How medicine and surgery improved between 1870 and 1900 Essay Example

How medicine and surgery improved between 1870 and 1900 Paper The late 19th century was a period of enormous medical change and progress. Many diseases that had been fatal in 1800 were either treatable by 1900, or a cure would be found very early in the 20th Century using techniques developed by 19th-century scientists. Doctors, chemists, and scientists investigated medicine using new scientific technology made available by the Industrial Revolution, and made discoveries that changed the face of medical practice. Most important was the development of the germ theory (1857) by Louis Pasteur, a discovery that gave doctors and scientists the key to understanding, treating, and preventing disease. There was huge progress in discovering the causes of disease in this period. For centuries common sense had told people that there was a connection between dirty conditions and disease but they had yet to explian what the link was. In the early 1800s it was explained by miasma or bad air which was given off rubbish and decaying matter. In the 1850s however, French scientist, Louis Pasteur became interested in micro organisms and developed a theory that these germs, as he called them, were the cause of the problem. Aided by developments such as the microscope Pasteur discovered particular microorganisms growing in a vat of alcohol that was going bad. He was called in by other industries who had similar problems and concluded that germs were responsible not only for milk turning sour, but also wine, beer etc going bad. Building on the work of Pasteur, the German doctor, Robert Koch, found a way to stain micro-organisms so that they could be observed more easily. Using his methods the causes of diseases were identified very quickly. In 1882, for instance, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis was discovered. We will write a custom essay sample on How medicine and surgery improved between 1870 and 1900 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How medicine and surgery improved between 1870 and 1900 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How medicine and surgery improved between 1870 and 1900 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer There was also development in the treatment of diseases. Kochs success in the 1880s spurred Louis Pasteur into action again. In 1879 him and his team were able to successfully vaccinate chickens against cholera using an attenuated (weakened) form of the disease. In 1881 Pasteur demonstrated in a public display the vaccination of sheep against anthrax. In 1882 he developed a vaccine that could prevent rabies; a disease that caused certain death and suffering in the process. Inspired by Pasteurs work the German physiologist, Emil Von Behring was able to develop an antitoxin that would treat cases of diptheria and tetanus (1890). The former had been a scourge of the population, especially children, whereas the other was a leading cause of death in wars due to infected wounds. Such a discovery came about with the knowledge that it was certain substances, called toxins, which some bacterium such as tetanus secrete, that cause disease. There was also improvements in surgery in this period. Surgery in the early 1800s was dangerous and painful. Surgeons had to work quickly and there was no way of completely relieving pain suffered by the patient. Infection was perhaps the greatest danger; germs entering wounds could cause blood poisoning and gangrene. Almost half of all patients who had leg amputations died because of infection. Until the acceptance of the germ theory in the 1860s, surgeons did not take any precautions to protect open wounds. They reused bandages, thus spreading disease from patient to patient. Doctors did not wash their hands before an operation, nor did they sterilise their equipment. However once they concluded that it was the germs that were causing complications surgeons started developing way to prevent them entering wounds. Joseph Lister, for example, experimented with carbolic acid (1867) which he had seen used to treat sewage. He found a thin mist of carbolic acid sprayed over the wound during surgery limited infection. By following this with careful bandaging the wound would heal and not develop gangrene. While an effective antiseptic carbolic acid was unpleasant to use so many doctors and nurses didnt like it or use it. It was discovered in the late 1800s, however, that hot steam killed more germs than the carbolic acid spray. Surgeons started steam sterilising their surgical instruments using an aseptic method which applied to all equipment in the theatre, creating a germ free environment. The problem of pain was once which was solved to a certain extent in the late nineteenth century. In the early 1800s there were still only three operations which surgeons could carry out with some success: the amputation of limbs, trephining and the removal of superficial tumours. All were carried out as swiftly as possible to reduce the pain suffered by the patient. However, medical knowledge was advancing rapidly and some surgeons felt that if the patient could be knocked out, then there would be no resistance and this would give them more time to operate and could improve their techniques. During the same period chemistry was developing and scientists were finding that certain chemicals could have an effect on the body. Ether was used by J. R Listoon in London in 1800 to anaesthetise a patient during a leg amputation. However ether had severe drawbacks. It irrated the lungs, causing the patient to cough during the operation. It was also unstable and produced inflammable vapour. In 1847 the effects effects of chloroform were discovered and it was soon used to help relieve womens labour pains during childbirth. However chloroform was more dangerous to a patient than ether especially when adminsitered by an untrained practioner. Local anaesthetics became more widely used as these did not seem to produce the same side effects as gas treatment. Anesthetics based on cocaine started to be used from 1884. The late nineteenth century marked a time of key discovery. Scientists were able to identify the causes of and largely treat a wide range of diseases. With the knowledge of the germ theory surgeons made greater efforts to prevent the spread of disease in the operating theatre by devising new aseptic and antiseptic methods which, while not perfect, significantly improved the success rate of operations by limiting infection.