Medical Renaissance In Britain Flashcards
New ideas to the causes of disease
Caused by seeds in the air
Blood circulates the body
Better understanding of the digestive system
New microscopes
Why was the impact of new ideas so small
There was a lack of quality medical instruments
No point in learning than when they couldn’t treat it
What ideas changed a lot?
The theory of the four humours
The human body
Diagnosis using urine
What’s humanism?
Love of learning
Belief that humans could make up their own Minds when it came to discovering truths
Thomas Sydenham
Well respected doctor in London
Wanted to move on medical ideas
Didn’t rely on medical books
Treating each symptom separately
Influence of the printing press
By 15 there were hundreds in Europe
Enabled information to be spread more quickly
Took the copying out of the hands of the church
The Royal society
Met for the first time in 1660 Promoted experimenting in science Promoting sharing knowledge Received the royal charter from Charles II The gave them credibility
Treatment of disease
Continuity and change
Change:
Transference-diseases could be spread or transferred to others
Continuity:
Herbal remedies
Prevention change and continuity in ideas
Change:
Bathing was less popular
Changes to the weather or atmosphere of disease
Continuity:
Cleanliness still important
Miasma
Apothecaries and surgeons
Apothecaries:
Continued to mix herbal remedies
Surgeons:
Trained at uni
Very little practical experience
Better access to books
Vesalius
Proved Galen wrong
Found 300 of galen’s mistakes
he encouraged other doctors to base their work on dissection rather than old books
William Harvey
Interested in blood
Proved blood flows towards the heart
Contradicted Galen
Places that cared for the sick
Hospitals, pest houses and the home
Hospitals
Good diet a visit from the physician and medication
Good places of care
Pest houses
Hospitals for specific diseases
Places for contagious people to go
Home
Women continue to care for the sick
The Great Plague
1665-1666
Causes of the Great Plague
Astrology, punishment from God and miasma
Preventing the Great Plague advice from a physician
Prayer and repentance
Quarantine those with the plague
Carrying pomander miasma
Diets
Government action to tackle the plague
Public meetings and fairs were banned
Fires burning sweet-smelling things will lit
Dogs and cats were killed as people believe they carried the disease
People monitored the spread of the disease
Why was Thomas Sydenham important to medical progress in the 17th century
he refused to rely on medical books when diagnosing a patient’s illness instead he closely observed the symptoms and treated the disease causing them instead
What was invented in around 1440 that helped the spread of scientific knowledge
The printing press
Why did people take fewer baths in the 1500s
Syphilis Hood spread quickly and bathhouses making people scared to use them
How many mistakes did vesalius find in the works of Galen
300
Where were plague victims sent for treatment
Pest houses
Who proved the blood circulated within the body
William Harvey
List two ways in which people attempted to prevent the spread of the Great Plague
Prayer and quarantine
