expand on health

19th century and 20th century was the time when the medical cares well developed. German scientists had made several breakthroughs during the 19th and 20th century. There were many outstanding scientists, for example, the most influenced one in 19th century would be Rudolf Carl Virchow(1821～1902).  He was a German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician, known for his advancement of public health. Referred to as "the father of modern pathology", he is considered one of the founders of social medicine. Virchow is credited with many important discoveries. His most widely known scientific contribution is his cell theory, which built on the work of Theodor Schwann. He is cited as the first to recognize leukemia cells. He was one of the first to accept the work of Robert Remak, who showed the origins of cells was the division of pre-existing cells.
The pace of medical advances quickened on all fronts in the 20th century. Breakthroughs came in biology, chemistry, physiology, pharmacology, and technology, often in converging or overlapping ways. New understanding of diseases brought new treatments and cures for many of these conditions. However, even as most of the killer epidemic diseases were conquered—and in the case of smallpox erased—new diseases emerged, such as AIDS.A pioneer in pharmacology was the German scientist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), who—after much trial and effort—synthesized the arsenic-based compound Salvarsan, the first effective treatment for syphilis, in 1909. Ehrlich, who coined the term "chemotherapy," thus created the first antibiotic drug. A generation later, another German, Gerhard Domagk (1895-1964), who worked for Bayer, produced the first useful sulfa drug (another antibiotic). This drug was used to treat streptoccal, or strep, diseases, including meningitis. Many new drugs followed in the 1950s, including cortisone, a steroid hormone that reduced inflammation and suppressed the immune system response. The first effective drugs for the treatment of mental illness also appeared in this era.

Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18696145, 11/14/2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Virchow, 11/14/2012