Belief in Causes of Disease - Change & Continuity

What was the understanding of disease in the 19th century?

In the mid-nineteenth century, understanding of disease was based on miasma and spontaneous generation.

What did people believe about miasma and disease in the 19th century?

People still believed that disease was carried through bad air.

What was the understanding of spontaneous generation in the 19th century?

Spontaneous generation was a theory that rotting material - such as food and excrement - created microorganisms, which caused miasma and disease.

Why did the understanding of disease not progress in the 19th century?

There were 2 main factors affecting medical progress and understanding in the mid-nineteenth century.

• ❖ Hospitals relied on charity for funding. There was generally little money available for research.
• ❖ Doctors wanted to continue to work as they always had, and were reluctant to try new methods for treating patients.

What were the main changes that led to understanding disease in the nineteenth century?

There were 5 main changes that allowed for medical progress in the 19th century.

• ❖ The development of microscopes allowed Louis Pasteur to develop and publish his germ theory in 1861.
• ❖ Supernatural and religious ideas about disease were dying out.
• ❖ More hospitals were built, and the work of Florence Nightingale meant they were a lot cleaner.
• ❖ The development of anaesthetics and antiseptics led to improvements in surgery.
• ❖ The government began to take more action and implemented measures to improve public health.