1. Health in the 1800s

2. Disease in Towns in the 1800s -
Aims:
Identify the main causes of poor health
Examine the main killer diseases in the 1800s.

3. Key Questions How can we tell if a country has a poor
standard of health?
Low life expectancy – in the 1840s the average Scot would live until their early 40s.
High infant mortality – in the 1850s 120 children out of every 1000 died before they reached the age of five.
Existence of killer diseases e.g
__________ epidemic killed 10,000 Scots.

4. Key Questions What are the main causes of poor health? Slum Housing
Poor diet/lifestyle
Lack of medical care
Poverty
Poor sanitation
Lack of clean water
Size of families
All of these problems existed in the 1800s therefore
people had a very poor standard of health and were
often at risk from catching killer diseases.

5. Killer Diseases – Group Challenge
You will be divided into groups of 3 or 4.
Each group will have to investigate one of the killer diseases that existed in the 19th century (1800s)
You will have two periods to complete this task.
You will then present your findings to the class.

6. Killer Diseases in the 19th Century (1800s)
Cholera – caused by dirty water. Symptoms included cramps, diarrhoea, sickness. Coma/death in 50% of cases
Typhoid – caused by contaminated water and food. Symptoms included fever, diarrhoea, rash. Possible death.
Typhus – caused by body lice, overcrowding. Symptoms include fever, headaches. Possible death.
Consumption/Tuberculosis – caused by overcrowding, bad diet, poor ventilation. Symptoms include coughing, spit up blood, fever. Possible death.

7. Killer Diseases in the 19th Century (1800s)
The evidence clearly shows that the killer diseases of the 1800s were directly linked to the poor living conditions.
Housing conditions were poor in both the countryside and the town but in the towns overcrowding was greater and diseases spread rapidly.
Cholera was the main killer affecting both rich and poor.

8. Killer Diseases - Tasks
Copy the table on Housing and Disease from page 57 of your textbook.
Copy the key words from page 57 into your glossary.
Now complete Task 31 on page 24 of the workguide.

9. Improvements in Public Health
Aims:
Identify the main improvements in public health by the 1930s

10. Dung heaps close to public wells Animal waste in streets
Cities like Dundee on the east coast of Scotland were breeding grounds for disease.
Dung heaps close to public wells
Animal waste in streets
Dundee
A ‘Cholera Magnet’
Shared outdoor privies
Overcrowding
Rotting meat dumped in streets
Refuse dumped in streets

11. Cholera in Glasgow
Glasgow with its vastly overcrowded housing also faced major problems with cholera.
Most people relied on the River Clyde and public wells for their water supply.
However water was often contaminated with sewage and industrial waste.

12. Tackling the Problem
People were becoming increasingly aware of the link between dirt, disease and water.
Areas of Glasgow which had a cleaner water supply had fewer cases of cholera.
James Burns Russell one of Glasgow’s medical officers persuaded the council that something needed to be done to clean up Glasgow’s water supply. The result was Loch Katrine.

13. Loch Katrine Loch Katrine is a small loch in the district of Stirling.
A major engineering project took place to use Loch Katrine to provide the people of Glasgow with clean water.
The water level was raised by 6 feet and two 26 mile aquaeducts were built to carry the water to a treatment works at Milngavie.

14. Loch Katrine Loch Katrine was opened by Queen Victoria in 1859.
It is the primary water reservoir for the city of Glasgow and delivers 50,000,000 gallons of water a day to the city.
Providing people with clean water virtually wiped out typhoid and cholera in Glasgow.
This was a major step forward in improving the quality of people’s health.

15. Public Health Improvements in Glasgow in the 1800s
Tasks:
Complete Task 32 - Cholera in Scotland on page 25 of your workguide.
For question 8 use this outline to help you.
Public Health Improvements in Glasgow in the 1800s
1847
1850
1859
1860

16. Improving Public Health
In 1842 a civil servant, Edwin Chadwick published his ‘Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain’.
His report proved that life expectancy was lower in the towns than in the countryside.
Chadwick argued the government needed to improve people’s lives by improving sanitation and housing.
The government then passed two public health laws – the 1848 Public Health Act set up local health boards but they had very little powers.

17. Improving Public Health
The 1875 Public Health Act was much more successful.
Local authorities had to appoint a Medical Officer – it was their job to deal with infections and take action to stop disease spreading.
Local authorities had to the power to lay sewers, drains and pavements, clean the streets, provide clean water and fire services.
Local officers were appointed to check slaughterhouses and destroy contaminated food.

18. Other Improvements
Better diet – due to the railways fresh food reached the towns and cities.
Cheap soap and disinfectant – improved hygiene and reduced infections.
Cheap cotton clothes – were easy to clean and improved hygiene
Better medicines and hospitals but people still had to pay for medical care.

19. Other Improvements in Health
Better Diet
Due to better transport fresh food reached the cities more easily.
Soap and Disinfectant
These were cheaper to buy and helped to reduce infections
Cheap Cotton Clothes
Easy to clean. This improved hygiene.
Better Medicines and Hospitals
Better treatment for those who were ill

20. Medical Care in the 1800s Aim:
Examine how advances in medicine helped to improve the health of Scottish people.

21. Medical Care in the 1800s The overall standard of medical care was
poor for various reasons:
Doctors did not fully understand the causes of certain diseases e.g. cholera.
People had to pay for treatment and many could simply not afford it – diseases were not detected until it was too late to treat them.
There were many other problems that needed to be tackled to improve health e.g. housing, sanitation. This would all cost MONEY
However between a number of medical
discoveries were made which enabled doctors and
nurses to treat people more effectively.

22. Medical Discoveries
1847
James Young Simpson discovered chloroform. This was used as an anaesthetic in surgery and increased the survival rate of patients
1864
Louis Pasteur discovered that germs and microbes were the cause of disease. Made it easier for others to find cures for diseases.
1882
Robert Koch
Discovered the germs that caused TB and Cholera. This was the first step towards finding a cure.
1867
Joseph Lister
Used antiseptics in surgery to clean wounds and prevent the growth of bacteria

23. Invented X-Rays allowing doctors to diagnose disease
Medical Discoveries
1895
William Roentgen
Invented X-Rays allowing doctors to diagnose disease
1906
Calmette and Guerlin worked on a cure for TB. It became known as the BCG Vaccine
1928
Alexander Fleming
Discovered penicillin – an antibiotic that could a wide range of bacterial infections

24. Medical Care in the 1800s
Year
Discovery
How This Improved Health

25. The Liberal Reforms 1906-1914 Aims:
Examine the main reforms (changes) introduced by the Liberal government to tackle poverty and improve health.

26. Why Were Reforms Needed?
Despite some improvements by 1900 much more needed to be done to tackle poor health in Britain.
During the Boer War , one in three men who tried to join the army failed medical inspections.
Poverty investigations showed that around a third of British people were living in poverty.
People began to argue that the government should be doing more to help the poor.
With more of the working class having the right to vote, political parties had to do something to attract their votes.

27. The Liberal Reforms
In 1906 the Liberal party won the election.
Over the next few years they introduced
several reforms which helped to tackle poverty
and poor health.
School meals 1906
School medical inspections 1907
Old age pensions 1908
Labour Exchanges 1909
Unemployment and Sickness Insurance 1911

28. The Liberal Reforms
School Meals 1906 – local councils had the power to provide school meals.
School Medical Inspections 1907 – regular health checks for children
Old Age Pensions 1908 – over 70s given a weekly pension
Labour Exchanges 1909 – Helped unemployed people to find a job
Unemployment and Sickness Insurance 1911 – gave the unemployed and sick money to live on.

29. Why Were These Reforms Important?
They tried to tackle some of the key causes of poverty.
The government was accepting they had a responsibility to help the poor.
Tackling poverty would help to improve people’s health.
But poor health was still a problem and many working class people could not afford to pay for medical treatment.

30. Improvements in Health 1918-1939
During the inter-war years a number of changes
took place which improved the nation’s health.
There were improvements in:
Public health
Hygiene
Family Planning
Housing
Medical Care
Diet
Despite all of this the cost of medical care was still one
of the key reasons why British people had poor health.