Medical Milestones and Hippocratic Oath Quiz

History of Health Sciences

• Unit III covers the history of health sciences and the foundations of physiotherapy.

Prehistory (3 million years to 3000 BC)

• Life appeared on Earth around 3200 BC.
• Humans were nomadic.
• Systems of beliefs revolved around unpredictable spirits.
• Early understanding of functions of the body, aspects of illness, and of health.
• Evidence of prehistoric people suffering from conditions like clubfoot and diseases like leprosy.
• Early forms of healing and treatment existed based on observation of animal reactions and artistic expression such as cave paintings.
• Archaeologists study trepanation (creating holes in skulls) to understand their motives (curing disease or freeing spirits).
• Australian Aborigines had traditional healing practices that incorporated spiritual beliefs. They used various methods including wound care from encasing bones in mud, and incorporating communal knowledge about healing.

History (3000 BC to Nowadays)

• Organized into time intervals: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Ancient Age, Medieval, Modern Age, and Contemporary.
• Key milestones of the eras from 3 million years BC to the 21st century.
• Specific events include the development of agriculture, invention of writing, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the discovery of America, and the French Revolution.

Ancient Egypt (3000 BC – 500 BC)

• First great civilization in the world.
• Hieroglyphic writing started around 3200 BC.
• Developed medical care comparable to that of today.
• Mummification revealed knowledge about internal human organs.
• Developed the profession of medicine with a system of training and specialization.
• Two types of medicine occurred: Religious and empirical.
• Religious medicine was guided by priests, and contained divine punishment.
• Empirical medicine involved observation of the body and its functions, and the idea of organic disease. Specialists were known as wizards and physicians.
• Developed a medical theory on the heart as central to a system of 46 channels (or tubes) within the body.
• Used practices for first aid, such as stitching wounds, bandaging and employing herbal antiseptic agents.
• Public sanitation practices included baths, toilets, and personal cleanliness.
• Also performed simple surgical procedures.
• Physicians performed interviews, evaluations, and diagnosis.
• Developed the Edwin Smith surgical papyrus, a collection of anatomical injury observations and cures devoid of magical thinking.
• Imhotep was an important figure, considered the "Father of Medicine" and a celebrated doctor, priest, and architect.

Ancient Greece (800 BC - 300 BC)

• Transitioned from the magical-religious to the technical stage in medical understanding.
• They discarded magic and divine intervention explanations for illness.
• Develop natural explanations and causes for illness.
• Hippocratic medicine became prominent, emphasizing the theory of four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile).
• A balance among the humours signified health, and imbalance meant illness.
• Hippocrates, often referred to as the "Father of Medicine." emphasized dissections of corpses to study the workings of the human body.
• Practiced first aid techniques during wars.
• Doctors operated healing centers where they observed, diagnosed, and treated their patients.

Roman Hellenism

• Greek medical knowledge adopted by the Romans.
• Doctors in Rome were often Greek slaves but their skills were valued nevertheless.
• Galen (130-200 AD) was a prominent physician trained in Alexandria. He's considered the most important physician of the Roman Empire.
• Galen's anatomical studies of animals shaped some of his understanding although not all was accurate to the human body.
• Galen employed the four humors theory as cause of diseases.
• Significant contribution to military medicine with an approach to keeping troops healthy and fit. Methods of surgery and the use of antiseptics were explored, and surgical instruments were developed.
• Romans developed a public health system with innovative infrastructure, such as aqueducts (water supply), public toilets, and advanced sanitation systems.
• This helped prevent epidemics from spreading

Middle Ages (c. 5th century AD – c.15th century AD)

• Period of stagnation and ignorance in medicine relative to other periods.
• Communication was limited, which caused the loss of medicine and medical knowledge from previous civilizations.
• Disease was attributed to divine punishment or spells.
• Authority and superstition played a key role in medical practices.
• Loss of resources from small fiefdoms made it difficult to establish hospitals and universities.
• However, The School of Salerno and other Universities arose to establish empiricism and observation as a new tool in medicine.
• Contributions from Islamic scholars and physicians were translated into Arabic, which helped preserve and expand certain medical knowledge.
• The Islamic Golden Age (c. 8th to 13th centuries) saw tremendous medical advancements such as new treatments for diseases and improved medical books with ideas developed to treat illness and diagnose disease.
• The major figures of this time included Rhazes and Avicenna.
• They developed hospitals with features such as record keeping, and patient care methods, that anticipated future medical practice.

The Renaissance (1400 AD - 1750 AD)

• Renaissance meant an emphasis on the birth of learning.
• Printing technology facilitated the dissemination of information, including medical knowledge.
• Development of Trade and exchange brought universities and cities together, and led to the increase in knowledge.
• Medieval and Ancient philosophies reemerged from antiquity.
• Anatomy and surgery were advanced through scientific studies done on bodies.
• A great example of a scholar of this time is Leonardo da Vinci.
• New advancements in medicine included the study of human bodies and the study of their functions.
• Public health issues like the Black Plague of England occurred due to the lack of organized sanitation methods like water supplies and sewerage systems.
• The development of new tools such as surgical instruments and the discovery of X-Rays occurred during this period.
• Discoveries like the circulation of blood and the development of the smallpox vaccine began during this time.

17th and 18th Centuries

• Birth of scientific societies, and publication of medical journals.
• Medical understanding and the use of science improved public health throughout Europe.
• Age of Enlightenment encouraged a new approach to critical thinking and confidence in scientific investigation, improving the standardization of medical practices.

Social Medicine and Public Health (1750 onwards)

• Social medicine and public health arose.
• An understanding that disease could be linked with social factors and lifestyle.
• The identification that diseases had their roots in social factors such as hygiene, lifestyle, and living conditions.
• The focus shifted from just treating the illness to also improving the living conditions.
• The aim was to understand and prevent diseases by improving sanitation in places like prisons, hospitals, and factories.
• In addition, they understood how diseases related to work, such as occupational hazards in mining or factories.
• Key contributions to the field included the importance of better living conditions and a new understanding of hygiene.

19th and 20th centuries

• Advances in diagnosis, treatment and surgery, and in the fields of microbiology and bacteriology.
• Notable figures include Matthias Jakob Schleiden and Robert Koch.
• Advances in medicine included advancements in antisepsis, and the discovery of anesthesia by Joseph Lister.

20th Century

• Explosion of scientific understanding in medical technology.
• Increased role of public health and development of hospitals, and new treatments for diseases that took hold earlier in the century.
• Advances in medicine in the field of surgery, with new understanding of the human body, and new surgical techniques such as open-heart surgery, transplantation and advances in surgery including cataract surgery, hip replacements, and the transplant of lungs and livers.
• Important figures introduced new practices, and their discoveries resulted in new treatments for a variety of conditions.
• The period also introduced a new understanding of the human being as a "bio-psycho-social" one, and included the role of emotions and psychology on health.
• New approaches to healthcare shifted focus to disease prevention and to improving quality of life.

20th and 21st Centuries

• Continued development and improvements in medical technology, such as insulin, antibiotics, the polio vaccine, and advancements in surgical techniques.
• Recognition of chronic and degenerative diseases, along with autoimmune diseases as key medical challenges which required comprehensive strategies and treatment methods.
• Development of medical specialties within the larger health care system.

Test your knowledge on significant medical advancements and the principles of the Hippocratic Oath. Questions cover key historical figures, important medical discoveries, and ethical practices in medicine. Challenge yourself and explore the history of healthcare.