Health and the people Flashcards
what were the 3 main ideas of about the cause of disease in the medieval period
Miasma , imbalance of the 4 humors , punishment from God
name 3 different common treatments from the medieval period
blood letting , praying , herbal remedies
what was the significance of Avicenna
wrote a book called cannon of medicine, discussed obesity and anorexia and listed 760 new drugs
what was the significance of Rhazes
firstt person to distinguish measels from small pox
In the medieval period, whose ideas were treatments based on
galen and hippocrates
when was the black death
1348
how many people were killed by the black death in Britain and Europe
1.5 million in Britain and half of Europes population
what did people believe the cause of the black death was in 1948
imbalance of the 4 humors, punishment from god and miasma
what was the real cause of the black death
disease from fleas that traveled on rats
why did the black death spread so fast
poor hygine, dirty streats, bad disposable of bodies and laws about cleanliness were hard to enforce
what was public health like in towns in the medieval period
crowded houses, sewege in streets and drinking water
what did councils do to try to improve public health
enforce laws encouraging people to clean up more, stop pollting water and rivers
what was public health like in monasteries
much better than towns, baths were more common, drinking water was seperated, isolated from dirty towns
what were ideas like before versailles
galens ideas dominated medicine and disections were done to prove him
what did versailus do
wrote ‘fabric of the body’ , encouraged students to do disections
What was the reaction to Vesalius and his contribution to medical progress?
he was criticised for opposing the ideas of Galen, 1545 his illustrations were copied into ‘Compendosia’ which had 3 editions, overturning centuries of belief in Galen and laying the foundations for better treatments in the future.
What was surgery like before Pare?
most treatments were agonising, gunshot wounds were thought to be poisonous, wounds were cauterised with hot oil to stop bleeding
What did Pare do?
Discovered healing cream on the battle field when his hot oil ran out so his patients slept well and healed fast. He used ligatures to stop bleeding in amputations
What did Harvey do?
challenged Galen by saying blood circulated around the body, dissected human hearts and proved that blood travelled one way by testing valves with wax, published a book ‘De Motu Cordis’ in 1628 about circulation
What was the reaction to Harvey and his contribution to medical progress?
he was criticised/ignored for opposing Galen as there was still a lot he couldn’t explain, however many doctors accepted his theory. His discovery was important as blood tests, blood transfusions and transplants wouldn’t be possible without knowledge of circulation.
When was the Great Plague?
1665-1666
how did people try to treat the great plague
blood letting, animals to ‘draw out’ the plague, making fires to burn out the bad air
What was similar about the Black Death and the Great Plague?
In both cases people thought it was caused by god/planets when it was actually caused by disease on fleas on rats that were attracted to dirty areas. In both cases people had no concept of germ theory and tried to ‘ward off evil’
