KQ2 - ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT ILLNESS AND DISEASE Flashcards
WHAT ROLE DID THE CHURCH PLAY IN PREVENTION ?
The church was very influential during the Medieval era
- Processions - The church ordered processions through towns to the local church to pray for forgiveness.
- Self-flagellation - People would whip themselves as a form of atonement, seeking to purify themselves
WHAT DID THE CHURCH BELIEVE CAUSED THE BLACK DEATH ?
Punishment for living in a sinful life
WHAT WERE METHODS OF PREVENTING THE PLAGUE ?
Carry a posy of sweet smelling herbs
Travellers had to quarantine
Infected families were locked in their homes and crosses painted on the door
Blood letting (Releases evil spirits)
Put coins in vinegar, stops spread
Killing cats and dogs - Spread disease
Drinking urine
Avoid sex - Weakens the body
Don’t bathe - Steam will open pores and allow disease in
Nobles fled to the countryside which further spread disease
WHAT IS ALCHEMY ?
An early form of chemistry popular in the middle ages
Alchemists aimed to turn base metals into gold and create the elixir of life
Through alchemy elements like arsenic and antimony were discovered
Produced nitric acid and hydrochloric acid
WHAT IS MYSTICISM ?
The belief that there is a hidden meaning to life
WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF SOOTHSAYERS IN MEDIEVAL PREVENTION ?
- Very few qualified doctors, meaning people relied on local Wise Women / Soothsayers
- They had a knowledge of sickness passed down through generations of women
- Supposed to have the gift of prophecy
- They created charms to ward off evil spirits
- Used plants and herbs for remedies
WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A SOOTHSAYER ?
Mother Shipton - Famous 15th century soothsayer
WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF PHYSICIANS IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?
Few qualified doctors
Physicians trained in Italy and Paris
None knew much about prevention
WHAT WAS THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS PREVENTION IN INDUSTRIAL TIMES ?
Culture of prevention is better than a cure
WHAT WERE THE METHODS OF PREVENTION IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA ?
- Four humours still popular even though it was proved wrong - Blood letting
- Teetotalism and vegetarianism
- COLD WATER TREATMENT - LLANDRINDOD AND BUILTH WELLS - Water supposed to keep you healthy
WHO USED TO SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO PREVENT CHILDBED FEVER ?
Alexander Gordon
DESCRIBE THE WORK OF ALEXANDER GORDON ?
Child bed fever was an infection women got after giving birth
Gordon realised that cases were much lower when a wisewomen assisted than if a doctor / midwife did
The doctors were spreading it as they were unsanitary and going between patients
1795 - Medical practitioners had to wash their hands between patients
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD ?
The industrial era saw a rise in the use of the scientific method in order to prevent disease
Previous to this prevention was based around religion and superstition
WHO DISCOVERED THE CAUSE OF SCURVY ?
James Lind
WORK OF JAMES LIND ?
In 1753 James Lind identified that lime juice can be used to prevent scurvy in sailors.
Vitamin C deficiency
NEW SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS ?
Microscope, Stethoscope, Kymograph
WORK OF JOHN SNOW ?
1854, John Snow applied the scientific method in order to prevent the spread of cholera
He plotted all of the cholera on a map and realised all of the afflicted had drunk from the Broad Street Pump
People in the brewery did not get cholera as they were drinking the beer
Final piece of evidence was that a woman who lived miles away caught cholera as her daughter was bringing water to her from the pump.
He proved the link between contaminated water and cholera
When the pump was removed cases dropped significantly
SMALLPOX CONTEXT ?
- Caused by variola virus
- Eradicated in 1980 but previous to this was devastating
- 30-60% of those who contracted the disease died
-Those who survived were left blind and scarred - 35,000 deaths in the Britain in the 1796 outbreak
PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT PREVENTING SMALLPOX ?
LADY MARY MONTAGUE popularised INOCULATION in Britain after discovering it when travelling in Istanbul.
She and her children were inoculated and all survived the smallpox outbreak
Was dangerous as you were giving people a mild form of smallpox - Unpredictable
WHO CREATED THE FIRST VACCINE ?
Edward Jenner
WORK OF EDWARD JENNER ?
Edward Jenner was a country doctor who saw that dairy maids who caught cowpox did not catch smallpox
In 1796, he tested his theory on 9 year old James Phipps.
He infected him with cowpox and he quickly recovered
Jenner then infected him with pus from a smallpox victim. Phipps did not contract smallpox.
He tested it again on his own son for further evidence.
He created the first vaccine - Coming from the latin ‘vacca’ for cow.
SIGNIFICANCE OF VACCINATION ?
No recorded cases of smallpox since 1977
Government made the vaccine compulsory in 1852
Inspired further work into the field of immunology
Encouraged Pasteur to discover Germ Theory in the 1860s
Creation of further vaccines by Koch
Church though it was unnatural
People disagreed with the idea of using an animal disease to treat a human one.
Couldn’t explain why the vaccine was effective
PASTEUR ?
French scientist, discovered germ theory
He proved that disease was caused by bacteria and that preventing disease meant killing the bacteria
Invented the pasteurisation process - Heating a liquid to a high temperature in order to kill bacteria
KOCH ?
Discovered that specific bacteria cause different diseases
Proved vaccination
Antibodies can destroy and build up immunity to bacteria
Him and his students identified the bacteria that caused many diseases, TB, speticaemia etc
