Medical Advances In The 19th Century Essay

Improved Essays
There were many health problems in the nineteenth century. Most of them resulted from poor health practices and less-advanced medical treatments. Many diseases we can now treat today were deadly back then. There were many medical practices that did not help the patient, instead making the disease worse, sometimes even killing the patient. There were lots of diseases and problems people in the nineteenth century caught. Some of the most common caught were smallpox (a highly contagious life threatening virus caused by Variola marked by small dots on the skin), fever, cholera (a bacterial disease related to drinking water), diphtheria, tuberculosis and measles. Smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles are all communicable diseases. …show more content…
The invention of anesthesia was a huge step in medical advancement. It allowed for more intense surgeries to be performed. Results from patients under anesthesia were mixed. Before it was known that dirty equipment was dangerous, many patients frequently died from infections caused by surgeries performed with unsterile tools. Over time, more tools and surgeries were invented and innovated.

Some other treatments that were a cause of advancements come from later practices in later times. Starting in 1850s France, Louis Pasteur created a basis of germ theory, based off of micro-bacterial organisms. This changed the way pathology and surgery worked, forever. His work led to the introduction of antiseptic procedures. The death rate of infections fell greatly, and with anesthesia; it enabled surgeons to work more slowly and carefully. An even greater discovery, X-Ray had taken place during 1895 Germany.

So as you can see, medicine in the nineteenth century was very different and more unusual. There were many diseases that are now curable today. The ones that were curable back then were cured very poorly, and sometimes the “cures” harmed the patient more than the disease did. Even now we have better and cleaner environments so we don’t get sick as often. Overall, health and medicine has really changed from the nineteenth century compared to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Ww1 Unit 1 Research Paper

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages

    People of the medical fields were inspired and started improving everything they could get their hands…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the 19th century the industrialization and immigration led to overcrowding in poor housing areas. These poor housing areas were served by inadequate or nonexistent public water supplies and waste-disposal systems. These conditions resulted in repeated outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, TB, typhoid fever, influenza, yellow fever, and malaria. By 1900, the occurrence of many of these diseases had begun to decline because of public health improvements. Health improvements of…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot, Award-Winning Science Writer Harland Howell II 11/16/2017 Northeast Mississippi Community College Dr. Tabatha Perrigo (Psychology) Abstract Overall, medicinal research made an intriguing breakthrough over than 50 years ago by obtaining tissue samples and cells from a patient that changed the medical world drastically. Cancer of course was and still is an occurring issue today in society but prior to the past, there was more of an epidemic due to the unawareness and lack of medical research in the early 20th century.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Scientific Revolution Dbq

    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages

    For centuries, great minds have examined the debate of the Reformation, Scientific Advancement and Explorers between the 16th and 18th centuries. Many events occurred such as, The Heliocentric Theory which was first introduced by Nicholaus Copernicus. He believed that all the planets and stars did not revolve around the earth which is geocentric but instead around the sun. Later, in 1628, William Harvey discovered the function of the heart as a pump and the process in which blood circulates throughout our bodies. All of these events contribute to the idea that the Scientific Revolution impacted our world greatly and helped to advance our knowledge.…

    • 1510 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    During the Antebellum period medicine was largely primitive and unsophisticated and unlike modern medicine today, much of the medical procedures doctors relied on then were unscientific. Many doctors at that time still followed primitive methods of curing illness, that dated back to medieval times. As examples, doctors still practiced procedures such as bloodletting, and herbal healing. Not only did these procedures not work, they also illustrated an inherent lack of medical knowledge and understanding of public health procedures. There was also no real public health system.…

    • 1281 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In my student selected novel, “Fever, 1793”, many different events took place that wouldn’t happen in today's time. The biggest being the Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia. It was widespread and grew like wildfire across Mattie’s hometown. The citizens had a hard time getting rid of the fever. Not until the frost came did the death count go down along with the number of people getting sick.…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Insulin In The 1920s Essay

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages

    ”2 .Those are the reasons why the advancement of medicine was the most important aspect of the 1920s, as well as the one that made the biggest mark on the era for the entire…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There was also a lot of illnesses going around . The most common were dysentery, measles, smallpox, pneumonia,…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Medicine is the scientific practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, this encompasses a mixture of natural health remedies using herbs and transmutation of various ingredients including noble metals like silver and gold. Throughout history, societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. In early history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, adverse astral influence, or the will of the gods! Some of the earliest records of medicine have been found ranging from ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Ayurvedic (the Indian subcontinent), classical Chinese (before what we now know as traditional Chinese Medicine), ancient Greek and Roman. It is critical for everyone to understand…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After reviewing the historical events of health care, these are the three events I believe to be the most significant in health care in today’s society. First, In the 17th century William Harvey came up with the theory of blood circulation. “Vehemently opposed at first, this discovery led to the realization that medications could be injected into the circulatory system, and blood could be transfused.” (Mitchell & Haroun) 2012. This is used still used today.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Muslims made many advancements that would shape the world into what it is today and also help improve the quality of life during their time period and some of these advancements were in the medical, mathematical, scientific, and communication fields. The Islamic culture had many achievements that were the bases for some of the technology and resources that we use today. Some of their achievements came in the medical field and are mentioned when it says “Rulers wanted qualified physicians treating their ills” (Document 1) which shows why some of these advancements were made. During this time period the average life span was a third of what is today and rulers wanted to be able to be in power longer which meant new ideas in the medical field…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “William Harvey: A Life in Circulation”, Thomas Wright asserts that people in the medical field in 1639 disfavour revolutionary ideas when the fundamental principles of medicine are laid and highly valued, and displays William Harvey’s conflict with the hostile critique of his peers and struggles for approval of his controversial theory that opposes all traditional medical practices known in the year 1639. Wright introduces the story in the theatre at the University of Altdorf in Nuremberg, Germany, where physician William Harvey explicitly demonstrates his theory of blood circulation in living organisms that the blood travels through the body in a circular motion. Wright gives a brief description of Harvey, describing him as an energetic…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    During the 1700s, in the Colonial period, the practice of medicine was primitive, as was the healthcare provided to the early settlers. During this time “heroic medicine” was practiced. Aggressive treatments such as bleeding, purging, and blistering occupied a central place in therapeutics. Different philosophies (Western medicine and Native American medicine) were making it difficult for doctors to command the authority they desired. It was very easy to become a doctor during this period, anyone could claim to be a doctor.…

    • 1076 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Moving into the new millennium, the field of medicine has a history that has allowed it to grow to what we see now in the modern day. Different advancement in evolutionary biology, biomedical science and/or medical technology has allowed physicians to better diagnose and treat their patients since the beginning of the professional practice of medicine. Evolutionary biology has allowed medical practitioners and public health specialists the understanding of the physiological basis of how diseases are develop and provided them the appreciation of why human diseases arise. While the continuous development of technology plays an important role in the healthcare field now and in the future.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Mental Health Vs Nature

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Human beings have always used Mother Nature as an object for healing. Before there was synthetic medication, like penicillin, people turned to the natural world for antidotes to remedy what was considered to be abnormal. The world of medicine was split into two as synthetic drugs emerged; one was western medicine, where synthetic drugs are highly utilized, and the other was eastern medicine, where natural remedies still dominate. Treatments for mental illnesses today are mostly dealt with by using the western medicine approach, but what if nature itself is a cure or a factor that can alleviate the symptoms of these illnesses? Before the urbanization of the world, exposure to nature was a daily occurrence for people. As the years…

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays