Medicine Flashcards
hippocratic oath
doctors should work fort he benefit of the patient
what did hippocrates do
born 460bc
made hippocratic oath
worked and taught as a doctor
showed importance of recording patient’s observations, symptoms and development of illness
took the systematic approach to illness so doctors were more likely to find a cure
stressed that medical records should be kept for future reference
created hippocratic collection which had many symptoms and treatoms
theory of 4 humours
what were the 4 humours
the greeks linked elements to the seasons
example: fire-summer
they were 4 bodily fluids that existed within the human body in perfect balance
phlegm
blood
yellow bile
black bile
when was a patient considered healthy
when the 4 humours were well aligned
if they had too much or too little of one humour they would become ill
what impact did the 4 humours have
removed the role of religion and gods in individual illnesses
before this people believed illness was a divine punishment
many still rejected Hippocrates and chose to follow the god of medicine
impacted other ideas such as Galen from Rome
what did Galen do
he also emphasised importance of systematic approach from Hippocrates
created theory of opposites from the 4 humours
what was the theory of opposites
a doctor need to treat an access of one humour with its exact opposite
e.g.
examples of the theory of opposites
fever should be treated with something cool like ice packs
- excess of phlegm (which is cold and moist) should be treated with something hot and dry (hot pepper)
bleeding was also a popular form of treatment
how did Galens ideas become popular
promoted and adopted by christian church
church defended Galens teachings from any criticism
this is because his ideas fitted with christian belief
what were galens alignments with the church
he believed the human body fitted together perfectly and was like a well-designed machine
church believed that god created the human body like this aswell
what were the consequences of Galens work being used in the church
it was the only authority on medicine for years
what were diagnostics and treatments of disease and illness in medieval times
supernatural
natural
astrological
what was the divine punishment for sins
people believed that getting ill was a punishment from god
what supernatural medieval treatments were there
prayed - home doctors hospitals did this to ask for forgiveness
flagellants - repent for sins (whipped themselves, extreme [popular during the black death - 1348-50])
superstition - charms (e.g. hares foot worn to protect from harm)
magic and folklore
kings evil - cured by a touch from the king
what natural medieval treatment was there
remedies - herbal treatments made from local plants and herbs
this knowledge of remedies was passed down through generations of women
remedies were cheap yet mostly ineffective e.g. sweet smelling posses was meant to combat plague
yet treatments like honey and plantain was effective in treating wounds and infections
how did medieval doctors treat disease scientifically
used theory of 4 humours
fluids needed to be balanced
e.g. bleeding with leeches when doctors believed there was an excess in blood
urine samples used - colour clarity scent taste (dark - death e.g.)
only used by the wealthy
how did astrology treat medieval patients
doctors had table of positioning of planets
if they were aligned they would decide on giving treatment
location of moon was most important
they would refer to chart (zodiac man)
to decide if they would operate
how successful was medieval treatment
very hit and miss
remedies sometimes worked
sometimes it was pure luck
other times it would fail completely
if it did fail people would think their fate was decided by god
medieval physicians
-very expensive
-equivalent of doctors today
-only could be used by wealthy
-as england became wealthier there was a higher demand for physicians
- taught work of galen and hippocrates in uni med school
types of treatment medieval physicians gave
bleeding
urine charts
purging
astrology
barber surgeons
-surgeries were rare so in their spare time they cut hair
- cheaper than physicians because they weren’t required to attend university
- as a result many were illiterate and had no form of education
- used astrological chart to decide whether to perform surgery on an patient
what was barber surgeon training like
they were an apprentice to a surgeon
and had to pass exams to enter the guild of master surgeons when training was complete
barber surgeons operations
extracting teeth
bloodletting
internal operations
how successful were barber surgeons
-it varied
-they had no knowledge of germs or bacteria
- they would reuse old equipment and stained knives without any thought
- this caused many to die in surgery or from infection
-patient could die from pain or bleed to death because there was no ways to manage shock or heavy blood loss
