Dealing with disease

• Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries many improvements were made to medicine, particularly in terms of dealing with disease.

  Pasteur’s work helped to understand much more about the cause of disease, whilst the later work of the likes of Koch and Ehrlich helped in curing diseases. After centuries of little progress, rapid change was about to take place.
• Industrial & Modern Eras

  • Industrial Period (19th century – 1800s)
  • Modern Period (20th century onwards – 1900s)
• Industrial Period (19th century – 1800s)


  • Period of industrial revolution, more emphasis on science & technology
  • Growth of factories and large workplaces, shift from village to town and city
  • Significant advances in understanding of cause of disease, starting to find cures
• Modern Period (20th century onwards – 1900s)


  • Impact of WW1 & WW2 on medicine and the fight against disease
  • Greater medical understanding and use of modern techniques to find cures
  • State of medicine today and potential issues in terms of dealing with disease
• What was the situation in 1800?

  •In 1800 there was still limited understanding about the cause of disease and the concept of germs was not yet understood.

  •Religious ideas had predominantly been dispelled, whilst the idea of miasma (bad air) still remained popular.

  •Consequently there were still no proper cures for disease and medicinal drugs were limited and ineffective.

  •As a result of this, deadly diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis and anthrax were all major problems and killers in society in 1800 as life expectancy remained low and death rates high.
• Dealing with Disease on an Everyday Basis

  1. Over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, medical treatments became much more successful

  2. Shift to chemical medicines and the age of pills
• Other fields of alternative medicine still remain reasonably popular, such as acupuncture and hydrotherapy
• Medicine became much more widely available and formerly dangerous diseases were nullified and became treatable due to the new medical discoveries
• Nowadays new problems are emerging such as superbugs and antibiotic resistance, particularly as antibiotics become overused
• The past two centuries though have witnessed significant shifts, with factors including science, individuals, government and war playing major roles in these transformations
• Germ Theory Timeline

  
• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

  •A French scientist, Pasteur’s most famous medical discovery was Germ Theory.

  •Following much work, Pasteur proved that disease was caused by germs, disproving previously incorrect theories.

  •Pasteur’s work enabled doctors and scientists to properly understand the cause of disease for the first time, in turn leading to potential cures.

  •Pasteur also built on the work of Edward Jenner, developing vaccinations for chicken cholera, anthrax and rabies.

  •Also developed the principles of pasteurisation to kill microbes in products such as milk.
• Robert Koch (1843-1910)

  •A German doctor and scientist, Koch built on the work of Pasteur by identifying which microbes caused particular diseases.

  •The founder of modern bacteriology, he discovered the specific causes of diseases including tuberculosis, anthrax and cholera.

  •Throughout this period Koch was working in direct competition with Pasteur, and their national rivalries pushed one another on to make more discoveries.

  •Koch’s methods then allowed other doctors to also determine the exact microbes that caused specific diseases.

  •In addition his work inspired others such as Ehrlich.
• Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915)

  •A German medical scientist, Ehrlich’s work focused around finding cures for diseases.

  •Ehrlich realised that the body produced antibodies to kill harmful bacteria and nothing else.

  •He set about devising a chemical that could do the same, terming these ‘magic bullets’.

  •In 1905 he searched for a magic bullet for syphilis. His team tried 605 variations before they found the compound that worked, which they called Salvarsan.

  •This was a crucial discovery and paved the way for others such as Domagk to develop Prontosil.
• Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)

  •Alexander Fleming observed that antiseptics were unable to prevent infection, especially in deep wounds.

  •He sought to find something to kill the microbes that caused the infection.

  •By chance, Fleming discovered penicillin growing in a eft over petri dish. This was the first antibiotic.

  •Fleming later received additional support from Florey and Chain to develop and produce the antibiotic..

  •Development increased rapidly as a result of WW2, penicillin was used successfully and other antibiotics would follow.