Mediavel Medicine Flashcards
what were the early natural approaches to disease?
-apothecaries used herbs to make medicines
- burning herbs to create a sweet smell to get rid of miasma (smells they belived cause disease)
What were the early supernatural approaches to disease?
-praying to god or saints- they believed disease was punishment from God
- Flagellation(whipping) - to show God they were sorry for their sins
- Astrology- people believed the stars and planets could be responsible for illness.
What were the four humours?
How were they treated?
How long did this idea last for?
Greeks belived that the body was made up of four humours:blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm and illness was caused by one of these being off balanced.
-They were treated usually by purging (making patient sick) or bleeding
- this idea continued until 19th century
What was the theory of opposites?
2nd century CE Galen took the idea of the four humours further. His theory aimed to restore the balance of the humours by giving the patent the opposite of their symptoms. E.g if you had too much phlegm (linked to water and cold you could eat hot peppers
Who was hippocrates?
-greek doctor 460 BCE
- influential ideas still used today
-main idea to observe patients carefully to work out what was wrong with them and note down your findings- clinical observation
-also founded idea of four humours
- hypocratic oath- promise to be ethical and not harm others
-believed that rest and diet were important methods of treatment
Believed in treating patients as a whole not just treating symptoms individually.
Who was Galen?
-greek but studied medicine in Eygpt
-follower of hippocrates
- encouraged dissection even though it was illegal
- was doctor to galdiators in home town
- took four humours further developed theory of opposites
- encouraged doctors to observe patients and take pulse
- wrote many books and islamic scholars later edited them
- Galens ideas were adopted by the church as he believed that the human body was fitted together perfectly which fitted well with Church’s ideas about humans being made in God’s image.
- church promoted Galens ideas and as monasteries produced books Galens ideas were the only authority for many years
- carried out diesctions of animals
what were the main medieval methods of treatement?
- vademecum -diagnoses book
- urine chart helped diagnose illnesses
- blood letting
- leeches for balancing blood humour
- posies + other highly smelling objects to ward of miasma
- herbs for making natural remedies
- herbal teas to calm you down and alleviate symptoms
- zodiact charts- to predict illnesses and suggest cures
- prayer
How did the church influence medicine in the Middle Ages?
Many of Jesus miracles had involved caring for the sick; copying Christ was seen as a religious duty
The universities were controlled by the church which encouraged study of medicine
Illness was often seen as a punishment from god
Church encouraged people to seek miraculous cures through prayer and pilgrimage
Only 10% hospitals set up by church cared for the sick
Monks copied out Galen’s and Hippocrates texts keeping them safe
Banned dissections
Only promoted Galens limited medical knowledge
Disapproved of doctors using more scientific methods e.g friar bacon
What was it like to be ill in medieval times?
- wealthy people living in towns more likely to be able to consult doctors, and so more likely to be cured of ill es.
Rural life was more healthy than urban life.
Deaths from famine and war were omnipresent
Mediaeval people were often malnourished so prone to disease.
Epidemics of contagious diseases killed 1 in 10 of mediaeval populations
Unlike modern medicine mediale treatments focused on alleviating symptoms not curing disease,
Likely that 30% of children died before age of seven
Childbirth was a dangerous experience
Was life healthier in the classical world and Islamic world than in mediaval Europe?
Public bath houses in Pakistan (2500B )
Pharaohs in Egypt had physicians
Romans had bath houses and underfloor heating
Greek asclepions
Anglo - Saxon Bald’s leech book
Islamic hospitals established in AD900s were sites of medical education. E.g Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad. Had lecture rooms pharmacies and libraries, Students received practical training and conducted observations of patients at bedside. Cleanliness encourage.
Who was Avicenna and h ow was he significant?
During the dark ages most classic medical knowledge was lost however some survived thanks to Persian writer Avicenna. he translated the works into Arabic. He wrote the Canon of Medicine a major work printed at least 60 times in Europe between 1516 and 1574.
What did mediaeval people believed caused disease?
1) sent by god you were being punished
2) miasma (bad air)
3) everday life so many people died daily that death was a common occurrence in mediaeval times
4) the supernatural - you were cursed by witchcraft, church painted picture of good vs evil
5) the four humours being out of balance
What did apothecaries treat and what training did they have?
Seven year apprentaship with qualified apothecary
Minor ailments or provided medicin prescribed by a physician
What did popular healers (wise women) treat and what training did they have?
No official qualification.
Wisdom and skills handed down by family
Treated anyone who came to her would act as a midwife and layer out “when people died”
What did housewives treat and what training did they have?
General knowledge from mother
Treated minor ailments or anything as first resort
Who was John Aderne and how was he significant?
Mediaeval surgeon
Famous for 50% success rate at surgery removing growths from inside patients anus
Worked as surgeon on battle field .
Developed new techniques and treatments including local anaesthetics - made from hemlock opium and henbane- this ointment helped heal wounds and stopped the need for cauterising wounds.
- wrote books including the Practice of surgery (1350) advocated doctors having good bedside manner, dressing soberly + talking to patients in calm manner, urged doctors to trust their own judgement not textbooks
Charged the rich loads but treated poor for free
Probably got experience with English armies in France
His ideas were taught in European universities
Parts of his books were included in illustrated manuscripts
Operated on fistulas
Duke of gaunt he was employed by never existed but migh5 have been hired by John of Gaunt Duke of lancaster
Signs of progress in Middle Ages
Autopsies
-some physicians gained first hand knowledge of how body worked
- specifically aimed at finding cause of death
-however
- limited number of autopsies
-banned by church
- people believed could not go to heaven if body dissected
- based on galens writing of animal dissections
- limited progress in understanding the body
Signs of progress Middle Ages
Friar bacon
- a Franciscan monk and lecturer at Oxford uni
- questioned Galens ideas - promoting first hand experience/ scientific observation
However - got locked up by the church for challenging Burch’s view on Galen and the importance of scientific method and close observation
