How important for the prevention of disease was Edward Jenner’s discovery of the smallpox vaccination in 1796? Edward Jenner took the first step in understanding and preventing infectious diseases by developing a smallpox vaccination in the year 1796. This was important as he saved many lives with this new discovery and improved previous methods of preventing disease. Future scientists such as Pasteur and Koch were also able to use Jenner’s work to develop vaccinations for other serious illnesses. However, it was also a limited discovery because it merely tackled one disease and his idea was only gradually accepted by other doctors.
The Renaissance is famous for discoveries in science, geography and art. There were also breakthroughs in medicine but, by 1700, people were no healthier than in the Middle Ages. However it was still a very important period in medical history as it led to new and exciting discoveries about the human body that would help in the future. Some famous people from the Renaissance were; Leonardo da Vinci (taught young artists how to draw and drew very detailed sketches of the human body, however, he never published his work), Johannes Gutenburg (invented the printing press in the 1450’s), Andreas Vesalius (made new discoveries about the anatomy of the human body), William Harvey (discovered that blood circulates around the body) and Ambroise Pare (pioneered new surgical methods for treating gunshot wounds and stopping bleeding). The Renaissance is an important period because of discoveries about anatomy thanks to Andreas Vesalius.
Although in medical references authors consider the Egyptians as outstanding physicians and attentive embalmers they have not received much of public recognition. It was not until the 20th century, when historians translated the medical papyri written by ancient physicians, that Egypt's vast anatomical findings publically known. Having developed a system of writing, enabled ancient Egyptians chronicled a tremendous amount of their knowledge and experience on papyrus. The papyri that have depicted what ancient Egypt knew about anatomy were the Edwin Smith papyrus (1700 B.C.) and the George Ebers papyrus (1500 B.C.).
This relates back to the 1900s where surgery was still a little risky due to the lack of antibiotics. So now surgery was definitely less risky, and would even be safer when penicillin was discovered later on. This decade was also when medications started being used for the relief of pain. This decade was very important because more antiseptics and cleanliness of the hospital meant less germs, and better hygiene for the healthcare workers. Medical Exhibit 3 In the 1920s penicillin was discovered.
He also looked into Leeuwenhoek discovery of bacteria and approved it. The last important thing he did was be the first person to observe fossils with a microscope. Antony van Leeuwenhoek was a very skilled microscope inventor. Even though compound microscopes were in his time, they could only magnify 20 to 30 times, but because of his lens grinding skills, good eye site, and precise lighting where he worked, he was able to create microscopes that magnified over 200 times. One of the most significant discoveries that Leeuwenhoek made was bacteria.
This meant that surgery became pain free. This also resulted in fewer patients dying from shock. The introduction of anaesthetics such as chloroform also led to surgeons being able to take more time over operations and work deeper inside the body. New operations could be developed that saved more lives. Source A shows how
The most commonly performed robot-assisted cardiac procedure today is a mitral valve repair or replacement (Bush, Nifong & Chitwood, 2013). This procedure was first performed in 1998, while using an early model of the Da Vinci surgical tool. Patients have noted less pain, shorter length of stay, and a significantly quicker recovery time as benefits of this procedure. Robotic urologic surgery is used to treat conditions like prostate cancer, kidney cancer, and testicular cancer. Because it is minimally invasive, the precision of robotic technology is ideal for delicate and intricate urologic surgeries.
Obviously we imported these things from England before the war and now they have been cut off. The Continental army was able to get some drugs via the West Indies. Although American doctors relied on the so-called heroic remedies of emetics, purges, and bleeding in the treatment of patients, they were inclined by necessity to use simpler remedies that utilized native herbs. (Risch 1981) The principle drugs used by physicians during the revolution were jalap, ipecac, calomel, and opium. Because many imported drugs were scarce and expensive, physicians made great use of native plants valuable for their medicinal qualities.
In 1930 he won the annual prize in neuroanatomy and was elected to Alpha Phi Omega, the school's honorary medical society. During this time, under the influence of Dr. John Beattie, a visiting professor from England, Drew began his research in blood transfusions. The four different types of blood had recently been discovered. Doctors knew what type of blood they were giving to patients and were avoiding the negative effects of mixing incompatible blood types. However, because whole blood was highly perishable, the problem of having the appropriate blood type readily available still existed.
The reason this makes Koch so important is because if he hadn’t investigated Anthrax using Pasteur’s theory, the germ theory may never have caught on leaving people to believe false theories for much longer. Koch helped the advancement of medicine and life expectancy take a big step forward. Koch used very interesting methods that enabled him to research bacteria much easier than what other scientists researching the subject could. He used certain ways of staining bacteria so they could be photographed; he did this by using dyes such as methyl violet. He also discovered a way of growing bacteria on potatoes rather than in water, meaning they were easier to see and study, as the solid particles didn’t move, unlike the loose water molecules which moved along with the bacteria.