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Interesting Things About Medicine That The Layperson Doesn’t Know About (40 Examples)
Medicine is fascinating, and it has evolved a lot over the centuries into the high-tech, in-depth process it is today. That said, we often forget how many cool and amazing things the medical community has made possible, and we definitely need a reminder.
That’s why the ‘History of Medicine' community, which was created in 2012, shares regular posts about the evolution of this field, the people who made it into what it is today, interesting treatments, and other shocking facts that most folks would never expect. That’s exactly what you’ll find in this list, and hopefully it will show you just how amazing medical science truly is.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
14 Year Old Leonard Thompson Becomes The First Person To Receive Insulin In 1922 At Toronto, For Type 1 Diabetes, A Highly Life Threatening Disease Then. He Would Recover And Live Till 26. Frederick Banting Was Awarded The Nobel For This Discovery Of His
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#2
Alexander Fleming, Discovers A Bacteria Clearing Mold In 1928,in His Lab At St.mary's Hospital, London, When He Observes That Colonies Of Staphylococci Around The Mold Were Destroyed. This Would Lead To Discovery Of Pencilin Later On
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 5 days ago
. . . as well as leading to the realisation that someone had totally screwed up their spelling, spacing, and capitalisations in making this entry.
#3
Luis E. Miramontes Completes The Synthesis Of Norethisterone In 1951, One Of The First Oral Contraceptives To Be Invented. It Would Be Introduced For Medical Use In 1957, And As A Birth Control Pill Along With Estrogen In 1963 Later
BarkingSquirell 5 days ago
It's embarrassing that women's birth control pills were not avail until the late sixties.
#5
Wishard Hospital Infant Operating Room, C. 1916
#6
Here’s Some Fun Stuff, Has Belladonna In It
#7
This Is The First-Ever Photograph Of A Surgery, Taken In 1847 In Boston
#8
Us Surgeon General Dr.luther Terry Publishes His Landmark Report On Smoking And Health In 1964, That Established A Clear Link Between Cigarettes And Cancer, That Would Create Awareness On The Ills Of Tobacco And Drive The No Smoking Campaign
#9
Earliest Known Dentistry From Mehrgarh, Pakistan, 7000-9000 Years Ago
Laszlo Larthlanc 5 days ago
If you've ever had a root canal where the local anesthetic failed to numb the nerve all the way to the bottom you can imagine how wonderful this ancient dental work might have been. I'm going to guess that these bygone dentists employed opium and just knocked the patient out completely. If they hadn't it would have taken about 5 people to hold that person down.
#10
J.f. Hartz Co. Antique Medical Table. Nb, Canada
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 5 days ago
I swear I've been up on that very table before (shudder).
#11
📜 My Oldest Book!! A 1797 American Printing Of Domestic Medicine By William Buchan, M.d
#12
A Young Patient Attached To The Kolff-Brigham Drum Dialyzer, The First Commercial Dialysis Machine
#13
Civil War To Late Victorian Era Medical Books And Devices Found At An Estate Sale In Georgetown, TX
Anne Jones 4 days ago (edited)
In St Thomas' Hospital, London, there is a museum of surgical tools. The Victorian childbirth instruments (such as a sickle shaped saw to deliver a stuck baby in pieces to save the mother) made me feel faint.
#14
Very Rare..the Father Of Modern Neurosurgery Dr Harvey Cushing
Laszlo Larthlanc 5 days ago
Also the namesake of Cushing's Disease, a specific hormonal disorder caused by a noncancerous pituitary tumor that makes too much ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), which then makes your adrenal glands produce excess cortisol. The symptoms are: weight gain in the face (moon face) and upper body, with thin arms and legs; fatty lump between the shoulders (buffalo hump); pink or purple stretch marks on the belly, breasts, and hips; thin skin that bruises easily and heals slowly; high blood pressure; high blood sugar, and muscle weakness and extreme tiredness This disease also affects dogs, and is caused by either a pituitary tumor or long-term use of steroids.
#15
Bought A Load Of Old Surgeons Tools And Need Help Identifying What They Are
#17
In 1952, The First Successful Separation Of Conjoined Twins Joined At The Head Took Place In Illinois
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 5 days ago
Don't read the attached history if you don't want to be depressed. However, it was a historical first and the doctors learned a lot from it that was put to use later.
#19
Doctor's Diet Orders For Four-Month-Old Baby, 1951
#20
10 Years Ago My Neighbor Sold Her House And Left This Book In A Box On The Curb. Tokology, Alice B. Stockham, 1893
#21
Nurse's Handwritten Notebook From 1917 - St. Luke's Hospital NYC
#22
The Agnew Clinic, Thomas Eakins, 1889, [4724 X 3186]
#23
Edwin Smith Papyrus, The World's Oldest Surviving Surgical Document (CA. 1600 Bce)
#25
A Group Of Surgeons From Across North America Circa 1910
#26
Any Collectors Of Antique Medical Devices? United States
M O'Connell 5 days ago
A "Violet Wand" these days more likely to be used in a dungeon than a clinic.
#27
Found Some Old Medicine In A River!
#29
1860s Field Medical Kit
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 5 days ago
The rhubarb, sugar, and alcohol are for mixing and drinking after a rough field surgery.
#30
Photograph Of Malariotherapy -- Nobel Prize-Winning Treatment Of Intentionally Infecting Patients With Malaria To Cure Syphilis (1934) (X-Post R/Medicine)
#31
A Radium Mask, Used In The 1920s To Treat Cancer Of The Face And Neck
#32
Patient Being Administered Bloodletting, Clysters, And Cordials (Woodprint, 1699)
#33
A Very Small Part Of A Massive Collection Of Antique Medical Supplies And Medicine. United States
Laszlo Larthlanc 5 days ago
It's the senna that does the trick. It comes from a plant in the Pea Family (Fabaceae), Senna alexandrina. (reclassified from Cassia angustifolia and Cassia acutifolia). It's been around a long, long time, and it came from Africa where it is still cultivated. It is not a terribly gentle laxative, and in some people causes a lot of what is called "griping" -- painful intestinal spasms. (I'd prefer to eat a couple of ripe apples every day and drink enough water.)
#34
Some Very Interesting Old Medical Photos. Yes, That Officer Is About To Swab That Sailor's Behind
#35
"Physical Therapy At Bath Hospital. Watercolour By E. Horton, 1918."
#36
Crazy How It Still Has Some Contents In It
M O'Connell 5 days ago
I would NOT open that bottle. Chloroform decomposes to form phosgene and chlorine gas. This liniment has been stabilized with ethanol, but i wouldnt trust that to work for however many decades old this is.
#37
I Found This Antique Electrotherapy Diathermy Machine. I’m Guessing From Around 1900s-1915?
#38
A Recent Donation
Laszlo Larthlanc 5 days ago
Camphor and opium pills. Used during the US Civil War to treat dysentery, severe diarrhea, and pain. Distributed by the millions.
#39
The Gross Clinic(1875)- Thomas Eakins
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 5 days ago
From original post: "The painting is based on a surgery witnessed by Eakins, in which Gross treated a young man for osteomyelitis of the femur. Gross is pictured here performing a conservative operation as opposed to an amputation (which is how the patient would normally have been treated in previous decades). Here, surgeons crowd around the anesthetized patient in their frock coats. This is just prior to the adoption of a hygienic surgical environment (see asepsis). The Gross Clinic is thus often contrasted with Eakins's later painting The Agnew Clinic (1889), which depicts a cleaner, brighter, surgical theater, with the participants in "white coats". In comparing the two, the advancement in understanding of the prevention of infection is seen. Another noteworthy difference in the later painting is the presence of a professional nurse, Mary Clymer, in the operating theater.""
#40
Thomas Sydenham. His Life And Original Writings (The Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1966)
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