Essay Draft

While medical evolutions of methods and concepts have expanded from guesses to using evidence-based advancements that led to inventions still used today, issues such as racism and classism persist.

In the beginning, during ancient Greece, Hippocrates came up with the concept of the 4 humors that controlled your body: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. If one of these honors was out of balance, treatments such as bloodletting would heal you. We later add to this the concept of miasma, which is toxic gasses coming from corpses, rotten food, garbage, etc. These two concepts have made their way through history until the concept of Germ Theory came about in the mid-1800s. This theory comes from microorganisms found in pasteurization, by Louis Pasteur. This concept goes on to shape history as we know it. How did such a theory come to be? The French Medical Revolution has just ended when Germ Theory comes around. This age brings the basic concept of medicine and medical training such as an emphasise on education, such as the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a focus on the body with autopsies. Along with this, in London, a cholera epidemic comes into play. A man by the name of John Snow essentially “solves” cholera with shoe-leather epidemiology; He discovered that cholera was a digestive issue with the citizens of the town drinking regular water infused with sewer water. With this, the concept of having clean water and non-contaminated food was born, thus causing places such as New York to get fresh water transported to the city through aqueducts. As we go on, the Golden Age of Medicine takes place and, as the name implies, medicine rapidly enhances. For instance, the HeLa cells are harvested from Henrietta Lacks, which marks the 1st cells that rejuvenate themselves, making them clonable. Through this, we have gotten over 60k research papers published as well as the cure of many viruses, the most recent being COVID-19. Around this era is also, the era of which antibiotics were produced to treat illnesses. In modern times, one of the more recent developments is the Affordable Care Act, which works to expand healthcare for those who do not have it by former President, Barack Obama in 2010.

Many inventions and procedures have been made throughout history in order to better the world of medicine. For instance, during the French Medical Revolution, gel capsules were invented. These capsules are still in production today, as we see in over-the-counter medicine such as Day/NightQuill we use when sick. After this, the use of prosthetics during the Civil War, such as hooks for arms, was found to be used majorly as soldiers’ limbs were blown clean off their bodies. Having these prosthetics allowed them to simulate back into everyday society after the war. Lastly, during the Golden Age of Medicine, we see a boom in inventions. One of these inventions is penicillin, which is used to treat previously devastating illnesses such as syphilis.

Many issues have prevailed throughout history. For instance, racism has evolved with the times. During the era of Yellow Fever in the US, it was thought that African Americans were immune to the disease, causing them to work in dangerous fields, such as medical care, as well as in the graveyard. During this time, the concept of miasma was still present. Using the thought process of the past, these individuals were actively risking their lives to a higher degree than previously thought due to them being constantly exposed to these miasmas from the corpses and the sick. In more modern times, African Americans are forced to be bombarded with actually toxic gases and chemicals due to environmental racism forcing these factories and dumps to be placed in highly populated Black areas. We see this in places such as Warren, County in the 80s. Through this, we can also, classism persist as these areas are often urban and “poor” while the rich, suburban areas do not have to deal with these issues. In the past, during pressing times such as cholera and Yellow Fever, it was advised to vacate the cities, which only the rich could do. The poor were left to face disease and death in these cities and be forced to continue with life and work, while the rich were “safe” in their country homes. This can also, be seen similarly in the COVID-19 pandemic as people lost their jobs left and right from not being able to work during lockdown, while those with established “upperclass” jobs were safe.