Explanation for Diseases

Question 1

years of the Middle Ages

Answer 1

1250 - 1500

Question 2

what did the Church teach people on how they got illnesses

Answer 2

• God was displeased to testing their faith

Question 3

how did the belief of God + trust in ancient medical practices hold back medical development

Answer 3

few new ideas about causes of disease appeared

Question 4

what where the 4 ways the Church controlled ideas

Answer 4

1. Most of people’s knowledge was taught by Church - was the centre of formal learning - ran universities and where physicians trained
2. mostly only monks + priests could read and write –> monasteries lot of influence + could regulate medical ideas
3. promoted Galen’s theories –> fitted Christian belief that body had a soul = all parts created by God to work together
4. Dissections normally performed at universities - but not common. Dissections often used to teach Galen’s theories about anatomy but anything found that contradicted Galen might be ignored –> knowledge of anatomy did not advance

Question 5

what 2 ways was astrology used to diagnose / cause illnesses

Answer 5

• alignment of starts + planets thought to cause some diseases
• used to help diagnose patient’s illness –> physician consult star charts–> look up birth date + when they fell ill

Question 6

what was the theory of the four humours

Answer 6

Ancient Greeks thought body was a mix of 4 humours - became ill when unbalanced

Question 7

what was the theory of opposites

Answer 7

• Galen developed theory of 4 humours further
• Theory of Opposites aimed to balance humours by giving patients the ‘opposite of their symptoms
• too much phlegm –. should eat hot peppers

Question 8

what were the 4 humours

Answer 8

• blood
• phlegm
• black bile
• yellow bile

Question 9

who created the theory of the theory of the Four Humours

Answer 9

Hippocrates - Ancient Greek Doctor

Question 10

why was the theory of the 4 humours so popular

Answer 10

• was very detailed - could explain any type of illness - physical or mental
• important because no other scientific explanation for disease
• often physicians twisted what they saw to fit the theory

Question 11

how did the lack of alternatives (dissection) hinder any new medical discorvery

Answer 11

• Dissections mostly illegal - Church taught that bodies needed to be buried whole for should to enter heaven
• occasionally physicians able to dissected executed criminals or criminals sentenced to *vivisection**
• dissections done by barber surgeon while physicians sat on the side watching
• Galen’s ideas preserved - anything that contradicted could be justified by it being a criminal therefore body was imperfect

Question 12

what was miasma

Answer 12

• another theory what disease was transmitted by ‘bad air’
• was related to God as **bad smells indicated sin + corruption*

Question 13

how did the Church influence the publication of books + medical ideas

Answer 13

• controlled medical learning
• chose which books where copied + distributed
• promoted Theory of the Four Humours + Galen - fitted with teaching