Medicine c1848 – c1948
● Progress in the mid-19th Century
- Knowledge about disease (The Four Humours, Miasma, Spontaneous
Regeneration, Doctors Knowledge, Factors affecting Progress)
- Florence Nightingale in Scutari (Conditions at Scutari, Nightingale’s actions,
The Impact of Nightingale’s work)
- Blood loss, Infection and Pain
- The Development of Anaesthetics (Laughing gas, Ether, Chloroform, Impact of
Anaesthetics)
- Public Health (Living Conditions, Killer Diseases, Cholera, Edwin Chadwick –
1848 public health act, John Snow – Broad Street Pump)
● Discovery and Development 1860 – 1875
- Louis Pasteur (Experiments, Germ Theory – Medicine)
- Joseph Lister (Carbolic Acid – Antiseptics, Opposition to Lister)
- Joseph Bazalegette (London Sewer System, Role of the Authorities – Reform
Acts, Impact of the 1875 Public Health Act)
- Florence Nightingale and Hospitals (State of Hospitals before, Improvements
made by Nightingale)
- Women in Medicine (Attitudes towards Women, Elizabeth Garett – Garett’s
Achievements, Other Female Doctors)
● Accelerating Change 1875 – 1905
- Robert Koch (Bacteriology, Pasteur and Vaccines, Pasteur and Koch)
- Improvements in Surgery (Impact of Antiseptics – Infection, Blood loss,
Combatting pain – Cocaine)
- Factors Affecting Public Health
- The role of Science (Blood Transfusions, Scientific Knowledge, Paul Ehrlich,
X-Rays, Marie Curie)
,● Government Action and War 1905 – 1920
- Public Health Measures 1906 – 1911 (Government Attitudes, Children’s Health,
Workers and the Elderly, The cost of the public health improvements, Access to
treatment – National insurance act 1911)
- World War One (Care for Wounded and Sick Soldiers, Conditions in Trenches,
The RAMC and Nurses, Voluntary Hospitals, Women Volunteers and Women
Doctors, Greater Acceptance of women)
- Improvements in Surgery (X-Rays, Blood Transfusions and Storage, New
Techniques – Thomas Splint and prosthetic limbs, Brain Surgery, Plastic
Surgery)
● Advances in Medicine and Public Health 1920-1948
- The Discovery of Penicillin (Fleming, Limitations of Penicillin, Florey and Chain,
Treatment Using Penicillin, Mass Production, Importance of Penicillin – Nobel
Prize)
- World War Two (Impact on Hospitals, Role of Women, Nurses in war Zones,
Impact on Surgery – Plastic Surgery, Burns, Skin Grafts, The Guinea pig club,
Other developments)
- The National Health Service (The Beveridge Report 1942, The NHS, Aneurin
Bevan, Opposition and Support, The Impact of the NHS)
, Progress in the mid-19th Century
Knowledge about Diseases
The Four Humors
● The Idea of the Four Humors was Developed by the Ancient Greeks
● Around 1848, People believed that disease was caused by and imbalance of
the Body’s Humors
● Treatment of disease was therefore based on the Theory of Opposites
- Colds would be treated with something hot and dry
- Fevers would be treated with something cold and wet
Miasma
Miasma – The idea that disease was carried by unpleasant smells and harmful
fumes in the air
● Around 1848, People understood that disease was worse in dirty,
unhygienic, smelly places so they linked disease with bad smells
● People also knew that disease spread more quickly in hot weather, as bad
smells got worse in hot weather
Spontaneous Regeneration
Spontaneous Regeneration – The theory that rotting material (Eg. Dead animals,
rotting food, excrements) created maggots, fleas and disease
● In 1848, People didn’t know about the link between microorganisms and
disease
, Doctors Knowledge
● Understanding of the body was limited in 1848
- Doctors would only observe a few dissections during their training
● Most people still believed in life after death and therefore wanted to be
buried
● The only bodies doctors could use for research were those of criminals who
had been executed
- This made it difficult to plan any research on the symptoms of disease or
to study particular conditions, such as diabetes or arthritis
● Lack of understanding of the causes of disease limited the progress in
medicine
- Doctors’ faulty understanding led to faulty training and ideas about
prevention and treatment
- This made most methods of prevention and disease ineffective
Factors Affecting progress
● The mediocre level of technology available limited progress in medicine
- Scientists could only make assumptions on areas where the technology
available could not provide facts
● The lack of funding for research and the development of new Ideas limited
progress in medicine
- The Government did not feel responsible for funding new ideas and
research
- Hospitals usually relied on charity for funding
● Negative attitudes towards change also limited progress in medicine
● Progress in the mid-19th Century
- Knowledge about disease (The Four Humours, Miasma, Spontaneous
Regeneration, Doctors Knowledge, Factors affecting Progress)
- Florence Nightingale in Scutari (Conditions at Scutari, Nightingale’s actions,
The Impact of Nightingale’s work)
- Blood loss, Infection and Pain
- The Development of Anaesthetics (Laughing gas, Ether, Chloroform, Impact of
Anaesthetics)
- Public Health (Living Conditions, Killer Diseases, Cholera, Edwin Chadwick –
1848 public health act, John Snow – Broad Street Pump)
● Discovery and Development 1860 – 1875
- Louis Pasteur (Experiments, Germ Theory – Medicine)
- Joseph Lister (Carbolic Acid – Antiseptics, Opposition to Lister)
- Joseph Bazalegette (London Sewer System, Role of the Authorities – Reform
Acts, Impact of the 1875 Public Health Act)
- Florence Nightingale and Hospitals (State of Hospitals before, Improvements
made by Nightingale)
- Women in Medicine (Attitudes towards Women, Elizabeth Garett – Garett’s
Achievements, Other Female Doctors)
● Accelerating Change 1875 – 1905
- Robert Koch (Bacteriology, Pasteur and Vaccines, Pasteur and Koch)
- Improvements in Surgery (Impact of Antiseptics – Infection, Blood loss,
Combatting pain – Cocaine)
- Factors Affecting Public Health
- The role of Science (Blood Transfusions, Scientific Knowledge, Paul Ehrlich,
X-Rays, Marie Curie)
,● Government Action and War 1905 – 1920
- Public Health Measures 1906 – 1911 (Government Attitudes, Children’s Health,
Workers and the Elderly, The cost of the public health improvements, Access to
treatment – National insurance act 1911)
- World War One (Care for Wounded and Sick Soldiers, Conditions in Trenches,
The RAMC and Nurses, Voluntary Hospitals, Women Volunteers and Women
Doctors, Greater Acceptance of women)
- Improvements in Surgery (X-Rays, Blood Transfusions and Storage, New
Techniques – Thomas Splint and prosthetic limbs, Brain Surgery, Plastic
Surgery)
● Advances in Medicine and Public Health 1920-1948
- The Discovery of Penicillin (Fleming, Limitations of Penicillin, Florey and Chain,
Treatment Using Penicillin, Mass Production, Importance of Penicillin – Nobel
Prize)
- World War Two (Impact on Hospitals, Role of Women, Nurses in war Zones,
Impact on Surgery – Plastic Surgery, Burns, Skin Grafts, The Guinea pig club,
Other developments)
- The National Health Service (The Beveridge Report 1942, The NHS, Aneurin
Bevan, Opposition and Support, The Impact of the NHS)
, Progress in the mid-19th Century
Knowledge about Diseases
The Four Humors
● The Idea of the Four Humors was Developed by the Ancient Greeks
● Around 1848, People believed that disease was caused by and imbalance of
the Body’s Humors
● Treatment of disease was therefore based on the Theory of Opposites
- Colds would be treated with something hot and dry
- Fevers would be treated with something cold and wet
Miasma
Miasma – The idea that disease was carried by unpleasant smells and harmful
fumes in the air
● Around 1848, People understood that disease was worse in dirty,
unhygienic, smelly places so they linked disease with bad smells
● People also knew that disease spread more quickly in hot weather, as bad
smells got worse in hot weather
Spontaneous Regeneration
Spontaneous Regeneration – The theory that rotting material (Eg. Dead animals,
rotting food, excrements) created maggots, fleas and disease
● In 1848, People didn’t know about the link between microorganisms and
disease
, Doctors Knowledge
● Understanding of the body was limited in 1848
- Doctors would only observe a few dissections during their training
● Most people still believed in life after death and therefore wanted to be
buried
● The only bodies doctors could use for research were those of criminals who
had been executed
- This made it difficult to plan any research on the symptoms of disease or
to study particular conditions, such as diabetes or arthritis
● Lack of understanding of the causes of disease limited the progress in
medicine
- Doctors’ faulty understanding led to faulty training and ideas about
prevention and treatment
- This made most methods of prevention and disease ineffective
Factors Affecting progress
● The mediocre level of technology available limited progress in medicine
- Scientists could only make assumptions on areas where the technology
available could not provide facts
● The lack of funding for research and the development of new Ideas limited
progress in medicine
- The Government did not feel responsible for funding new ideas and
research
- Hospitals usually relied on charity for funding
● Negative attitudes towards change also limited progress in medicine
