Topic 4 (Advances in medical knowledge)

• How did a patients urine help to make a diagnosis in the middle ages?

  Urine samples were matched against a colour on a urine chart and a Witten description for that colour, this helped pysicians to make a diagnosis
• What is astrology?


  The study of the planets and how they might influence peoples lives
• what is the valemecum?

  A book consulted by astrologists which contained the signs of the zodiac and 'zodiac man' charts.
• What did astrologists do in the middle ages?


  By consulting the zodiac chart and the position of the stars, they could work out which treatments could be used on certain parts of the body at that time
• The theory of the four humours

  Developed by ancient Greek and roman doctors

  Stated that the body contained four important liquids called humours

  Stated that if the four humours stayed in a balance then a person would remain healthy, however if the humours were imbalanced then a person would become ill
• Treatments related to the four humour theory

  Treatments required removing excess liquid by making the patient bleed or vomit to balance the humours
• Blood


  Spring - caused blood to increase causing dysentery and nose bleeds
• Yellow bile


  Summer - yellow bile increased and led to fevers and vomiting
• Black bile


  Autumn - Black bile would increase causing stomach pains
• Phlegm


  Winter - Phlegm increased causing colds
• When was there a 'Renaissance' in learning and science?

  16th century
• Andreas Vesalius


  Professor of anatomy at Padua University in Italy

  Worked with renaissance artists dissecting corpses so he could understand human anatomy

  In 1543 he published his book 'The fabric of the human body which contained detailed anatomical drawings

  His insistence on dissection of humans introduced new scientific methods of enquiry and helped further medical knowledge
• Ambroise Pare 


  Army surgeon

  He experimented and discovered that wounds healed quicker if covered with bandages and the ends of arteries were tied using silk thread called ligatures

  In 1562, he published his book 'Five books of surgery' and in 1575 he published his book 'The collected works of surgery' which provided the latest research on amputations, setting fractures and the treatments of wounds
• What was the treatment for battle wounds?

  To cauterize them with boiling oil and bleeding was stopped after amputation by sealing the arteries with a hot iron
• William Harvey


  • Studied medicine in Cambridge and Padua universities
  • Became a doctor and then a lecturer in anatomy
  • Believed in the importance of observation and experimentation to increase his knowledge
• Harvey's discovery


  1. Dissected live animals to study the movement of the muscles in the heart

  2. Disproved the theory that blood was consumed by the body

  3. Proved that blood flowed around the body and it was carried away from the heart in arteries and returned to the heart in veins

  4. Proved heart acted as a pump
• Harvey published his findings in a book called 'An anatomical account of the motion of the heart and blood in animals'


  1628
• What theory did doctors believe in the early 19th century?

  The theory of spontaneous generation - that poisonous miasmas given off by decaying material were blown around causing disease to spread
• What led to the discovery of micro-organisms?

  Improvements in microscopes
• When was the link of micro-organisms to the spread of disease made?

  late 19th century
• Louis Pasteur


  Carried out scientific research at French universities before being appointed professor of chemistry at the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1867
• Pasteurization


  1. He discovered boiling liquid killed harmful germs

  2. It was soon used to stop milk turning sour and wine going bad
• Germ theory


  He believed that microbes in the air caused decay so he carried out experiments and in 1861 he published his 'germ theory'
• Vaccines


  1. In 1879, he took the germ that caused chicken cholera and injected chickens with a weakened form, which prevented them from catching chicken cholera

  2. He did the same for Anthrax in 1881 and Rabies in 1885
• Robert Koch


  German doctor who furthered the work of Pasteur
• Robert Koch


  • He could link a particular germ or microbe to a particular disease
• Robert Koch's study of anthrax

  1. In 1872, he began a study

  2. By 1875, from studying the blood of unaffected animals, he had identified the bacterium that caused anthrax
• Robert Koch's study of blood poisoning

  1. In 1878, he did the same

  2. He stained the microbe purple so it could be seen under a microscope
• Robert Koch's work


  1. He developed a solid culture on which to breed colonies of germs

  2. He later identified the tuberculosis germ and cholera germ
• Robert Koch proved that a specific germ caused a particular disease
• The German government set up the 'Institute of infectious disease' in Berlin in 1891 due to Koch's work
• Robert Koch won the Nobel prize in 1905 for his research
• Paul Ehrlich


  Developed Salvarsan 606 as a treatment for Syphilis

  Salvarsan 606 became known as the 'magic bullet' as it was designed to target a specific germ
• Dr J.W Power


  Medical officer of health for Ebbw Vale

  Set up courses in bacteriology to train doctors in germ theory

  In 1898 opened a public health laboratory in Cardiff to study bacteriology
• The bonesetters of Wales and the foundation of orthopaedics

  Thomas Rocyn Jones - in his medical practice in Rhymney, he experimented in new methods of setting bones and developing new wooden splints with a foot piece to help treat fractures and muscle injuries
• The bonesetters of Wales and the foundation of orthopaedics


  Evan Thomas - specialized in the treatment of bone and joint disease

  His son Hugh Owen Thomas designed and manufactured his own splints. He developed the 'Thomas Splint' to stablizie fracture of the femur

  The nephew of Hugh Owen Thomas, Sir Robert Jones became a lecturer in orthopaedic surgery at Liverpool University and during the first world War he became Inspector of Military Orthopaedics

  He is known as the 'father of orthopaedics'
• Discovery of the X-rays

  Wilhelm Rontgen, professor of physics at the university of Wurzburg discovered X-rays in 1895

  He was experimenting with electro-magnetic cathode rays and discovered that they would pass through items like paper and rubber as well as the human flesh
• The first human X-ray

  Photograph of the hand of Rontgen's wife, which was published in December 1895
• Impacts of the discovery of the X-ray

  Enabled surgeons to look inside the patients without surgery

  marked the beginning of non-invasive surgery

  During WW1 it enabled doctors to locate deeply lodged bullets and shrapnel inside the bodies of soldiers
• Ultrasound scanning


  Developed since the 1950’s using high frequency sound to produced 3D images of the body’s insides