Medical Advancements During the 19th Century

The medical potential of the 19th Century

America was known to be one of the most unprepared medical countries in the world during the beginning of the19th century. Although today we are considered to have one of the best medical programs in the world, America was once unaware of how important hygiene and health was. The main points in the medical advancement throughout the 19th century were, the new practices and beliefs, the new diseases and bacteria’s formed and found, as well as the medicine that was discovered and famous surgeries that were performed. The development of medicine in the 19th century rapidly progressed as scientists and doctors created new theories and antidotes that would change the medical history forever.

In the early 19th Century there were multiple religious groups that believed in many different remedies, weather it was by self-cure or by herbs and plants. Others believed there were different methods that could help cure the patient, however they later came to learn that theses old methods would serve as harm to their patients and could cause mere death. The old method of medicine in the beginning of the 19th Century was known as quackery beliefs, “Quakers promoted bizarre treatments like electrical garments, water cures, and bleeding out patients in order to purge the germs out of the persons body” (Floyd, Barbara). They then realized that after doing theses treatments, that there was gradually an increase in deaths occurring and that they had to slowly disapprove these many medical theories. New eras were forming and the scientific community was struggling to keep their existence, the era of Romanticism started to begin and untrained health reformers filled in as doctors, and were starting to give tre...

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... surgeries without pain, however nitrous oxide gas is a drug, which made most surgeons addicted for life.

This showed an advancement as well as achievement in the medical world, it showed our weaknesses and our high potential, however there were many obstacles that America had to overcome, to now be considered one of the most medically prepared countries in the world. There were many other new medical tools and drugs founded in that particular time period that would make America a more successful country, not only industrially but medically. Without our misguided failure in the medical field we wouldn't be as prepared as we are today. Learning about the medicine in the past not only helps reflect upon the future medical problems, but as well helps one learn where something was wrong or not as modern and how can they make it better for the other generations to come.