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A revolution in medicine II - Coggle Diagram
A revolution in medicine II
Antiseptic and aseptic surgery
Anaesthetics
Simpson
Discovered that chloroflorm could be used as an anaesthetic
Chance discovery
Impact
Helped make surgery safer
Less people died during surgery
People were less reluctant to undergo surgery, so more people could be treated
A substance that makes people unable to feel pain
Key dates
1536 - Pare uses turpentine to clean wounds on battlefields
1854 - Nightinglae begins to influence standards to cleaning in hospitals
1863 - Nightingale publishes Notes on Hospitals in whcih she talks about cleanliness in hospitals
1865 - Lister begins using carbolic acid on surgical instruments to cover wounds, drastically reducing deaths among his patients
Antiseptics are substances that prevent the growth of germs, preventing infection
Aspectic surgery is where germs are prevented from getting near patients
Lister
Introduced new ideas on cleanliness in surgery
Introduced sterile surgery as many people died of infection
Started using carbolic acid to cover wounds and spray on instruments after reading Pasteur's Germ theory
His ideas were spread and infection rates droppped greatly
Showed that germ theory was correct and patients could be saved with attention to cleanliness
War
Battlefield surgeons used these techniques with success in the Crimean War and later in WW1
Showed sceptical doctors that the techniques were valid and could reduce loss of patients through pain and infection
Industrial Britain
Impact of Industrial revolution
Population grew, more pople living in towns than in the countrtyisde
Wages were low, hours were long
People worked in dangerous conditions
Causes of disease
By 19th century most widely believed theory about the cause of disease was still miasma
Many medieval ideas
Public health measures were based on miasma, they still had some effect, because they focused on making towns cleaner
Epidemics
Frequent deadly waves of epidemics
Influenz, Cholera and smallpox
Medieval public health
Crowded conditions spread disease
No sewers
Water came from streams contaminated with waste
Towns were very dirty and smelt bad
Councils did try to clean up towns
19th centry public health
Still overcrowded towns
Still no sewer systems
Short supply of clean water
Regular disease outbreaks
Government took a laissez-faire (leave it alone) attitude
Government involvement
Reasons for change
Pre 1940, government didn't interfere with situaitons
Epidemics - people demanded actions following a deadly cholera outbreak in 1847
Extension of the franchise - more people voting put pressure on the government
1848 Public health Act
1st govt public health act
End of laissez-faire approach
Created Board of Health and encouraged setting up of local Boards of Health
Appointed medical officers, porvide sewers, inspect houses and check that food for sale was fit for humans
Not much action taken, wasn't compulsory
1875 Public health act
Bringing together of number of Acts covering clean water, improvements to housing and control of disease
Local authorities now had to appoint medical officers to oversee public health
Local authorities were required to arrange for sweres to be maintained and to supply fresh water and rubbish collection
Other acts
1834 Poor Law Amendmenr Act - appointing medical officers to provide basic medical care for very Poor
1853 Compulsory vaccination - smallpox vaccine was made mandatory, no one was there to inforce it
1855 Nuisance Removal act - trying to make overcrowded housing illegal
1864 Factory Act - aimed at improving conditions in factories
1866 Sanitary Act - Local authorities had to take responsibility for seweage and clean water
1871 Vaccination act - backed up 1853 act
Public health reformers
Cholera
Arrived in Britain in 1831
Disease spread through cramped and dirty towns
Outbreak of 1848 was an agent for change as people demanded something to be done, forcing the government to react
Government introduced Public health Acts to imporve living conditions and people's health
Caused by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water, causes diarrhoea
John snow
Worked out that 1854 cholrea outbreak was caused by contaminated water by recording deaths
Showed that they were centered around one particular pump, and that cholrea was waterbourne
Bazalgette
Great stink of 1858 was when untreated waste in the Thames created an unbearable smell
Great stink along with cholera outbreaks meant that the waste problem couldn't be ignored
Bazalgette engineered a huge sewage system to remove waste out to the sea
Example of how technology impacted public health
Chadwick
Wrote a report on living conditions
Showed the link between poor living conditions and disease
Inspired 1848 Public health act
William Farr
Idea of medical statistics
Set up a system of recoridng the causes of deaths
People could better understand the public health problems that led to people dying
His work was vital in helping Snoq prove cholera came from water