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Evil spirits, we believed we got sick because evil spirits attacked us.
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They were superstitious and called upon the God to heal them. They used medicine to heal diseases and learned the art of splinting fractures.
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Digitalis comes from the foxglove plant, Quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree, Belladonna and atropine are made from the poisonous nightshade plant, and Morphine is made from the opioid poppy.
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Egyptians were the earliest people to keep accurate health records. Physicians are priests who acted as them. And thy healed by using medicines to heal diseases, learned the art of splinting fractures and treated disorders by bloodletting with the use of leeches.
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These early medical pioneers learned to treat a variety of illness and disease with stone tools. Their methods eventually developed into the advanced practice of Chinese Acupuncture.
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They found that some disease was caused by lack of sanitation and the Romans learned from the Greeks and developed a sanitation system. They built sewers to carry off waste and they also built public baths with filtering systems. The Romans were the first to organize medical care. Roman physicians kept a room in their houses for the ill. This was the beginning of hospitals.
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When the Roman Empire was conquered by the Huns, the study of medical science stopped because the Church believed that life and death were in Gods hands, the monks and priests had no interest in how the body functioned.
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The primary treatment was prayer. Medication consisted of herbal mixtures, and care was custodial.
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They were the first to determine that illnesses may have natural, rather than spiritual causes. Religious custom did not allow bodies to be dissected. Hippocrates based his knowledge of anatomy and physiology on observation of the external body.
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Terrible epidemics caused millions of deaths during this period.
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There were many developments during this period. The building of universities and medical schools for research, The acceptance of dissection of the body for study, and The development of the printing press and the publishing of books, allowing greater access to knowledge from reserch.
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Leonardo Da Vinci studied and recorded the anatomy of the body
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Gabriele Fallopius discovered the fallopian tubes of the female anatomy.
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Bartolommeo Eustachio Discovered the tube leading from the ear to the throat. (Eustachio tube)
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William Harvey used his knowledge to understand physiology, and he was able to describe the circulation o blood and the pumping of the heart.
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Antonie von Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope, establishing that there is life smaller than the eye can see.
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Apothecaries, early pharmacies, started in this time. In medieval England, thee apothecaries engaged in a flourishing trade in drugs and spices the the East.
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Benjamin Franklin’s discoveries affect us in many ways. His discoveries include bifocals, and he found that colds could be passes form person to person.
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Students not only attended lectures in the classroom and laboratory, but also observed patients at the bedside. When a patient died, they dissected the body and were able to observe the disease process.
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Joseph Priestley discovered the element oxygen. He also observed that plants refresh air that has lost oxygen, making git usable for respiration.
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Edward Jenner discovered a method of vaccination for smallpox. Smallpox killed many people in epidemics. His discovery saved millions of lives.
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René Laënnec invented the stethoscope. The first stethoscope was made of wood. It increased the ability to hear the heart and lungs.
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Ignaz Semmelweis identified the cause of childbed fever. Large numbers of women died from this fever after giving birth.
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Florence Nightingale attracted well-educated, dedicated women to the Nightingale school of Nursing. The graduates from this school raised the standers of nursing, and nursing became a respectable profession.
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Louis Pasteur Known as the “Father of Microbiology,” discovered that tiny microorganisms were everywhere. Through his experiments and studies, he proved that microorganisms cause diesease.
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Dmitri Ivanovski discovered that some diseases are caused by microorganisms that cannot be seen with a microscope. They are called viruses.
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Joseph Lister learned about Pasteur's discovery that microorganisms cause infection. He became the first doctor to use an antiseptic during surgery.