19th and 20th Century Medicine
From the time of the Medieval Era to the 1800s, there had been a myriad of autopsies, medical innovations, and medical instruments that revealed a much further understanding of the anatomy of the human body. However, little was known about biochemistry, and the processes of the nervous and endocrine system. Victorian medicine was largely different from previous periods of medicine due to the secular viewpoint, and the idea that the causes of disease and sickness were due to inherited susceptibility, and environmental factors. Therefore, there was much more success in treating medical illnesses. In 1796, Edward Jenner invented the first vaccine by injecting a patient with a serum of cowpox, a lesser form of smallpox. The patient got a mild cold, but recovered, now immune to smallpox. Jenner discovered that by exposing a patient to a wide variety of antigens, the patient became immune to them , now that their lymphocytes were able to recognize the different molecules that were characteristic of that specific disease.
There were tremendous advancements in surgery due to Humphry Davy's discovery of the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide. Although Humphry himself did not administer nitrous oxide to anyone, the use of nitrous oxide during surgery became rather common several years after his discovery. Now that patients were able to be put under during surgery, free from pain, many more procedures were now possible. Not only were longer procedures able to be performed, but more intrusive procedures as well, with the help of newer technologies.
Forceps, while very simple in concept, were a huge innovation in medicine. Foreceps are an extremely versatile tool during surgery, used to hold or position tissues, clamp blood flow, hold skin together while stitching, or taking stitches out. Essentially, they can be used whenever a small object is needed to be grasped, or when many objects need to be held at one time. Scalpels were extremely helpful in making clean, precise cuts during surgery. Many different variations of knives have been used throughout medical history, the scalpel is shaped to easily cut into tissue, but has edges that gently guide the blade. The result of these innovations is surgery that is not only more efficient, but less risky.
The 18th century was also the beginning of the study of microbiology, as scientists such as Louis Pasteur discovered how microscopic organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protists, and prions interact with the human body. In 1870, Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch established the Germ Theory of Disease, stating that a specific disease is caused by a specific organism, and that not cleansing the body of the disease allows it to be passed onto others. This concepts was unheard of at the time, but lead to the usage of Joseph Lister's discoveries about aseptic technique in the operating room. Lister argues that tools and equipment should be sterilized before operations; his discovery decreased the deaths of surgical infections from 60% to 4%.
The 20th century brought many new innovations due to the increased understanding of biochemistry. The successes of this time period were due to a deeper knowledge about physiology in the body, and the interactions between macromolecules. Karl Landsteiner's research on the antigens of blood cells causes them to destroy other blood types if introduced, creating the ABO blood type system. Landsteiner's research allowed the first successful blood transfusion in 1907. In 1922, the work of Frederick Banting and Robert Best allowed bovine insulin to be injected and used to treat diabetics, since the gene sequence was similar enough in both organisms to function.
1953 was a turning point in medical history; a beginning to many different discoveries and advancements in genetics thanks to the description of DNA. James Watson and Francis Crick discovered that DNA was composed of nucleotides, as well as a nucleoside. The nucleotides are made of nitrogenous bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The variations in DNA sequence determine the phenotype of that individual. It is this discovery that would promote many other vaccines to diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox. Understanding how viruses disrupt a host cell's DNA sequence was critical in developing the according vaccines for them. Since this discovery, the field of medical research has changed immensely, allowing microbiologists to identify bacteria according to gene sequence, and create a proper response to them.
There were tremendous advancements in surgery due to Humphry Davy's discovery of the anesthetic properties of nitrous oxide. Although Humphry himself did not administer nitrous oxide to anyone, the use of nitrous oxide during surgery became rather common several years after his discovery. Now that patients were able to be put under during surgery, free from pain, many more procedures were now possible. Not only were longer procedures able to be performed, but more intrusive procedures as well, with the help of newer technologies.
Forceps, while very simple in concept, were a huge innovation in medicine. Foreceps are an extremely versatile tool during surgery, used to hold or position tissues, clamp blood flow, hold skin together while stitching, or taking stitches out. Essentially, they can be used whenever a small object is needed to be grasped, or when many objects need to be held at one time. Scalpels were extremely helpful in making clean, precise cuts during surgery. Many different variations of knives have been used throughout medical history, the scalpel is shaped to easily cut into tissue, but has edges that gently guide the blade. The result of these innovations is surgery that is not only more efficient, but less risky.
The 18th century was also the beginning of the study of microbiology, as scientists such as Louis Pasteur discovered how microscopic organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protists, and prions interact with the human body. In 1870, Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch established the Germ Theory of Disease, stating that a specific disease is caused by a specific organism, and that not cleansing the body of the disease allows it to be passed onto others. This concepts was unheard of at the time, but lead to the usage of Joseph Lister's discoveries about aseptic technique in the operating room. Lister argues that tools and equipment should be sterilized before operations; his discovery decreased the deaths of surgical infections from 60% to 4%.
The 20th century brought many new innovations due to the increased understanding of biochemistry. The successes of this time period were due to a deeper knowledge about physiology in the body, and the interactions between macromolecules. Karl Landsteiner's research on the antigens of blood cells causes them to destroy other blood types if introduced, creating the ABO blood type system. Landsteiner's research allowed the first successful blood transfusion in 1907. In 1922, the work of Frederick Banting and Robert Best allowed bovine insulin to be injected and used to treat diabetics, since the gene sequence was similar enough in both organisms to function.
1953 was a turning point in medical history; a beginning to many different discoveries and advancements in genetics thanks to the description of DNA. James Watson and Francis Crick discovered that DNA was composed of nucleotides, as well as a nucleoside. The nucleotides are made of nitrogenous bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The variations in DNA sequence determine the phenotype of that individual. It is this discovery that would promote many other vaccines to diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox. Understanding how viruses disrupt a host cell's DNA sequence was critical in developing the according vaccines for them. Since this discovery, the field of medical research has changed immensely, allowing microbiologists to identify bacteria according to gene sequence, and create a proper response to them.