KQ2 - ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT ILLNESS AND DISEASE

Question 1

WHAT ROLE DID THE CHURCH PLAY IN PREVENTION ?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

WHAT DID THE CHURCH BELIEVE CAUSED THE BLACK DEATH ?

Answer 2

Punishment for living in a sinful life

Question 3

WHAT WERE METHODS OF PREVENTING THE PLAGUE ?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

WHAT IS ALCHEMY ?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

WHAT IS MYSTICISM ?

Answer 5

The belief that there is a hidden meaning to life

Question 6

WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF SOOTHSAYERS IN MEDIEVAL PREVENTION ?

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF A SOOTHSAYER ?

Answer 7

Mother Shipton - Famous 15th century soothsayer

Question 8

WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF PHYSICIANS IN THE MEDIEVAL ERA ?

Answer 8

Few qualified doctors
Physicians trained in Italy and Paris
None knew much about prevention

Question 9

WHAT WAS THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS PREVENTION IN INDUSTRIAL TIMES ?

Answer 9

Culture of prevention is better than a cure

Question 10

WHAT WERE THE METHODS OF PREVENTION IN THE INDUSTRIAL ERA ?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

WHO USED TO SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO PREVENT CHILDBED FEVER ?

Answer 11

Alexander Gordon

Question 12

DESCRIBE THE WORK OF ALEXANDER GORDON ?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD ?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

WHO DISCOVERED THE CAUSE OF SCURVY ?

Answer 14

James Lind

Question 15

WORK OF JAMES LIND ?

Answer 15

In 1753 James Lind identified that lime juice can be used to prevent scurvy in sailors.
Vitamin C deficiency

Question 16

NEW SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS ?

Answer 16

Microscope, Stethoscope, Kymograph

Question 17

WORK OF JOHN SNOW ?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

SMALLPOX CONTEXT ?

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT PREVENTING SMALLPOX ?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

WHO CREATED THE FIRST VACCINE ?

Answer 20

Edward Jenner

Question 21

WORK OF EDWARD JENNER ?

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

SIGNIFICANCE OF VACCINATION ?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

PASTEUR ?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

KOCH ?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

MODERN PREVENTION ?

Answer 25

Vaccine programs have led to the near eradication of polio, whooping cough and measles
MMR vaccine rates dropped when Andrew Wakefield wrongly claimed it caused autism
Anti-vax campaigns lower the vaccination rate

Public Health Wales are trying to prevent disease through education campaigns, encouraging healthy lifestyles
Smoking pack images and health campaigns