Dealing With Disease Flashcards
How were medical beliefs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a mix of traditional and new more scientific treatments?
In the 1600s
Thomas Sydenham still believed in bloodletting and dismissed the value of dissections and ignored the discovery of Harvey as it didn’t benefit in patients while at the same time, Nicolas Culpeper was highly critical of bloodletting and purging
Name some traditional treatments still being used in the 17th and eighteenth centuries and who it was using them
- Homely remedies like honey to kill bacteria and willow trees to dull pain as they contained aspirin:wise women
- paper soaked in vinegar to cure nose bleeds : wise women
- bloodletting : various surgeons and physicians
Name some new treatments being used in the 17th and 18ty centuries and say who used them
- opium from turkey was used as an anaesthetic by apothecaries
- bark of the cinchona tree from America was used to cure malaria as it had quinine
- people believed the king’s touch could cure illness: superstitious people
- military surgeon jhon woodhall discovered lemons and limes treat scurvy : barber surgeons
Who from did sources about treatments come from?
Quacks - travelling salesmen who sold medicines that didn’t work
Barber surgeons-poorly trained and performed bloodletting as well as haircutting
Apothecaries - sold medicines and potions with little medical training
Wise women-often had extensive knowledge of plants and herbs but their treatments relied on superstition
Trained doctors- treated royalty as they were expensive and used traditional knowledge including the four humours
Give some evidence of continuity in medicine between 1347-1665
- by 1552 Galen was still regarded as the front of all medicine
- bloodletting was still being used as a treatment
- people still though bad smells were a cause of disease
Give some evidence of change in medicine between 1347 and 1665
- printing was not invented so books could be ‘mass produced’ 1440
- people liked Vesalius’ good anatomy illustrations
- oil on gunshot wounds was no longer used due to paré
- microscopes allowed people to see detail not visible to the naked eye Hanssen 1590
- the plague made many question the church so less were praying for sins to be forgiven as a way to avoid disease
- dissections became much more common
What was the great plague?
The plague of 1655 where 100,000 people died in London
Give 3 thing people believed caused the plague and state wether it’s traditional or scientific
That it was a punishment from god for their sins - tradaitional
That it was due to the movement of poison air - traditional
That it was due to dirt as people realised the most sick were in the poorest and dirtiest parts of the city - scientific
Give 3 treatments used for the plague and state wether they are scientific or traditional
People smoked or sniffed a sponge soaked in vinegar to keep away the poisoned air - traditional
People rich enough moved away to the countryside - scientific
Some patients were bled with leeches - traditional
Describe and explain features of a plague doctor
- gas holes over eyes to keep away poisonous air
- had a stick to examine plague victims as well as keep them away
- wore a thick waxed gown so poisonous air couldn’t get in
Was putting a red cross on the door of plague victims and shutting them away effective in preventing the plague?
Yes as it made it harder for the disease to spread
Groups of Women in each parish searched dead bodies and would report wether or not they died from the plague? Effective or not an why
No because it just put the women at risk of getting the plague
The dead were buried either before sunrise or sunset and the graves had to be at least 6 feet deep, was this effective or not and explain why
Yes as not as many people were in the presence of the body and deep burial made it harder for the disease to spread
Give some measures the government introduced against the plague
- in each parish, groups of women would search dead bodies and report wether or not they died from the plague
- people infected with the plague were shut up and their doors marked with a Red Cross to prevent people going in
- burial of the dead took place at sunrise or sunset and all graves had to be at least 6 feet deep
Give 3 impacts of the printing press
- lower class could afford more books as mass printing became cheaper so more people were able to read and write and increase their knowledge
- caused Latin to decline as other regional languages became normal in printed materials
- standardised language, grammar and spellings