Location, Location, Location - Medicine 1700-1900

in The People's Health 1250 - Present Day

A look at what drew vast numbers of migrants from the countryside to cities like London. What did they find on their arrival? Squalid housing, poor sanitation, high population density and poor medical understanding meant epidemics of smallpox, syphilis, choler and typhus killed vast numbers of those who came seeking their fortune. What has changed in terms of the understanding of the causes of disease? What are the major developments? What is Pasteur's germ theory? -"Standing on the shoulders of giants" Look at Koch and his work on microbes. What did their discoveries change? Did they face resistance? What impact did industrialisation have on the spread and incidence of disease? Huge levels of migration, new pathogens, poor conditions etc. Dangers of the new workplaces - Mills.