400 BC
scientifically as German psychiatrist Emil
Hippocrates- Greek physician, one of the
most outstanding figures in the istory of
medicine.
Hippocrates uses the term “karcinos” to
describe tumors.
Karcinos evolved into cancer.
Mental disorders are understood as
diseases rather than symptoms of demonic
possession or signs of hving displeased the
gods.
AD 2nd Century
Galen- Greek physician, surgeon and
philosopher in the Roman Empire
Galen describes surgical treatments for
breast cancer, which include removing
early-stage tumors.
Surgeries are brutal and often fatal.
1100s
Variolation- first method used to immunize
a person against smallpox (variola)
Variolation Technique is developed,
involving the inoculation of children and
adults with dried scab material recovered
from smallpox patients.
1500s
English barbers and surgeons perform
tooth-extracions and blood letting.
Blood letting- treatment for pneumonia.
1700s
Edward Jenner publishes his work on the
development of a vaccination that would
protect against smallpox.
1800s
1818: Human blood is transfused from one
person to another for the first time.
1846: Anesthesia becomes widely available,
helping expand options for surgery.
1883: Mental illness is studied more
Kraeplelin distinguishes mental disorders.
1885:The first successful appendectomy is
performed in lowa.
Treatment for appendecitis.
1889: William halsted develops the radical
mastectomy to treat breast cancer; the
technique includes the surgical removal of
the tumor, breast, overlying skin and
muscle.
1890: Chemical agents are used to minimize
germs.
1895: Welhrm Conrad Roentgen invents X-
rays. Radiation therapy follows. The first X-
ray is performed in Germany.
1900s
Primary treatments of neurotic mental
disordes, and sometimes psychosis, are
psychoanalytical therapies developed by
Sigmund Freud and others.
1914: Typhoid and Rabies vaccines first
licensed in the US; tetanus toxoid is
introduced.
Recommended during childhood. Tetanus is
an illness that can cause convulsions.
1919: Chemotherapy is born.
1922: Insulin is first used for treatment of
diabetes, allowing diabetics to survive after
diagnosis.
1928: Antibiotics dramatically decrease
post-surgical infections.
1937: The first blood bank opens, helping
make more surgey possible by treating
bleeding during the procedure.
1943: Penicillin becomes mass produced.
Group of antibiotics.
1947: Chemotherapy records its first,
though temporary, success with the
remission of a pediatric leukemia patient.
1949: Austrilia pschiatrist J.F.F. Cade
introduces the use of lithium to treat
psychosis. Lithium gains wide usage in the
mid-1960’s to treat those with manic
depression, now known as bippolar 1970s
disorder.
1972: The development of computed
tomography (CT) revolutionizes radiology.
1950s CT Scan- diagnostic imaging used to create
detailed images of internal organs, bones,
1950: John Hopps invents the cardiac
soft tissue, and blood vessels.
pacemaker.
1978: A baby conceived via in-vitro
CP- medical device that generates electrical
fertilization is born.
impulses delivered by electrodes to cause
the heart muscle chambers to contract and
therefore to pump blood.
1980s
Findings related to DNA give rise to
1981: FDA aproves the first vaccine against
molecular biology.
hepatitis B, one of the rimary causes of liver
A series of sucessful anti-psychotic drugs cancer.
are introduced that do not cure psychosis
1982: The Jarvik-7 artificial heart is used.
but control its symptoms.
In National Museum
A new type of surgery, behavior therapy,
suggest that people with phobias can be 1985: The first documented robotic surgery
trained to overcome them. is performed.
1953: A heart-lung bypass machine is used Use of machines guided by doctors to
successfully for the first time. perform surgical procedures
Cardiopulmonary bypass- technique that 1986: Prozac is developed to treat various
takes over the function of the heart and mental illnesses.
lungs during surgey.
1955: The first polio vccine is licensed
1990s
pioneered by Dr. Jonas Salk.
Overall cancer death rates begin to fall.
Polio- virus that can result to spinal cord
and brainstem paralysis. A new generation of anti-pyschotic drugs is
introduced. Proven to be more effective.
1957: William Grey Walter invents the brain
EEG topography (toposcope).
Electroencephalogram- to determine 2000s
presence of tumors and focal disease
The FDA approves Gleevec, the first drug to
target a specific gene mutation.
1960s 2003: The sequence of a complete human
genome is published.
Many seriously mentally ill people are
removed from institutions. Drop from 560k 2006: A vaccine is developed to prevent
to just over 130k in 1980. cervical cancer due to human
papillomavirus.
1964: A US surgeon general’s report
establishes an undeniable link between
smoking and cancer.
1967: A heart transplant is performed by
South African physician Christian Barnard.
The heart recipient survied 18 days until
succumbing to pneumonia.