Ideas and Explanations Flashcards
What did people believe caused illness?
God punishing them for their sins or was testing their faith.
Why was a religious centre of learning deemed a bad thing?
This belief held back medical research and new ideas rarely came about.
Who was the centre of formal learning?
The Church - they set up and ran universities where physicians were trained.
Who had a lot of influence of what books were written and read?
Monasteries of monks and priests. They were able to read and write and large collections of books were held in monasteries.
Why did the Church support Galen?
His theories fitted Christian beliefs that the body had a soul and that all parts had been created by God to work together.
What was the purpose of dissections?
They were used to teach Galen’s theories about dissections and any contradicting ideas would be ignored. This meant the knowledge of anatomy did not develop.
Where were hospitals housed?
In monasteries and nunneries
What was the Four Humours theory?
If you had an imbalance of these humours, that made you ill. It was made by Hippocrates.
What were the Four Humours?
Blood, black and yellow bile, phlegm
What was the Theory of Opposites?
A theory created by Galen, developed from the 4 Humours. It aimed to balance the humours by giving a patient the “opposite” of their symptoms. For example, if you have a cold, have something hot.
Miasma
The theory that “bad air” made you ill. It was an accepted theory because it was thought bad smells indicated sin.
Galen
- A Greek doctor who wrote many books.
- His ideas were used as the basis of training in Medieval times.
- He drew detailed diagrams of human anatomy using his knowledge from dissections.
Hippocrates
- An Ancient Greek Doctor who dismissed the religious causes of disease.
- Very influential through medieval times and beyond
- His treatments were based on diet, exercise and rest
What was the Hippocratic Oath?
Where doctors swore to respect life and prevent harm and provide the best care possible for patients.
What was his method of clinical studying?
- Studying symptoms
- Making notes
- Comparing with similar cases
- Diagnosing and treating
This is the basis of the approach used today.
