1. History of Health Care

2. Primitive times BC-3000BC
Believed that illness and disease caused by supernatural spirits and demons
Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies to drive out evil spirits
Average life span was 20 years

3. Ancient Egyptians 3000 BC-300 BC
Earliest people known to maintain accurate health records
Physicians were priests who studied medicine and surgery in temple medical schools
Imhotep (2725BC?)may have been the first physician
Average life span was years

4. Ancient Chinese 1700 BC-220AD
Religious prohibitions against dissection resulted in inadequate knowledge of body structure
Used acupuncture , or puncture of the skin by needles, to relieve pain and congestion
Average life span was 20 to 30 years

5. Ancient Greeks BC – 200 BC
Began modern medical science by observing human body and effects of disease
Hippocrates ( BC) called the Father of Medicine
Aristotle ( BC) dissected animals and is called founder of comparative anatomy
Average life span was 25 to 35 years

6. Ancient Romans BC-410 AD
First to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers
Began public aqueducts to carry clean water to the cities
Average life span was 25 to 35 years

7. Dark Ages AD
Emphasis was placed on saving the soul and the study of medicine was prohibited
Monks and priests provided custodial care for sick people
Average life span was 20 to 30 years

8. Middle Ages AD
Renewed interest in the medical practice of Greeks and Romans
A pandemic (worldwide epidemic) of the bubonic plague (black death) killed ¾ of the population of Europe and Asia
Average life span was 20 to 35 years

9. Renaissance 1350-1650 AD Rebirth of the science of medicine
First chairs (positions of authority ) of medicine created at Oxford and Cambridge in England in 1440
Average life span was 30 to 40 years

10. 16th and 17th Centuries
Caused of disease were still not known and many people died from infections and puerperal (Childbirth) fever
Scientific societies, such as the Royal Society of London, were established
Average life span was 35 to 45 years

11. 18th Century First mercury thermometer was created
Invention of bifocals for glasses
James Lind prescribed lime juice containing vitamin C to prevent scurvy in 1795
Average life span was 40 to 50 years

12. 19th Century
Royal College of Surgeons (medical School) founded in London in 1800
French barbers acted as surgeons by extracting teeth, using leeches for treatment, and giving enemas
First successful blood transfusion was performed on humans in 1818 by James Blundell
Bacteria causing gonorrhea and leprosy were discovered and identified
Average life span was 40 to 60 years

13. 20th Century The first kidney dialysis machine was developed in 1944
Health insurance plans and social reforms developed in the 1920s
First heart-lung machine was used for open-heart surgery in 1953
First successful heart transplant 1968
Birth control pills approved by FDA in 1960
First “test tube” baby, Louise Brown, was born in England in 1978
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was identified as a disease in 1981
A sheep was cloned in 1997
Average life span was 60 to 70 years

14. Potential for the 21st Century
Cures for AIDS, cancer, and heart disease are found
Development of methods to slow the aging process or stop aging are created
Transplants of every organ in the body, including the brain
Average life span is increased to 90 to 100 years and beyond