Medicine in Britain Flashcards
What did medieval people think disease came from?
God (punishment for their sins)
Supernatural beings e.g, witches and demons
Evil spirits living in someone’s body.
How did the Church’s influence affect medieval medicine?
The Church:
made them believe disease was as punishment from God
made them learn the works of Galen
outlawed dissection
What could be used to diagnose diseases?
Astrology
What was the Four Humours and who created them?
Hippocrates and Blood, Yellow Bile, Black Bile and Phlegm
What is miasma?
Bad air
What were treatments of disease in Medieval Britain?
Prayer and Repentance, Blood letting and Purging to balance the Four Humours, Purifying the Air, Remedies,
Where did people go when they were sick?
Physicians - doctors who trained at university but had little practical experience and were expensive to pay for.
Apothecaries - mostly men who made and sold remedies and were commonly used by people who couldn’t afford an physician.
Barber surgeons - people who cut hair and had little medical knowledge. Surgery was very dangerous then as there was no way to prevent blood loss, infection and pain so they were only used for minor procedures.
Hospitals - Ran by monasteries and were the most hygienic place for patient’s health but were used to care for the old not the sick.
What did Jenner discover?
Vaccinations through some people not getting smallpox after getting cowpox in 1788.
What did John Snow discover?
He discovered cholera was linked to contaminated water and the disease was airborne in 1855.
How did hospitals change over time?
They were originally created to care for the poor but after King Henry VIII closed down hospitals ran by monasteries, they were replaced with hospitals ran by physicians. They became a place to care for the sick and the poor but people with incurable or infectious diseases were not let inside.
Florence Nightingale kept hospitals clean and hygienic, the water supplies adequate and made sure the patients were fed, dropping the death rate to 2% from 42%.
What caused the Public Health Act in 1848?
Edwin Chadwick publishing a report saying poor living conditions led to poor health
What did the Public Health Act of 1875 do?
Appoint health inspectors and sanitary inspectors
Keep streets clean
Maintain sewerage systems
How did they prevent illnesses from 1700 to 1800?
Vaccinations - Edward Jenner
Inoculation
What’s the NHS?
The NHS was formed in 1948 by Aneurin Bevan which produced free healthcare for all British citizens
What were some government reforms in the early 1900?
1906 - Free school meals for children of poor people
1907 - Free health checks
1908 - Pensions for old people
1911 - Free medical treatment for workers
