Disease, Treatment and Public Health Through Time

Question 1

When did the Black Death hit Britain?

Answer 1

1348-1351

Question 2

Give three treatments used to try to cure the Black Death.

Answer 2

Praying, not looking at infected people, popping buboes, applying different herbal treatments.

Question 3

Why did people in the Middle Ages use treatments that would not cure the Black Death?

Answer 3

People did not know the real cause of the Black Death at the time because they lacked science. They could not create a working cure without knowing the cause. They also lacked scientific knowledge to create a medical cure. People were very religious and relied on religion to explain disease.

Question 4

What was the most popular believed cause of the Black Death at the time?

Answer 4

God punishing people.

Question 5

What was the real cause of the Black Death?

Answer 5

A germ passed by a flea from infected rats to humans.

Question 6

When did the Great Plague hit London?

Answer 6

Autumn 1665-January 1666

Question 7

What did people believe caused the Great Plague at the time?

Answer 7

Again, many believed it was God’s punishment like the Black Death BUT some people were starting to suspect it was contagious or passed by bad air (miasma).

Question 8

What is the miasma theory?

Answer 8

Bad air causes disease. It has been around since Roman times.

Question 9

What really caused the Great Plague?

Answer 9

Germs spread by fleas on rats to humans. The pneumonic plague was spread by coughing and sneezing.

Question 10

Give two TREATMENTS for the Great Plague.

Answer 10

Prayer, burning or carrying sweet smelling flowers such as posies, herbal cures.

Question 11

Why did none of the TREATMENTS for the Great Plague work?

Answer 11

Like the Black Death, people lacked scientific knowledge to prove the cause and then find a medical cure.

Question 12

How did the London government step in to try and PREVENT the Great Plague? Give two examples.

Answer 12

1. They locked infected people in. 2. They marked infected houses with a Red Cross. 3. They had night watchmen patrol the streets. 4. They burned the bedding/clothes of the dead. 5. They quickly removed and buried the dead. 6. They stopped the poor leaving London. 7. They killed dogs and cats.

Question 13

Why was there more done to PREVENT the Great Plague in 1665 than there was for the Black Death in 1349?

Answer 13

The government of London had more power to pass laws and it had more money to put preventions in place. This is called PUBLIC HEALTH.

Question 14

When did Cholera outbreaks hit Britain’s towns and cities?

Answer 14

1830s

Question 15

What caused cholera at this time?

Answer 15

Overcrowding in the Victorian towns and cities as many people moved to be closer to the factories. Housing was poor and not planned. Many people dumped their sewage in the gutters that ran into the rivers or streams where they got drinking water from or sewage leaked into the old cracked pipes that took water to the shared water pumps.

Question 16

What was Dr. John Snow’s theory and how did he prove it?

Answer 16

Dr. Snow believed that cholera deaths were from one main water pump in London. He convinced the government to take the handle off the pump so people had to go elsewhere from London. Cholera deaths declined. He could not prove dirty water caused the disease until Louis Pasteur discover the Germ Theory in 1860.

Question 17

Why did the government want to make towns healthier and stop cholera?

Answer 17

Factory owners, who were voters and wealthy, were angry that they were losing workers so pressured the government into changing the laws.

Question 18

What PUBLIC HEALTH improvements did the government suggest in 1848 and then make law in 1875 to stop cholera outbreaks?

Answer 18

Improved sewers, planned housing, cleaned the streets and provided clean water to all towns and cities.

Question 19

What did many local people think caused cholera?

Answer 19

Dirtiness.

Question 20

How did local town councils like Tewkesbury try to PREVENT cholera but with NO impact?

Answer 20

Cleaning the streets, repainting the houses etc.

Question 21

Why did the government do more to stop Cholera in the late 1800s than was done to stop the Black Death and the Great Plague? 3 reasons.

Answer 21

By the 1870s we knew what caused disease thanks to better science, microscopes and the work of Louis Pasteur. Once governments knew the cause, they could try to prevent it. Also, working class men had the vote by 1867, so the government had to make their lives better if they wanted their vote. The government had a lot more power by the 1870s to pass laws and make sure that they were carried out across the country.

Question 22

What does PUBLIC HEALTH mean?

Answer 22

Public Health is any method a government introduces to make people healthier.

Question 23

Name three modern public health methods in Britain.

Answer 23

The NHS (National Health Service) gives free doctors for all, there are posters that ask us to wash our hands, the government forces food manufacturers to put information on food packs (e.g. sugar)

Question 24

Who were the first civilisation in history to introduce organised Public Health?

Answer 24

The Romans. They could do it as they had a strong government to pass laws, they collected taxes so they had money and they had good engineers to build.

Question 25

What were Asclepions and how were they public health?

Answer 25

These were temples of healing. The idea was stolen from the Greeks. You would get spiritual healing but ALSO be well fed, go to the gym and be encouraged to rest. This helped make people healthier and later led to Roman Hospitals.

Question 26

Rome was the centre of a large empire and had a very big population. What did they do with waste?

Answer 26

The Romans invented sewers. Rome had 7 large, brick lined sewers that took waste out of the city. The Romans copied this idea in all of the areas they conquered. Some sewers in London are based on the old Roman ones.

Question 27

Name three ways that the Roman aqueducts showed how advanced the Romans were.

Answer 27

There were 9 aqueducts in Rome alone. Brought 222 million gallons of clean water from mountain springs into the city. Worked on gravity so needed excellent knowledge of physics and engineering for building. Lead pipes to the water straight into the homes of the rich! The poor used pumps and fountains through the city. These aqueducts could be found in most countries under Roman control.

Question 28

Describe the Roman Baths.

Answer 28

There were simple Public Baths that were free for all. (Paid for by taxes). There were fancy baths for the rich. They had a number of different rooms for cleaning, heating up, cooling down etc. Most Roman towns had baths. They probably did not stop the spread of disease but did encourage Romans to link about cleanliness.