4000 BC - 3000 BC
• Believed that illness and disease
were caused by supernatural
spirits and demons.
• Ceremonies were used to drive
out evil spirits.
• Herbs and plants were used for
medication.
• Skeletal evidence has been found
demonstrating trepanation .
• Average life span = 20 years.
Trepanation
Unearthed in
Peru; 6000 BC.
Unearthed in
Peru; 7000 BC
2000 BC – 300 BC
Ancient Egypt
• Earliest known health records.
• Offerings to gods for healing.
Ancient papyrus
• Imhotep (2700 BC) first recognized
physician.
• Use of blood-letting and leeches as
treatment.
• Herbs and plants used as medicine
• Average life span = 20 to 30 years.
Imhotep
1700 BC – 220 AD
Ancient Chinese
Acupuncture
• Monitored pulse rate to determine
the condition of the body.
• Believed in curing whole body by
curing the spirit and nourishment:
Yin and Yang
• First recorded “pharmacy” of herbs.
• Use of acupuncture and acupressure.
• Began searching for organic causes of
disease.
• Average life span = 20 to 30 years.
1200 BC – 200 BC
Ancient Greeks
Hippocrates
• The start of the Hippocratic tradition
“will cause no harm to the patient”.
• Believed illness the result of natural
causes.
• Introduction of massage therapy and
continued use of herbal therapy.
• Introduced concept that good diet and
cleanliness prevented disease.
• Average life span = 25 to 35 years.
753 BC – 410 AD
Ancient Romans
• First to organize medical care for wounded
soldiers.
Surgical hooks
• Early hospitals allowed for separation of
well and sick.
• Beginning of public health and sanitation
systems.
• Diet, exercise and medication used to treat
disease.
• Average life span = 25 to 35 years.
Various surgical tools
• Renewed interest in
work of Greeks and
Romans.
• Medical universities
open in the 9th
century.
• Pandemic of bubonic
plague occurred.
• Chemistry advances
in pharmacology.
• Average life span =
20 to 35 years.
800 – 1400 AD
Middle Ages
Doctor dressed for visiting patient
believed to suffer from Black Death.
1350 – 1650 AD
Renaissance
David, by Michelangelo
Circle Man, by da Vinci
• Dissection of the human body
allowed for better understanding
of anatomy and physiology
• Michelangelo and da Vinci used
dissection to give their art a more
realistic look.
• Invention of the printing press
allowed knowledge to be spread
to others.
• Three important contributors;
Vesalius, Servetus, and Bacon
• Average life span = 30 to 40 years.
16th and 17th Centuries
• Not many discoveries or advances.
•Ambroise Pare (1510-1590)
•Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1578-1723)
• Causes of disease still unknown.
• Many died from infection and
childbirth fever.
• Apothecaries made, prescribed,
and sold medications.
• Average life span = 35 to 45 years.
Mortar & pestle
Ambroise Pare
1510-1590
• Father of Modern Surgery
• Introduced amputation to
battlefield care of
wounded soldiers.
• Began using ligatures to
stop bleeding and bind
arteries instead of boilingoil cauterization.
• Promoted use of
artificial limbs.
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
1632-1723
• Developed one of the most
important inventions of all
time – the microscope!
• Began using the lenses to
observe the
microscopic world.
• Discovered bacteria, protists,
rotifers, and blood cells.
Early microscope
Rotifer
Franklin
18th Century
• Fahrenheit created first mercury
thermometer.
• Priestly discovered the element oxygen.
• Ben Franklin invented bifocals for
glasses.
• Lind prescribed limes to prevent scurvy.
• Jenner developed first smallpox vaccine.
• Average life span = 40 – 50 years.
Edward Jenner
1749-1823
• Edward Jenner learned early
in his medical career that if at
one time one had cowpox, they
would not get smallpox.
• The human immunity from the
infection of smallpox was
tested by vaccinating patients
with fluid from pustules of
cowpox-infected patients and
then showing that these
subjects were immune to
smallpox.
19th Century
• Many discoveries and inventions
• First use of anesthetic for surgeries.
• International Red Cross was founded in
1863.
• Discovery of bacterial causes of disease.
• Average life span = 40 – 60 years.
Important Dates
• 1819: First successful human blood
transfusion by James Blundell.
• 1819: Rene Laennec invented the
stethoscope.
• 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell was the first
female physician in the U.S.
• 1865: First use of antiseptics during surgery
by Joseph Lister.
• 1892: Discovery of viruses by Dimitri
Ivanfski.
• 1895: X-rays discovered by Wilhelm
Roentgen.
Louis Pasteur
1822-1895
• Worked to disprove the
idea of spontaneous
generation.
• Proved that
microorganisms cause
disease:
Germ Theory of Disease
• Developed
pasteurization to kill
microorganisms in milk.
• Created a vaccine for
rabies.
Gregor Mendel
1822-1884
• Developed Mendel’s Laws
of Inheritance. These laws
established principles of
heredity and
dominant/recessive
patterns.
• Presented his finding to
the medical community,
but they weren’t widely
accepted until the early
1900’s.
You name it, it happened!
• 1901: ABO blood
groups identified
• 1920: Health insurance
plans are introduced.
• 1928: Fleming
discovered penicillin
• 1952: Development of
polio vaccine.
• 1953: DNA structure
described by Watson &
Crick.
• 1954: First kidney
transplant.
• 1962: First severed arm
reattached.
• 1963: First liver
transplant.
• 1964: First lung
transplant.
• 1968; First heart
transplant.
• 1970: First synthesized
gene.
• 1975: Amniocentesis
used to diagnose birth
defects in-utero.
And more!
Dolly
Introduction of sperm into egg cytoplasm
• 1978: First test tube baby.
• 1981: AIDS appeared in
the population.
• 1982: Artificial heart is
implanted in human.
• 1984: HIV identified.
• 1990: Gene therapy used
to treat disease.
• 1990’s: Human Genome The Human Genome Project
Project begins
• 1997: Dolly the sheep is
cloned.
Jarvik-7 artifical heart
Potential
• Cures for current diseases like
AIDS.
• Gene manipulation to prevent
inherited diseases/Designer
babies.
• Slow the aging process.
• Treatment for spinal cord
injuries.
• Increased average life
• Improved transplantation
span to 100+ years.
techniques.
• Reduced antibiotic resistance.
• Computerized body parts.
• Increased cloning activities.