History: Medicine Stands Still Flashcards
Who is Hippocrates?
- Father of medicine
- 4 humors theory
- Used herbal/natural remedies
- Scientific method of observation
- Hippocratic Corpus (his book collection)
- Hippocratic Oath (present)
What is the four humors theory?
Blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
Humors must be balanced to remain healthy.
To keep balanced: purged, leeches, herbal remedies.
Who is Galen?
- 129AD
- Performed live surgeries
- Proved the brain controlled speech
- Basis of medical knowledge for 14,000 years
- Developed theory of opposites
What did Galen’s method of dissection help prove?
- Gains knowledge on thew body.
- Work was wrong: ‘‘The jaw is made from two bones’’ (observed from a monkey)
- Believed the heart was divided into two.
- Proved the brain controlled speech not the heart.
- Heart and veins carried blood.
- Used animals therefore science was wrong.
Galen’s writing.
- Wrote 60 books
- Became basis of medical teaching
- Mistakes were passed on as a result of Galen, hindering medical progress.
- Ideas fit with the Christian belief: ‘perfect design.’
Influence of Islam.
- Poultice was used to take pain away.
- They used amputation to cut off a leg.
- Diet changes given to the unintelligent.
- '’For every disease, Allah has given a cure.’’
Who was Al-Rashid?
- Set up new hospital in Baghadad = intention of treating patients.
- Built hospitals in cities to help general public.
- Treated everyone
- Doctors always present and students observed.
Who was Al-Nafis?
- Concluded that Galen was wrong about how the heart worked.
- Interrogated and questioned Galen’s work (seen as radical at the time)
Describe Islamic hospitals.
- Pharmacies, storage, halls etc.
- Fountains (Iwan) provided clean water and baths.
- Separated wards based on gender.
- Separated wards based on ailments.
- Wards for surgery and the mentally ill.
- Rosters of physicians and pharmacists.
Who was Al-Razi?
- Identified measles was different to smallpox (symptoms)
- 150 books
Who was Ibn Sina?
- Great Encyclopedia of Medicine
- Covered whole of Ancient Greek and Islamic medicine.
- Listed properties of 760 drugs.
- Encyclopedia had chapters on anorexia and obesity.
Functions of Christian Churches.
- 47% housed elderly and poor.
- 31% Hospitals = provided no medical care
- 12% Shelters for travelers and pilgrims.
- 10% Cared for the sick.
Medical Christian beliefs.
- Disease is a punishment from God
- '’Care not cure’’
- Encouraged people to go fight in crusades = more wounds to treat but brings expansion on medical knowledge
- Controlled the training of doctors = could not make medical advancements
- Nobody could challenge Galen = inaccuracies on medical understanding prevails
Who was John of Gaddesden?
- Studied Galenic and Hippocratic texts
- Used the urine chart: examined color, smell and taste
- Suggested the use of bloodletting to ‘clear the mind’
- Used Zodiac Chart to know when to treat patients
- Developed a cure of memory loss by eating the heart of a nightingale
- Only treated the rich
Who was John of Arderne?
- 14th Century
- First English Surgeon and first to question Galen’s work
- Early use of pain killers for operations: opium and henbane (Islamic Med)
- Cautersied knights’ anal fistulas
- 1368: ‘Practica’ - shares expertise on surgery
Who was John Bradmore?
- 1412
- Surgeon at the Battle of Shrewsby
- Observed King Henry V wound
- Treat it using ointment consisting of honey and elder flower
- Seals wound using poultice
- Designed the ‘Bradmore Screw’ to remove arrow heads
- First uses of antiseptic - honey bandage.
Who was Hildegard of Bingen?
- German Polymath
- Infamous wise woman
- Wrote: ‘Physica’ and ‘Cause & Cure’ = understanding of the natural world through plants, animals and minerals
- Recorded which herbs to use for specific disorders
- Used the idea that God created nature to get around the catholic teaching ‘Care not Cure.’
- Holisitc Approach: diet, exercise and emotional well-being had to be in sync in order to be in good health
- Power of prayer also helped.
- Longer Term: work remained studied at monasteries
Role of Barber Surgeons.
- Provided minor surgical procedures (bloodletting, tooth extraction and treatment of wounds)
- Advanced use of surgical equipment
- Provided affordable care to the poor
- Not trained surgeons so infection rates were common as was death
- Inspired future improvements of sterilization
- Laid groundwork for modern surgery
Gov action on Public Health in 1298?
Complaints of unhygienic conditions = public toilets became more common.
Gov action on Public Health in 1330?
Law imposed to stop butchers from throwing animal remains into the street.
Gov action on Public Health in 1421?
Mayor of Coventry told men to clean street in front of their house every Saturday or to pay a fine.
Waste collection began.
Role of the Monastery.
- Improved Public Health status
- Cleaner water supplies
- Seperate rooms for washing, eating and sleeping.
- Own gardens = healthy foods
- Bees for honey = good natural remedy to balance the four humors.
- Away from cities = disease not spread easily
Negatives surrounding Monasteries?
- Accumulated wealth = people began to question their sanctuary
How did the Black Death spread?
- England in 1348
- Fleas on rats carried the germ
- Living conditions in towns was poor = breeding ground of disease = spread quickly
Preventative methods to the Black death?
- Flagellation: people would flog or whip themselves as a form of punishment (thought to redeem themselves to God)
- Copper: monks dug up copper from under Church grounds and used it to ward off the black death
- Quarantine: isolated the people with the disease (quite uncommon at this time)
Name the three strands of plague.
- Bubonic: buboes and spread via flies
- Pneumonic: attacked lungs and spread via coughing
- Septicemic: attacked blood stream = organs shut down
What were the believed causes of the Black Death?
- Imbalance of the body’s humors
- Some said Jews had poisoned the water supply
- Physicians explained it through astronomy
- Miasma (bad smells)
- Punishment from God for sinning
How much of the population did the plague kill?
1/3 of the population died
100% mortality rate
Consequences of the plague?
- Few workers and survivors demanded higher wages.
- Power of the Church dimmed = many clergy died
- Beliefs of Galen and Hippocrates were questioned
- King Edward III closed parliament
Which Queen opposed bathing? (not English monarch)
Queen Isabelle of Castille opposed bathing and she rarely bathed.
