KQ1 - CAUSES OF ILLNESS AND DISEASE

Question 1

WHAT 4 MEDIEVAL LIVING CONDITIONS ALLOWED FOR DISEASE TO SPREAD ?

Answer 1

Narrow Streets
Poor Housing
Poor Water supply
Poor personal Hygiene

Question 2

HOW DID MEDIEVAL STREETS AID THE SPREAD OF DISEASE ?

Answer 2

Streets were narrow and dark
Light and fresh air were limited by houses jutting out over the street
Lack of sewage meant waste was thrown onto the streets

Question 3

HOW DID MEDIEVAL HOUSING AID THE SPREAD OF DISEASE ?

Answer 3

Wattle and daub walls made damp easy, attracting rats and lice
Lack of ventilation meant that fires in homes caused respiratory issues
Houses were built close together meaning that if disease broke out it would spread rapidly between homes

Question 4

HOW DID MEDIEVAL WATER AID THE SPREAD OF DISEASE ?

Answer 4

Rivers were used as a source of drinking water but also for cleaning dirty clothes and dumping waster, polluted
Waste seeped into wells causing cholera outbreaks.
Contaminated water sources commonplace

Question 5

HOW DID MEDIEVAL HYGIENE AID THE SPREAD OF DISEASE ?

Answer 5

People washed their hands and face but rarely bathed
The use of soap and hot water were limited to the wealthy

Question 6

WHAT WERE THE 4 GENERAL CAUSES OF DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 6

WAR
FAMINE
POVERTY
ACCIDENTAL DEATH

Question 7

HOW DID WAR CAUSE DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 7

Wounds inflicted in battle often became infected
Moving armies and close quarters led to the spread of disease
Sieges meant food supply was limited causing easy infection

Question 8

HOW DID FAMINE CAUSE DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 8

Famine was a regular occurrence in the medieval era, worse in 1315-17
Lack of food caused malnutrition which led to people being more susceptible to disease

Question 9

HOW DID POVERTY CAUSE DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 9

Lack of money led people to live in poor quality housing and buy poor quality food. Child mortality rate was high and malnutrition common.

Question 10

HOW DID ACCIDENTAL DEATH CAUSE DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 10

People often died in accidents, i.e. Maud Fras had a stone fall on her head in Montgomery Castle

Question 11

WHAT 4 FACTORS DID PEOPLE BELIEVE CAUSED DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 11

God
Miasma
Supernatural
The Four Humours

Question 12

HOW DID PEOPLE BELIEVE GOD CAUSED DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 12

Religion had influence over almost every aspect of medieval life
People thought that illness was God punishing people for living sinful life

Question 13

HOW DID PEOPLE BELIEVE MIASMA CAUSED DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 13

People linked disease with bad smells
The mortality rate was higher in cities where it stunk

Question 14

HOW DID PEOPLE BELIEVE THE SUPERNATURAL CAUSED DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 14

People feared witchcraft and demons. Curses were blamed for illness

Question 15

HOW DID PEOPLE BELIEVE THE FOUR HUMOURS CAUSED DISEASE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 15

The widest held belief including that of doctors was the theory of the four humours
Developed by Galen and Hippocrates
If one of the fours humours was out of balance then you became ill
Blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile

Question 16

WHAT WERE THE BIGGEST DISEASES IN THE EARLY MODERN ERA ?

Answer 16

Fever
Grip
Consumption (TB)
Griping in the guts
Convulsions
Outbreaks of Plague

Question 17

WHY WAS DISEASE SO COMMONPLACE IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 17

People didn’t understand the link between germs and disease

Question 18

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUBONIC AND PNEUMONIC PLAGUE ?

Answer 18

BUBONIC - Spread by rats. Puss filled buboes appeared on the body, in the armpits and groin
PNEUMONIC- Attacked the lung, spread by coughing and close contact. Death occurred quickly

Question 19

WHEN WAS THE GREAT PLAGUE ?

Answer 19

1665

Question 20

WHEN WAS THE BLACK DEATH ?

Answer 20

1348

Question 21

HOW DID THE PLAGUE AFFECT WALES ?

Answer 21

Ports like Pembroke hit badly
Cosmeston totally wiped out

Question 22

HOW MANY IN LONDON WERE KILLED BY THE GREAT PLAGUE ?

Answer 22

100,000

Question 23

HOW DID INDUSTRIALISATION CAUSE DISEASE ?

Answer 23

Towns and cities grew rapidly without planning
Tenements were overcrowded, families shared homes
Sewage contaminated water supplies
People shared outdoor privies. Emptied into cesspits
Poor quality housing
Diets were poor
Disease was endemic

Question 24

WHAT DISEASE WERE COMMON IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA ?

Answer 24

Smallpox
TB
Scarlet Fever
Whooping Cough

Question 25

WHAT DISEASES WERE CAUSED BY INDUSTRIAL WORK ?

Answer 25

PHOSSY JAW - Matchstick girls were exposed to phosphorus which caused necrosis
PNEUMOCONIOSIS - Inhaling dust in mines caused Pneumoconiosis
SCROTAL CANCER - Chimney sweeps often developed scrotal cancer
Machine accidents were common

Question 26

WHAT IS CHOLERA ?

Answer 26

A bacterial infection spread by contaminated water. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea and death within hours

Question 27

WHAT YEAR WAS THE JOHN SNOW CHOLERA OUTBREAK ?

Answer 27

1854

Question 28

HOW MANY DIED IN THE CHOLERA 1848 EPIDEMIC ?

Answer 28

53,000

Question 29

HOW DID THE 1848 CHOLERA EPIDEMIC AFFECT WALES ?

Answer 29

1,800 died in Merthyr Tydfil

Question 30

WHAT IS TYPHOID ?

Answer 30

A bacterial infection spread through contaminated food and water
Poor sanitation led to the disease spreading quickly
Rates didn’t fall until a vaccine was created in 1896
Prince Albert died of Typhoid in 1861

Question 31

HOW HAS CAUSES OF DISEASE CHANGED IN THE MODERN ERA ?

Answer 31

Increase in lifestyle based diseases
Environment i.e. polluted areas linked to disease
Increase travel and two wars continued the spread of disease

Question 32

WHEN WAS SPANISH FLU FIRST SEEN AND WHY DID IT SPREAD SO RAPIDLY ?

Answer 32

First appeared in 1918, after WW1
Demobilisation led to its rapid spread

Question 33

HOW MANY DIED FROM SPANISH FLU ?
WHICH AGE GROUP DID IT AFFECT MOST ?

Answer 33

50M died from the Spanish Flu
280,000 died the UK
Most deadly for 20-40 year old

Question 34

SYMPTOMS OF THE SPANISH FLU ?

Answer 34

Appeared benign cold, headache etc.

Question 35

WHY WAS IT CALLED THE SPANISH FLU ?

Answer 35

Uk gov heavily censored the disease’s spread in Britain but reported heavily in Spain, hence the name.

Question 36

WHICH COUNTRY WAS NOT AFFECTED ?

Answer 36

Australia, strict quarantining

Question 37

WHAT DOES AIDS STAND FOR ?

Answer 37

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Question 38

HOW IS AIDS SPREAD ?

Answer 38

Sexual Contact
Sharing Needles with an infected person
Spread from mother to child during pregnancy

Question 39

WHERE IS AIDS MOST COMMON ?

Answer 39

Africa - 63%
1981 - First cases in the US

Question 40

WHAT WERE REACTIONS TO THE AIDS CRISIS ?

Answer 40

Some considered it a punishment from God for living a ‘sinful life’
Thought it could be taught by touching