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Class Date: May 13th
Location: Your couch! See your weekly e-mail for Zoom link!
Medicine and Hope
Medicine and Hope
This week we are looking at the life of Jonas Salk and the development of the polio vaccine. Before we get there, let’s take a look at some of the events that lead up to our subject for the week:
1816 - French doctor Rene Laennec invented the stethoscope
The French physician invented an instrument for doctors to listen to hearts and lungs. He used the new tool to support observations he had made during autopsies. He introduced many clinical terms still used today in the examination of the chest.
1842 - Ether first used as an anesthetic
Dr Crawford Williamson Long was an American surgeon and considered to be the first physician to use inhaled ether as a method of painlessly performing surgery. Though other doctors would later try to lay claim to being the first, Dr. Long was likely the first. To read more about this, click here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ether-went-from-recreational-frolic-drug-first-surgery-anesthetic-180971820/
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell graduates
Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Born in England, Elizabeth came to America and graduated from Geneva College in New York. She had the highest grades of her graduating class.
1861 - Louis Pasteur discovered germs cause disease
The Frenchman’s research led to great medical advancements around the world. He discovered that unwanted microorganisms could be destroyed in substances by heating them. He started with wine but later extended it to other spoilable substances, including milk. We take the word ‘pasteurize’ from his name. To read more about his life and discoveries, including vaccines, click here: https://sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/louis-pasteur/
Or you can check out this 20 minute biography here.
1896 - Cholera and typhoid vaccines first developed
The bacteria that caused cholera was first discovered in 1854 but the work went largely unnoticed. It was ‘rediscovered’ in the 1880s by physician Robert Koch, who also studied medical advances with anthrax and tuberculosis. He and his team made discoveries that would lead to development of vaccines for these deadly epidemics. You can read more about these discoveries here: https://www.passporthealthusa.com/2024/06/the-history-of-the-cholera-vaccine/
1914 - Panama Canal Opened
The world was desperate to get to the West Coast of North America after the discovery of gold in California in 1848 without sailing around the tip of South America. The United States encouraged Panama’s independence from Columbia and built the Panama Canal, which opened to sea traffic in 1914.
1897 - Aspirin created by German chemist Felix Hoffmann
Trying to find a way to ease his father’s arthritis pain, chemist Hoffmann acetylated salicylic acid, giving us aspirin, widely considered to be one of the most beneficial drugs. He also worked on synthesizing heroin! To read a bit more, click here: https://www.sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/felix-hoffmann/
1918 - The Spanish flu epidemic
The influenza pandemic was world wide and caused and estimated 50 million deaths. 675,000 of those deaths were recorded in the United States. It spread quickly, taking the worst toll on the young and the healthy. Experts estimate that roughly ⅓ of the world’s population was ultimately infected.
To learn more, check out this hour long video:
1922 - Insulin first used to treat diabetes
14 year old Leonard Thompson was dying of Type 1 diabetes and became the first human to receive an injection of insulin in a Toronto hospital. Within 24 hours, his blood glucose levels were near-normal. The year prior, a surgeon named Frederick Banting, with his assistant Charles Best, figured out how to remove insulin from a dog’s pancreas. They kept another dog suffering from diabetes alive for 70 days (the dog passed when the insulin was gone). Colleagues J.B. Collip and John Macleod developed a more pure form of insulin from cattle. Their work and discoveries have saved millions of lives.
1932 - Franklin D. Roosevelt elected
Roosevelt contracted an illness, most likely polio, in 1921, which resulted in his paralysis from the waist down. After becoming president, Roosevelt helped to found the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which is now known as the March of Dimes. His leadership and advocacy for this issue is one of the reasons his likeness appears on the dime.
1939 - Nazi programs kill tens of thousands of sick and disabled people
Hitler ordered widespread ‘mercy’ killing of the sick and disabled at the beginning of World War II. Eugenic sterilization laws laid the groundwork for the program, code-named Aktion T4. The program was designed to eliminate “life unworthy of life” and murdered somewhere between 75,000 and 250,000 people with intellectual or physical disabilities between 1939 and 1941.
1943 - Penicillin first mass produced
Discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, the medicine is capable of attacking many forms of disease-causing bacteria. The drug changed the course of medical and human history. To read more, check out this article on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-real-story-behind-the-worlds-first-antibiotic
That is where our timeline leaves us for this week! Tune in this week to learn more!
Recommended Reading
Recommended Reading
To read more about this topic, here are some great books to get you started:
For kids:
The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine
The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine
Dr. Jonas Salk is one of the most celebrated doctors and medical researchers of the 20th century. The child of immigrants who never learned to speak English, Jonas was struck by the devastation he saw when the soldiers returned from battle after WWII. Determined to help, he worked to become a doctor and eventually joined the team that created the influenza vaccine. But Jonas wanted to do more. As polio ravaged the United States--even the president was not immune!--Jonas decided to lead the fight against this terrible disease. In 1952, Dr. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine, which nearly eliminated polio from this country. For the rest of his life, Dr. Salk continued to do groundbreaking medical research at the Salk Institute, leaving behind a legacy that continues to make the world a better place every day.
This compelling picture book biography sheds light on Dr. Salk's groundbreaking journey and the importance of vaccination.
Thank you, Dr. Salk!: The Scientist Who Beat Polio and Healed the World by Dean Robbins
Dr. Jonas Salk finds the cure for polio in this inspiring, educational, and timely nonfiction picture book.
Jonas Salk wasn't seen as a brave hero―not at first. As a child he was quiet and unassuming, but Jonas dreamed of tikkun olam, the Jewish phrase for “healing the world.” He saw the polio virus strike his city, and he knew that with determination and hard work, he could be the one to stop its spread. So he grew up to study medicine, ultimately creating the polio vaccine that saved untold numbers of lives―and healed the world!
With Dean Robbins’s inspiring text and Mike Dutton’s dynamic illustrations, Thank You, Dr. Salk! is a true and timely story of trials, triumph, and what it takes to achieve your dreams. An author’s note provides additional insight into Dr. Salk’s life and influences, and the history of vaccines.
For adults:
Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky
David M. Oshinsky, a historian deeply versed in American politics and society, draws on extensive archival research to unravel the complex history of polio in mid-20th century America. You’ll gain insight into the intense race between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin to develop vaccines, as well as the pivotal role of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in shaping public health efforts. The book offers a nuanced view of how polio’s impact was magnified by social fears and media portrayal, challenging the common perception of the disease’s prevalence. If you want to understand the intertwining of science, culture, and policy during this critical period, this narrative gives you a clear, richly detailed perspective.
The Moth in the Iron Lung: A Biography of Polio by Forrest Maready
The Moth in the Iron Lung: A Biography of Polio by Forrest Maready
What if everything you thought you knew about polio was incomplete? Forrest Maready, an author and medical researcher with a background in television and film, digs into the surprising origins and history of polio, challenging common narratives. You’ll explore why polio epidemics suddenly surged in the early 1900s, the mystery behind its selective paralysis of children, and the curious early terms like "teething paralysis." The book also delves into why animals were affected differently and how this disease eventually vanished by the 1950s. If you're ready to go beyond familiar stories and understand polio’s complex biography, this book will provide thoughtful insights without oversimplifying the disease’s impact.
Works Cited
Works Cited
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17048358/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4379645/
https://diabetes.org/blog/history-wonderful-thing-we-call-insulin
https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/timeline.html
https://nleomf.org/memorial/facts-figures/dates-in-law-enforcement-history/
https://www.immunize.org/vaccines/vaccine-timeline/
https://www.passporthealthusa.com/2024/06/the-history-of-the-cholera-vaccine/
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