Medicine - Bitesize Flashcards
Medieval medicine - medicine stands still
Hippocrates and Galen heavily influenced medieval medicine. The Church played an important role and new ideas came from Islamic medicine. Poor living conditions led to the spread of the Black Death.
Medieval medicine
Medicine in medieval times was heavily influenced by the ideas and writings of ancient Greek and Roman doctors, especially Hippocrates and Galen.
Ancient ideas - the work of Hippocrates
Hippocrates was a doctor who was born in Kos, Greece, in about 460BC. He is known as the ‘father of modern medicine’. He developed the Hippocratic oath, a version of which is still used today. In this oath, doctors promise that they will do their best to treat their patients and keep information confidential.
Hippocrates also developed the idea of the four humours. This was the idea that the human body was made up of four substances: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. If the humours were out of balance, this was believed to cause illness. The humours were also thought to be linked to the seasons.
Hippocrates encouraged doctors to seek natural causes and cures of illness. He also developed the idea of clinical observation of the patient, rather than just of the illness.
The Hippocratic Corpus is a written collection of Hippocrates’ work. It allowed doctors in other countries to learn from his knowledge.
Hippocrates
A Greek doctor who lived around approximately 400BC. He is called the ‘father of modern medicine’ as he developed the theory of the four humours, and the idea of observing and recording illnesses and diseases.
Hippocratic oath
An oath based on the early studies of Hippocrates that every new doctor must take. It outlines the expected ethical approach and obligations when treating a patient.
four humours
Four bodily fluids – yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm – used in ancient times to analyse and describe people’s state of health.
Ancient ideas - the work of Galen
Galen was a Roman doctor who was born in AD129. He developed the theory of opposites, which concerned how people could be treated using the four humours.
Galen’s work on anatomy was based on information gained by dissecting animals such as pigs and monkeys. Through this work, he discovered that the brain controls speech. However, he also made mistakes. He believed that blood passed from one side of the heart to the other through tiny holes in the septum - the dividing wall between the left and right sides of the heart - when blood instead passes around the heart through veins and arteries. He also said that the human jaw bone is two separate bones, when it is actually one.
Galen
A Roman doctor who lived from AD129 to approximately AD203. He revived Hippocrates’ ideas and encouraged bloodletting as a treatment, after learning about anatomy from treating injured gladiators.
theory of opposites
Galen’s idea that illness could be treated by balancing the humours. For example, if someone had a cold, eating hot and spicy food would help to balance the humours.
anatomy
The science dealing with the structure of animals and plants.
Natural and supernatural treatments
Medieval treatments used a combination of natural and supernatural methods. Supernatural treatments included:
prayer
astrology
trepanning
astrology
The study and interpretation of celestial bodies, such as stars and planets - to predict the future or explain personal characteristics.
trepanning
A surgical operation which involves cutting a hole in the skull and removing a piece of bone.
Hippocrates and Galen encouraged doctors to seek natural treatments. For example:
bloodletting
purging
herbal remedies
bloodletting
The process of bleeding a patient, either by using leeches or by cutting into a vein.
purging
In historical medicine, the act of getting rid of fluid from the body for the purpose of balancing the four humours. Patients might take substances to make them vomit or empty their bowels.
Treatments based on the four humours
Many treatments were based on the four humours, these treatments applied the ‘theory of opposites’. Galen believed that if the humours were out of balance, doctors should intervene. For example, if someone has a cold, they have a runny nose, and Galen believed that this was the body’s way of getting rid of excess phlegm.
When doctors gave treatments, they were attempting to support what the body tried to do itself. For example, nosebleeds were seen as the body’s natural way of getting rid of excess blood. If it was thought that someone had too much blood, Galen believed in using a natural treatment such as bloodletting.
Medieval medicine, based on the four humours, encouraged doctors to observe symptoms closely; so they could apply what they thought was the most appropriate treatment. These ideas and treatments were used until the 19th century, when germ theory was developed in 1861 by Louis Pasteur and later expanded by Robert Koch.
Providers of treatment in medieval times
Monasteries provided care for people in their local area. Treatments were based on prayer and herbal remedies.
Local wise women also provided herbal remedies. They often used ideas that had been passed down through generations.
Wealthy people could afford a private physician who had been trained at university. They usually practised the ideas of ancient doctors like Hippocrates and Galen.
monastery
The building where monks live.
physician
A person who practises medicine.
Christianity and medieval medicine
Ideas from the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church was extremely powerful in medieval England. It had a large role in training doctors and providing health care in infirmaries within monasteries. This meant that the Church heavily influenced ideas about the causes of disease and treatments throughout the medieval period.
Catholic Church
The institution of Catholic Christianity headed by the Pope. All of western Europe belonged to the Catholic Church until the Reformation, when Protestants broke away.
infirmary
In medieval times, an infirmary was the monastery hospital. The word was later used for hospitals in general.
monastery
The building where monks live.
Background
The Church supported the use of the teachings of the Roman doctor Galen. He believed that a greater being had created human life, so his ideas were compatible with Christian beliefs.
The Church controlled the teaching in universities. This meant Galen’s ideas continued to be followed and believed. This helped to encourage doctors to pursue natural causes and treatments of disease. Questioning the ideas of Galen was not encouraged.
Galen
A Roman doctor who lived from AD129 to approximately AD203. He revived Hippocrates’ ideas and encouraged bloodletting as a treatment, after learning about anatomy from treating injured gladiators.
Treatments
People within the Church believed that it was their duty to help people who needed it. This included health care provided at monasteries, often by monks. Priests would pray for people who were ill.
The Church’s role in medicine
Historians have debated whether the Church helped medicine in this period or whether it limited progress.
It could be argued that the Church helped in some ways:
The Church was the only source of help for many people who were sick. The care provided by monasteries was free.
Monks copied out the works of Galen and Hippocrates. This was important in preserving the work of ancient doctors and allowing those ideas to later be developed and challenged.
Hippocrates
A Greek doctor who lived around approximately 400BC. He is called the ‘father of modern medicine’ as he developed the theory of the four humours, and the idea of observing and recording illnesses and diseases.
However, it could be argued that the Church’s influence limited progress:
The Church limited the ability of doctors to challenge or question the ideas of ancient doctors.
Many treatments were based on the belief that God caused disease and that prayer could provide a cure for any illness.
Islam and medieval medicine
Although there was limited progress in Western Europe in medieval times, there were new discoveries and developments in medicine in the Islamic kingdoms. The work of people like Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Rhazes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) would eventually spread and influence medicine in England.
Islamic ideas
The Qur’an tells Muslims they have a duty to care for people who are sick. As part of pracising their faith, Muslims also have a duty to give money to charity. In medieval times, some of this money was used to pay for hospitals to be built.
Qur’an
The sacred book in Islam, it is believed that it contains the word of God, dictated by Angel Jibril and written in Arabic.
Their faith also encouraged Muslim doctors to develop new ideas and treatments. This means that Islamic medicine at this time is seen as having been more advanced than medicine in England. This was partly because in England, the Catholic Church limited how much doctors could challenge the work of Galen.
Galen
A Roman doctor who lived from AD129 to approximately AD203. He revived Hippocrates’ ideas and encouraged bloodletting as a treatment, after learning about anatomy from treating injured gladiators.
Key individuals
The work of key Islamic doctors such as Al-Razi (Rhazes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) was translated into Latin. This meant that it could be read and their ideas shared with doctors in other countries, such as England.
Latin
Latin is a language that was originally spoken by the Romans and spread throughout the Roman Empire.
Al-Razi (Rhazes)
Al-Razi was a doctor who helped to plan the building of a hospital in Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq. This was the first documented general hospital in the world and it opened in AD805.
He hung meat in different parts of the city and the hospital was built in the area where the meat took the longest amount of time to rot.
Like Galen, he believed in the importance of observation and seeking natural causes of illnesses.
Al-Razi was the first person to work out the difference between smallpox and measles.
He wrote over 200 books, which were translated into Latin and used to teach in many universities across Europe.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
Ibn Sina was a doctor and astronomer.
He wrote many books, the most well-known of which was The Canon of Medicine, completed in 1025.
The Canon of Medicine explored ideas about anatomy and human development, and it encouraged natural treatments.
He is known for being one of the first doctors to build on the works of Galen and not just copy them.
Communicating ideas
During the medieval period, there were wars over control of the Holy Land. These were called the Crusades. As a result of the Crusades, doctors frequently travelled to the Holy Land with the Crusaders and learned new ideas from Islamic kingdoms. This is an example of war helping medical ideas to progress.
Holy Land
The land sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims in what was ancient Palestine (now Israel, Palestine and Jordan).
Crusades
A series of wars in the 11th to 13th centuries fought by European Christians against Muslims in the Holy Land. They believed that it was possible for them to ‘reclaim’ the Holy Land. Muslims who lived in the Holy Land regarded the arrival of these Christian soldiers as an invasion.
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