Medicine 50AD Flashcards
What are the rough dates for Ancient Rome?
50AD-1350
What were the main types of healers during the Roman period?
Asclepion Priest
Local Medicine Shop
Family Healer
Hippocratic Doctor
Army Surgeon
What common treatments would an Asclepion Priest offer his patients? (50AD-1350)
Night spent at the temple
Offerings to Asclepious
Swimming in baths/sea
Pray to Gods (esp. Asclepious)
What common treatments would a local medicine shop offer its patients? (50AD-1350)
Herbal remedies
Medicines using natural materials
Isolation of sick people
What common treatments would a Hippocratic Doctor offer to his patients? (50AD-1350)
(many employed by towns to care for poor)
Focus on rebalancing body
E.g: Blood letting
Would stress importance of Regimen
(healthy balanced lifestyle=healthy balanced body)
What common treatments would an Army Surgeon offer his patients? (50AD-1350)
Amputations
Drainage of fluids
What common treatments would a family healer offer their patients? (50AD-1350)
Family remedies that had been passed down gen.s
Charms
Isolation of sick patients
What were the common causes of disease 50AD-1350?
Retribution from Gods
Evil spirits
Imbalance of four humours in body
What was Hippocrates’ theory about the body?
Theory of the four humours
Explain the Theory of the Four Humours
Four humours in body: Blood Phlegm Black bile Yellow bile
–> imbalance in these resulted in disease
Why was the Theory of the Four Humours so important?
First scientific theory as to the cause of disease
What is Regimen?
Linked w/ 4 humours
Hippocrates believed that a healthy/balanced lifestyle resulted in having a healthy/balanced body(humours)
Included:
Daily exercise
Seasonal based meals
Hygiene
What is the Hippocratic Corpus?
Books written by Hippocrates’ followers (Drs) detailing illnesses, their symptoms and their causes
What was the Hippocratic Corpus useful for?
Accurate diagnoses&prognoses of diseases
Treating diseases
Training Hippocratic Doctors
Why was Hippocrates controversial?
His rejection of supernatural theories for causes of disease
What did Hippocrates stress in his work?
Clinical observation over treatment
Writing down symptoms of/progression of a disease to understand it
OVER
Treating as well as possible
Define public health
Govt/Monarch action to maintain health of a population
Who was Galen?
Surgeon/physician/showman
-started w. gladiators–> gave him understanding of anatomy (not allowed dissections)
Performed travelling public dissections on pigs
Developed Theory of Opposites
Wrote 100s of books
Supported by Church->ideas accepted
MADE MANY MISTAKES
Why did Galen do his dissections on animals?
Human dissection was banned
–>body=sacred-needed for afterlife
Why did Galen’s work include many mistakes?
What are some of these mistakes?
He only ever dissected animals
–>Assumed human anatomy was exactly the same
Refused to admit that there were gaps in his knowledge–>filled w. made up
Heart consumed blood
Place in body for soul
What did Galen prove?
That the brain controls the body-not heart
Why were Galen’s ideas accepted for ~1500 years?
Church endorsed him
-he believed that soul had a place in the body
Church in charge of all universities/Dr. trainingGoing against Galen=Going against Church=Hell
(people at time were legitimately scared of Hell)
Define public health
Measures the govt. take to maintain the health of a population
What was the quality of the public health of the Romans?
High
