Category: Image, Medicine, Maryland

History of Medicine Early United States Government Interest in Native American Health Although U.S. Army surgeons treated Native American victims of smallpox near the opening of the 19th-century, government concern for Native American health at this time was manifest more in counting the numbers of people who died from this and other diseases, and estimating how many were left, than in providing institutional remedies. Jedidiah Morse's report indicates this interest: Determining where "Indians" were in North America and how many they were. The report is addressed to the Secretary of War. Indian affairs were administered by the War Department until 1849. The U.S.

History of Medicine Home > History Home > Lesser Home This is my fourth exhibit over the last 20 years in a series presenting medicine and social healing in our century. When I reviewed my first book, from which the first exhibit was taken (auditing medical school at UCLA, with the Class of '71), and the second, about medical education in its entirety (from the student's first days until a physician's first professional experiences, in the '80's), I realized that another look was timely. I have always focused on the motivations of health care practitioners, as well as their human endeavors. I admire those who study and train to help others at this high level of knowledge and skill, which takes years to achieve and much personal sacrifice.

History of Medicine INTRODUCTION Tropical medicine began in the nineteenth century when doctors diagnosed infectious diseases in soldiers and colonists who had lived in tropical areas. In 1877, English scientist Sir Patrick Manson proved that mosquitoes spread elephantiasis to humans and he later theorized that the same was true with malaria. This was an enormous step in tropical medicine and the understanding of tropical diseases, leading to advances in prevention methods. The field of tropical medicine consists of the study, treatment, and prevention of tropical diseases. Tropical diseases can be defined as those that are mainly of parasitic origin and are common in tropical or subtropical areas.

Medieval Islam Islamic cultures are among the most interesting, complex, and dynamic in the world. At the same time, they are among the least known in the West. From its dramatic rise in the seventh century A. D. to the present, Islamic civilization has covered a large part of the globe, incorporating many subcultures and languages into its orbit, and vigorously engaging the peoples around it. Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Disease and health were of importance to rich and poor alike, as indeed they are in every civilization. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine.

History of Medicine Introduction The history of medicine tells different stories and different truths depending on the questions we ask and the concerns we raise. That's why there is always something new in the past. This exhibition explores some of the multiple meanings people have found in the history of medicine within the United States. We see how, during the last two hundred years, the history of medicine has been created and used as weapon, as inspiration, as edifice, as politics, as profession, and as today's news. Physicians have used medical history to increase their understanding, to unify their profession, to develop a vision of the future of medicine, and to provide better medical care to their patients. History is like a kaleidoscope.

History of Medicine Early Days Almanacs have been a part of American life since its very beginning. One of the first books printed in English America was an almanac. By the mid-18th century the almanac had become, after the Bible, the book most likely to be found in ordinary homes. Produced annually, almanacs provided practical information and entertainment. The main feature was a calendar which showed the months and days, the positions of the moon and the planets, religious and civil commemorations, and weather predictions, sometimes decorated with an illustration of a seasonal scene or the sign of the zodiac. Medieval almanacs showed the church’s feast and fast days.

The Threat   Throughout the last three thousand years, smallpox has shadowed civilization. A viral infection, the disease spread along trade routes, emerging first in Africa, Asia and Europe and reaching the Americas in the sixteenth century. Because smallpox requires a human host to survive it tended to smolder in densely populated areas, erupting in a full-blown epidemic every ten years or so. Wherever it appeared, the legacy of smallpox was death, blindness, sterility and scarring.     While some medical practitioners claimed to cure smallpox, most medical traditions focused on prevention.

History of Medicine Introduction Over the ages, philosophers, theologians, and physicians had accepted insanity disorders within their purview. By the late 18th century, however, the first two had largely withdrawn and physicians, social activists, and the state took responsibility for the care and treatment of the mentally ill. Psychiatry as a medical discipline came into being during the first years of the 19th century. The rapidly growing population of the United States during the 19th century, along with an ever increasing number of immigrants, gave rise to the need for provision for the poor, the sick, and the mentally ill. Publicly supported almshouses and hospitals were established and the special needs of the mentally ill led to the era of asylums.

History of Medicine Epidemic cholera is an acute, painful, and often fatal disease which ravaged nearly the entire world during several severe outbreaks over the course of the 19th century. It is a diarrheal disease which can cause death by dehydration to an untreated patient in a matter of hours and is extremely contagious in communities without adequate, modern sanitation, as most of the world was in 1817 when it first left India. News of its spread and impending approach often sent panic into entire nations, and health professionals were largely at a loss as to how to treat or prevent it until modern epidemiological and laboratory techniques were developed later in the century.

History of Medicine The Man Stanley Jablonski said that he had a natural curiosity and that he liked to go into depth with things. With such a predisposition it’s no surprise that he developed into an accomplished, some say unequalled, indexer. Born in Poland, Jablonski eventually made his way to America. In 1949 he was hired by Claudius Mayer as an indexer in the Army Medical Library’s Bibliographic Services Division. Though he lacked the advanced education of most of his peers, Stanley excelled at his work and was rewarded with recognition and advancement. He could index medical literature in 10 languages. In 1955 he conceived a project to produce a bibliography of Slavic medical literature produced in the previous decade.