Chapter two, Topic Two: Dealing with Disease

Question 1

What were the methods of treating illness in the Renaissance era? - has it changed from the middle ages?

Answer 1

Treatments that have not changed from the middle ages:

• Continued to bleed and purge in keeping with the theory of the four humours
• Herbal remedies handed down through generations using ingredients such as honey which we now know helps fight infection
• Quackery (travelling salesmen called Quacks with no qualifications would sell their medicines which never really worked and caused harm)

Treatments that have changed from the middle ages:

• Printing revolution meant more people learned to read and could buy Herbals (books with advice on herbal remedies
• European explorers brought back new treatments e.g. QUININE from south America which helped many with malaria, OPIUM used as an anaesthetic which worked but was addictive and easy to overdose and TOBACCO recommended for toothache, poisoned wounds and plague protection

Question 2

How did the training of doctors change in the renaissance era?

Answer 2

By the late 1600s…
- Training emphasised the importance if a scientific approach, observing symptoms and trying treatments
- More doctors did dissections
- Improving medical technology helped with training e.g. better microscopes and the first thermometers

Influence of the Royal Society:
1645 - group of people built its own laboratory and bough equipment, demonstrating experiments
1662 - Group became known as the Royal society after King Charles II attended some meetings
Their experimental approach to science changes the way doctors thought. By late 1600s, support for the ideas of Galen begun to fade

Question 3

How did the Royal Society influence medicine?

Answer 3

Influence of the Royal Society:
1645 - group of people built its own laboratory and bough equipment, demonstrating experiments
1662 - Group became known as the Royal society after King Charles II attended some meetings
Their experimental approach to science changes the way doctors thought. By late 1600s, support for the ideas of Galen begun to fade

Question 4

What was the influence of John Hunter?

Answer 4

• Set up his own anatomy school training hundreds of surgeons encouraging a scientific approach and experimentation
• He inspired Edward Jenner
• Tied off arteries to restrict blood flow above an aneurysm to cure a man with a tumour instead of amputating his leg