1. History of Health Care - Important Dates
Revised, Spring, 2007

2. History of Health Care - Important Dates
ANCIENT TIMES
Common belief was disease & illness were caused by evil spirits and demons
Treatment was directed toward eliminating evil spirits
Religion plays an important role in health care
Common belief was illness & disease were a punishment from the gods
Revised, Spring, 2007

3. History of Health Care - Important Dates
4000 BC – 3000 BC Primitive Times
Believed illness/disease caused by supernatural spirits & demons
Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies to drive out evil spirits
Herbs & plants were used as medicines
Trepanation, or boring a hole into the skull, was used to treat insanity, epilepsy, & headache
Average life span – 20 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

4. History of Health Care - Important Dates
3000 BC – 300 BC Ancient Egyptians
Earliest to maintain health records
Physicians were priests
Imhotep may have been the first physician
Embalming led to increased understanding of anatomy & disease
Gauze used to wrap bodies
Antiseptics kept bodies from decaying
Bloodletting or leeches were used
Used magic & medicinal plants to treat disease
Average life span was 20 – 30 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

5. History of Health Care - Important Dates
1700 BC – AD 220 Ancient Chinese
Most religions did not allow dissection
Believed in the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit & nourishing the body
Used acupuncture to relieve pain & congestion
Began to search for medical reasons for illness
Average life span was 20 – 30 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

6. History of Health Care - Important Dates
1200 BC – 200 BC Ancient Greeks
Began modern medical science by observing the human body and the effects of disease
Hippocrates is called the Father of Medicine
Aristotle is called the founder of comparative anatomy
Believed illness is a result of natural causes
Used therapies such as massage, art therapy, & herbal treatment – which are still used today
Stressed diet and cleanliness as ways to prevent disease
Average life span was 25 – 35 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

7. History of Health Care - Important Dates
Ancient Greeks
Hippocrates - Father of Medicine
no dissection, only observations
took careful notes of signs/symptoms of diseases
disease was not caused by supernatural forces
wrote standards of ethics which is the basis for today’s medical ethics
Revised, Spring, 2007

8. History of Health Care - Important Dates
Ancient Greeks
Aesculapius
staff and serpent symbol of medicine
temples built in his honor became the first true clinics and hospitals
Revised, Spring, 2007

9. History of Health Care - Important Dates
753 BC – AD 410 Ancient Romans
First to organize medical care by caring for soldiers
Early hospitals developed when physicians cared for ill people in their homes
Later hospitals were religious & charitable institutions
Began public health & sanitation systems
Galen, a physician, established many medical beliefs
Diet, exercise, and medications were used to treat disease
Average life span was 25 – 35 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

10. History of Health Care - Important Dates
THE DARK AGES & MIDDLE AGES
After the fall of the Roman empire, the study of medicine stopped
The Middle Ages brought renewed interest in the medical practices of the Greeks and Romans
Knowledge was translated and recorded in handwritten books
Medicine practiced only in convents & monasteries
Life & Death – in God’s hands
Revised, Spring, 2007

11. History of Health Care - Important Dates
AD 400 – AD 800 Dark Ages
Emphasis was placed on saving the soul, and the study of medicine was prohibited
Prayer & divine intervention were used to treat illness & disease
Monks & priests provided custodial care for sick people
Medications were mainly herbal mixtures
Average life span was 20 – 30 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

12. History of Health Care - Important Dates
AD 800 – AD Middle Ages
Medical Universities were created
Renewed interest in medical practice of Greeks & Romans
A pandemic of the bubonic plague (black death) killed ¾ of the population of Europe & Asia
Major diseases were smallpox, diptheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, the plague, and malaria
Arabs began requiring physicians pass exams and obtain licenses
Realization – diseases are contagious
Average life span 20 – 35 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

13. History of Health Care - Important Dates
THE RENAISSANCE
This period is often called the “rebirth of the science of medicine”
Major sources of new information was a result of accepting dissection
Artists were able to draw the body accurately
The printing press resulted in the publication of medical books
Revised, Spring, 2007

14. History of Health Care - Important Dates
AD 1350 – AD 1650 Renaissance
Rebirth of the science of medicine
Dissection of the body allows a better understanding of anatomy & physiology
Michelangelo & Leonardo da Vinci draw the body
Development of the printing press allows knowledge to be spread to others
First anatomy book published
Michael Servetus describes the circulatory system in the lungs
Roger Bacon promotes chemical remedies to treat disease
Average life span was 30 – 40 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

15. History of Health Care - Important Dates
16th, 17th, & 18th Centuries
Physicians gained an increased knowledge of the human body
Major development was the microscope
The start of drugstores or pharmacies
Revised, Spring, 2007

16. History of Health Care - Important Dates
16th & 17th Centuries
Causes of disease – still not known; many people died from infections & puerperal (childbirth) fever
Ambroise Pare, French surgeon, known as the Father of Modern Surgery
Gabriel Fallopius – identifies the fallopian tube
William Harvey described the circulation of blood to and from the heart in 1628
Apothecaries (early pharmacists) made, prescribed, and sold medications
Average life span was 35 – 45 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

17. History of Health Care - Important Dates
18th Century
Gabriel Fahrenheit creates the first mercury thermometer in 1714
Benjamin Franklin invents bifocals & found colds can be passed from person to person
John Hunter, an English surgeon, establishes scientific surgical procedures & introduces tube feeding
Average life span was 40 – 50 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

18. History of Health Care - Important Dates
19th Century
Also known as the Industrial Revolution
Major progress in medical science
Formal training for nurses began
Sanitary nursing care units began
Infection control methods developed
Revised, Spring, 2007

19. History of Health Care - Important Dates
19th Century
First successful blood transfusion on humans
Handwashing was encouraged after autopsies & before childbirth – idea was resisted by hospital/medical personnel
Dr. William Morton, an American dentist, began using ether as an anesthetic in 1846
Dr. James Simpson began using chloroform as an anesthetic in 1847
Paul Ehrlich develops methods of detecting & differentiating between various diseases
Dimitri Ivanofski discovers viruses in 1892
Average life span was years
Revised, Spring, 2007

20. History of Health Care - Important Dates
The 20th Century
Shows the most rapid growth in health care
Health care plans help pay costs of care
Standards are created to make sure every individual has access to quality health care
Computer technology allows medicine to progress faster than ever
Revised, Spring, 2007

21. History of Health Care - Important Dates
20th Century
Health insurance plans & social reforms developed in the 1920s
Sigmund Freud forms the basis for psychology & psychiatry
Dr. George Papanicolaou develops the Pap test
Average life span was 60 – 70 years
Revised, Spring, 2007

22. History of Health Care - Important Dates
Important dates to know. . .
Anton van Leeuwenhoek invents the microscope
Edward Jenner develops a smallpox vaccination
Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope
1818 – James Blundel performs the first successful blood transfusion in humans
1842 – Crawford Long develops ether anesthesia
Elizabeth Blackwell, first female physician in US
1863 – International Red Cross established
1865 – Sir Joseph Lister uses asepsis in surgery
1869 – Gregor Mendel - laws of heredity
Revised, Spring, 2007

23. History of Health Care - Important Dates
More important dates to know. . .
Florence Nightingale - founder of modern nursing
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson – first female physician in Britain
1881-Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross
1885-Louis Pasteur proves microorganisms cause disease; pasteurizes milk to kill bacteria; creates rabies vaccine
1893 – Aspirin is developed
1895 – Wilhelm Roentgen discovers X-rays
Revised, Spring, 2007

24. History of Health Care - Important Dates
A few more important dates to know. . .
1901 – Blood groups discovered
Marie Curie isolates radium
Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1937 – Smoking is linked to cancer
First kidney dialysis machine developed
DNA discovered
Jonas Salk develops the polio vaccine
First successful kidney transplant
Revised, Spring, 2007

25. History of Health Care - Important Dates
And a few more important dates . . .
Birth control pills approved by the FDA
Thomas Starzl performs first liver transplant
James Hardy performs first lung transplant
Christian Barnard performs first successful heart transplant
CAT scans developed
New Jersey Supreme Court rules parents have the right to remove life support
Revised, Spring, 2007

26. History of Health Care - Important Dates
More important dates . . .
First ‘test tube baby’ born in England
1981 – AIDS identified as a disease
Dr. William DeVries implants the first artificial heart
HIV virus causing AIDS identified
1984 – First baby conceived from frozen embryo
1987 – Dr. Benjamin Carson separates conjoined twins
1994 – Breast cancer gene identified
1997 – Dolly, the sheep was cloned
Revised, Spring, 2007

27. History of Health Care - Important Dates
Credits
North Carolina Health Science Curriculum
South Carolina Health Science Curriculum
Health Science Career Exploration by Louise Simmers
Revised, Spring, 2007