Even with these advancements in the understanding of the human body, there was still absolutely no awareness of germs and that poor hygiene, pollution from sewage, filthy water, and physical contact were responsible for the cause of many fatal infectious diseases. Up until the mid-nineteenth century, many people believed that diseases were punishment for a person's immoral or sinful behaviour, and when huge numbers of people became ill the disease was often blamed on foul odours from sewage. Many educated individuals believed that epidemics were also caused by poisonous vapours created by planetary movements causing disturbances within the Earth.
This attitude towards poor hygiene was eventually eradicated thanks to the development of the germ theory. The germ theory is a fundamental principle of medicine that recognises tiny microorganisms can invade the body and cause certain diseases. As these microorganisms cannot be seen with the naked eye, the development of the germ theory in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was only made possible by new laboratory tools such as the microscope, and new techniques that permitted the study of bacteria. There were many involved in the development of the germ theory, but the ground breaking works of Edward Jenner (1790’s), Louis Pastor (1860’s), Joseph Lister (1860’s), and Alexander Fleming (1930’s), are widely regarded as being some of the main contributors to this achievement.
Edward Jenner was a doctor from England who pioneered the smallpox vaccination. During the smallpox epidemic, Jenner noticed that milkmaids who suffered the mild disease of cowpox never contracted smallpox. Therefore, he decided to carry out an experiment on eight-year-old boy. Jenner extracted pus from a cowpox pustule and inserted it into an incision on the boy's arm. From this experiment the child contracted cowpox but was consequently immunised to smallpox, so Jenner carried out the same method on several other children to prove his theory. Despite his vaccination technique initially being viewed as repulsive, the concept soon caught on and became widespread practice.
Louis Pasteur, a scientist from France, invented the process of pasteurisation and made great contributions to our understanding of microbiology. The technique of pasteurisation was thought up when he noticed that bacterial organisms were responsible for ruining milk, beer and wine. He then figured that the bacteria could be removed by boiling and then cooling the liquid. Pasteur also disproved the theory of spontaneous generation, he did this by creating unique swan-necked flasks that allowed air into the container but did not allow particles from the air to drift into the body of the flask. After boiling nutrient substances in his flasks, Pasteur found that these swan-necked containers would remain free of microbes until he broke the necks of the flasks, allowing particles from the air to drift in. It was these carefully controlled experiments that finally proved that microbes arise from other microbes, not spontaneously.
Due to the common belief that wound infection was caused by tissue being exposed to poisonous ‘’miasma’’ vapours, surgeons at the time felt there was no reason to wash their hands before and after coming into contact with a patient. Joseph Lister, a professor of surgery at Glasgow University, had read about Louis Pasteur's ideas on Germ Theory and was able to significantly reduce the death rate amongst his patients by spraying instruments and bandages with a solution of carbolic acid. By doing this Joseph Lister had made the like between lack of cleanliness in hospitals and deaths after operations. For this reason, he is known as the ‘Father of Antiseptic Surgery’. Lister had figured that wounds needed to be thoroughly cleaned and protected with a piece of lint covered in carbolic acid in order to prevent infection. Lister then also went on to develop his idea further by devising a machine that pumped out a fine mist of carbolic acid into the air around an operation, the number of patients who died when operated on by Lister fell dramatically.
Alexander Fleming was a Scottish bacteriologist who discovered penicillin. His discovery came by accident when he noticed that some of the bacteria he was studying were disappearing on plates that had been contaminated with mould. Fleming then extracted a compound in the mould that was responsible for destruction of the bacterial groups and named it penicillin after the Penicillium mould from which it was derived. In 1940 penicillin was finally produced and used to cure wounded soldiers form gangrene in World War II. It has since has helped to save countless lives and prevent children from getting infections of the bone, stomach, and throat.
These monumental breakthroughs in our understanding of anatomy, biology and chemistry, helped pave the way for the development of complex medicines that can be used to successfully treat individuals suffering from minor and serious health complaints. Medicine is considered as one of the most important necessity to all of us, it is an area of the health sciences that helps maintain or restore human health through study, diagnosis, and treatment. It is also used to prevent disease and other damage to the body or mind. This branch of science covers treatment by drugs, diet, exercise and other nonsurgical means. The use of Laboratory medicines in hospitals has been vital for the development of healthcare, over the years it has helped to give relief to countless suffering patients, almost double life expectancy, and combat some of the most disastrous epidemics in recent history.
Despite advances laboratory medicine dating back to as early as the 17th century, some of the most significant inventions in medical technology did not arrive until the 1800’s (with the exception of the microscope and thermometer). Tools such as stethoscopes, sphygmomanometers and X-ray machines revolutionised medicine and were only the beginning of what was to come in terms of medical technology. The types of medical equipment produced in modern times are items such as ECG monitors, defibrillators, incubators, testing machines and products, pharmaceuticals, life support machines, pace makers, insulin pens, birth control, surgical instruments as well as hundreds of thousands of other medical products. Progress in this area has delivered new treatments and therapies to patients with an improved standard of medical care and diagnostic procedures on an unprecedented scale.
Thanks to the advancements in healthcare as discussed throughout this essay, medicine has gradually moved from the domain of the patient to the domain of doctor. In recent centuries doctors have transformed into trustworthy experts in medicine from a period in the 1800’s where they were essentially unqualified and continued to embrace the flawed teachings of Hippocrates and Galen. Todays doctors have the benefit of hundreds of years of reliable teachings and discoveries in medicine, as well as access to innovatory technology. Doctors can now spend up to decade studying and training before they are fully qualified in their field. With the aid of modern technology and this extensive period of education in medicine, their skill and expertise has been developed to a level way above that of the patient and understandably places them in a much higher position of trust.
As medical technology continues to grow and improve, the future of medicine is bright. Life expectancy and the standard of living in many developed countries has drastically improved into something that our ancestors could only be envious of. Many people around the world now live the majority of their lives free from serious illness and have access to possible treatments and cures if they do become sick. With scientists worldwide continuing to find cures for cancer, diabetes, blindness, and disability, medical technology will carry on providing the world with a healthier future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Online:
BBC. (Date unknown). Edward Jenner (1749 - 1823). Retrieved 21st May, 2012, from
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BBC (2009). Vesalius, Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery. Retrieved 20th, May 2012, from
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Lambert, T. (Date unknown). A Brief History of Medicine. Retrieved 20th May, 2012 from
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Other:
‘A Doctors guide to Ancient Greek Hippocratic medical practices. (A4 hand-out from Health Studies
lesson 16th May 2012).
‘Germ Theory’. (PowerPoint hand-out from Health Studies lesson 11th March 2012).
‘History of Dissection’. (PowerPoint hand-out from Health Studies lesson 14th March 2012).
‘History of Healthcare’. (PowerPoint hand-out from Health Studies lesson 7th March 2012).
‘History of Medical Technology’. (PowerPoint hand-out from Health Studies lesson 16th May 2012).
Platt, S. 2012, Class notes, Germ Theory, 2nd May 2012
Platt, S. 2012, Class notes, Dissection, 14th March 2012.
Platt, S. 2012, Class notes, History of Healthcare, lesson 29th February 2012.
Platt, S. 2012, Class notes, History of Healthcare, lesson 7th March 2012.
by
griffd85 (student)
