Dealing With Disease

Question 1

How were medical beliefs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a mix of traditional and new more scientific treatments?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Name some traditional treatments still being used in the 17th and eighteenth centuries and who it was using them

Answer 2

• 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

Question 3

Name some new treatments being used in the 17th and 18ty centuries and say who used them

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

Who from did sources about treatments come from?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Give some evidence of continuity in medicine between 1347-1665

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

Give some evidence of change in medicine between 1347 and 1665

Answer 6

• printing was not invented so books could be ‘mass produced’
• 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
• 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

Question 7

What was the great plague?

Answer 7

The plague of 1655 where 100,000 people died in London

Question 8

Give 3 thing people believed caused the plague and state wether it’s traditional or scientific

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Give 3 treatments used for the plague and state wether they are scientific or traditional

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Describe and explain features of a plague doctor

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Was putting a red cross on the door of plague victims and shutting them away effective in preventing the plague?

Answer 11

Yes as it made it harder for the disease to spread

Question 12

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

Answer 12

No because it just put the women at risk of getting the plague

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Yes as not as many people were in the presence of the body and deep burial made it harder for the disease to spread

Question 14

Give some measures the government introduced against the plague

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

Give 3 impacts of the printing press

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Give 2 impacts of the microscope

Answer 16

• by the end of the 13th century, glasses became invented

- in 1600 optical instruments became used by combining lenses

Question 17

By the 18th century, where were hospitals gaining money?

Answer 17

From rich people as king Henry VIII closed them down

Question 18

How has the training of doctors changed since medieval times

Answer 18

As before in the medieval times, medical students only got taught theory and it wasn’t until the 11the century where one dissection per year was introduced. Also, the royal college of surgeons did t introduce exams until 1815. Here, medical students realised the value of dissections leading to many body snatchers in the 1800s like Burke and Hare

Question 19

Give four aspects in medicine that were new to the 18th century

Answer 19

• microscopes were more common leading to a higher understanding of germs and their role in illness
• organisations like the royal college of surgeons set up to make surgeons more respected
• medical students got practical experience in teaching hospitals by observing doctors
• general medical council in 1858 meant qualified doctors had to be registered

Question 20

Give some minor developments to 18th century hospitals slightly improving healthcare

Answer 20

-Henry VIII seized the wealth of hospitals after closing them down and put the money forward to starting hospitals
-doctors got most money from rich patients as ordinary ones got free healthcare
-

Question 21

Give some major developments to 18th century hospitals that would improve healthcare and state its category for the first 2

Answer 21

• hospitals were split into wards for each disease and trained future doctors (nature of 18th century hospitals)
• the British hospital for mums and babies opened in 1749 (types of hospital)
• by 1800, 20,000 patients were handled per year
• people stopped believing disease was a punishment from god and realised a scientific view on medicine was important

Question 22

State an example highlighting no change in 18th century hospitals since medieval times.

Answer 22

Between 1720- 1730, children died often of typhus and influenza due to poor child healthcare.