
• Medieval doctors did not understand how diseases spread and had no effective treatments.
• In some places, doctors wore masks with beaks filled with herbs as protection against the plague.
• The Black Death was caused by fleas carrying infected rats which spread bubonic plague across Europe.
• During the Black Death, people believed that it was God's punishment for sinning and so many turned to religion rather than medicine.
• Penicillin was discovered accidentally by Alexander Fleming in 1928 when he noticed mold had killed bacteria around it.
• Fleming's work led to the development of penicillin by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain in 1940.
• Robert Koch identified the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis and cholera, leading to better treatments and prevention methods.
• Penicillin was mass produced by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain in the early 1940s.