During primitive times, many people believed that demons and evil spirits caused diseases. Morphine was used as a pain reliever and the average lifespan of these people was 20 years. Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian was believed to be the first physician. The ancient Egyptians were also the first people to keep accurate medical records. These people used leeches to open clogged channels in the body. Their average lifespan was 20-30 years of age. After this time period came the ancient Chinese.
They carefully monitored the pulse to determine diseases and they used acupuncture (puncture of the skin with needles in certain parts) to relieve pain and congestion. Then came the ancient Greeks. They were the first to observe the human body and effects of diseases. Aristotle, an ancient Greek who dissected an animal is known as the father of comparative anatomy. Hippocrates is known as the father of medicine. He created the Oath of Hippocrates, still used by medical practitioners today.
Their average lifespan was from 20 to 30 years. After them, the ancient Romans began public sanitation systems in the form of sewers, aqueducts, filtering systems, and drained marshes. Claudius Galen, a Roman dissected animals and determined the functions of muscles, kidneys and bladders. The average life span of people during this time was 25-35 years. During the dark ages, priests provided care for the sick and diseases were treated with prayer and divine intervention. The average life span of these people was 20-30 years.
During the middle ages, a pandemic (world-wide epidemic) of the bubonic plague spread through rat bites. Rhazes became known as the Arab Hippocrates. On average these people lived for about 20-35 years. During the renaissance, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci used dissection to draw the human body more realistically. The average life span of these people was 30-40 years. Now in the 16th and 17th century, Ambrose Pare became known as the father of modern surgery and Anton Van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope in 1666.
The average lifespan of people during this period was 35-45 years. During the 18th century, there were many new inventions. Gabriel Fahrenheit created the first mercury thermometer in 1714;Benjamin Franklin the first bifocals for glasses; and Edward Jenner the first small pox vaccination in 1798. The average lifespan during this period was 40-50 years. In the 19th century, Florence Nightingale founded modern nursing, established sanitary nursing units during the Crimean war, opened the Nightingale School of nursing, and began professional education for nurses.
During the same time period, Semmelweis encouraged physicians to wash their hand with lime after autopsies and before delivering babies to prevent puerperal fever; Lister began using antiseptics during surgeries; Barton began the American Red Cross; and Mandel established principles of heredity. Koch also became known as the father of microbiology; Dmitry Ivanofsky discovered viruses; William Roentgen discovered X-rays; and Almrausch Wright developed a typhoid vaccine.
The average lifespan was between 40 and 60 years. In the 20th century, a lot of scientific discoveries were made. Walter Reed demonstrated that mosquitoes carry yellow fever in 1900; Carl Landsteiner classified blood groups; Metchnikoff how white blood cells protect us; Fleming discovered penicillin; Freud formed the basis for psychology and psychiatry. Amniocentesis was also discovered and used to trace inherited diseases before birth and the first heart transplant was carried out during this period.