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History of medical treatments
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Who was the first to propose that an imbalance of body systems called humours caused most illness?
In the beginning of human history, serious diseases are believed to have supernatural origins, maybe a magical curse or a divine punishment! There are no doctors or hospitals to treat the sick. Instead, people heal themselves using plants. Many plants have medicinal properties… but others are toxic! Finding out what works is a process of trial and error.
That is how medicine is for thousands of years. By 2600 BCE there are people who specialise in medicine in Ancient Egypt. Imhotep is thought to have diagnosed over 200 different diseases in his lifetime! 2000 years later, a Greek physician named Hippocrates makes important advances. His most important idea is that diseases are the result of natural factors, not magic!
Hippocrates claims that there are four systems in the body called humours – blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. He believes that an imbalance of the humours causes most illness. The next big leap in medicine comes over a thousand years later. A Persian physician named Razi takes an approach to medicine based on evidence. To decide the location of a new hospital, he puts pieces of fresh meat in different parts of Baghdad.
Where the meat takes the longest to rot, he builds the hospital. Even at this time, Razi understands that the "invisible things" that cause meat to rot can cause illness, too. Not long after, another Persian named Ibn Sina, reaches a similar conclusion: invisible things cause illnesses! He finds that tuberculosis spreads from person to person in the air - it is contagious. He finds that contagious diseases can even spread through water and soil!
Despite this, in medieval times, many people don’t have any medical knowledge. Medicine is still mostly reliant on magic and herbs. Bleeding is seen as helpful to cure a wide range of conditions and balance the humours. It’s not surprising that many people die from unsafe medical treatment during this time. Towards the end of the 1500s, people begin gaining knowledge through experimentation.
It’s the Scientific Revolution. This new emphasis on research leads to more medical advancements. In 1796, British doctor Edward Jenner observes that people who were sick with cowpox in the past are immune to deadly smallpox. He uses this information to create the first vaccine developed against a contagious disease. The 1800s see many more advances, including the first use of safe medicines that can numb small areas - anaesthetics.
Operations can now be longer and more complicated. But… surgeons still don’t fully understand the connection between dirt and disease. They don’t know that they need to wear clean clothes or wash their operating instruments! So patients in long operations often get exposed to infections and die. Then, in 1840, a new theory about how diseases spread changes everything.
For about 2000 years, people have believed diseases are caused by the humours. But now, they are found to be caused by small organisms: germs. Germs are bacteria, but also fungi and viruses invisible to the human eye. Germ theory helps scientists make more vaccines, as well as to develop drugs that fight the disease-causing microbes. Surgery becomes safer with the discovery of blood types in 1901.
People who need to receive donated blood after an illness or injury are now able to have successful transfusions. Then, in 1928, scientists discover a new way to fight infections caused by bacteria. Antibiotics revolutionise how diseases are treated worldwide. Rapid technological advances quickly bring new kinds of equipment to medicine. Today, computers, x-rays, and ultrasound scans help us stay informed about our health and seek safe, reliable treatment.