Medicine, Medeival and renaissance Flashcards
Name the four humours?
- yellow bile
- black bile
- phlegm
- Blood
What did the medieval public believe caused illness?
God- it was a sign of gods punishment
Bad smell- miasma
Supernatural- witches
Four humours
What did hippocrates believe caused illness?
He created ideas that the four humours needed to be balanced for a person to be healthy. He believed all illnesses had a natural cause, and was the first to use clinical observation to look at the body collectively.
What did Galen believe caused illness?
Galen developed the skill of anatomy and used it to dissect animals. He was heavily associated with the church.
Which of the two doctors had more public attention?
Galen: Galen worked with the church in order for his work to reach a greater audience, he was also catholic. Hippocrates only spread through books as his beliefs were not supported by the church resulting in Galen getting more attention.
Weaknesses of both doctors?
Galen: spread wrong ideas, hesitant in how far he’d go in anatomy
Hippocrates: wasn’t church supported, ideas weren’t spread
Name some practices used by barber surgeons?
- bloodletting
- amputations
- tooth extraction
- cupping therapy
Define what wise women were?
Often midwifes who would treat patients with herbs and would participate in teeth extraction and mental healing. We’re mainly for poorer people.
What are monasteries?
Monasteries are/were churches built in the countryside where people go to spiritual healing, in the medieval times, many would just go to a ‘Doctor’ for medical help or the other medical healers. Monasteries were church funded and much cleaner than those of the hospitals.
What were some Islamic ideas about medicine?
Islamic hospitals were set up to ‘treat the patients rather than just care for them’, something that the church were allegedly doing.
What did medieval people believe caused the Black Death?
- Jews
- The alignment of stars
- Gods punishment
What were the ‘cures for the Black Death?
The people believed that drinking mercury would cure, a shaved chicken across the buboes. Some relatively normal ones were quarantine and evacuation.
Symptoms of the Black Death?
- lumps on the groin or armpits
- livid black spots on arms or thighs
How many died from the Black Death?
38,000 Londoners
2 million people
What caused the Black Death?
A bacteria named yersinia petsis was potent in fleas and rats, they would travel through trade routes and into England. Where the disease spread.
What were some catholic thought ideas of curing a disease?
- whipping
- praying
- pilgrimage
What were some of the harshest treatments in medieval England?
Cauterisation- place burning iron onto a wound
Treppaning- drill into head to get rid of a so called demon
Amputation
What time period was medieval medicine?
In the 12th century
What time period was the renaissance?
14th to the 17th century
What was founded in early renaissance?
- the microscope was founded and allowed printing of books
- art was developed into describing the human body, leonardo da Vinci was key in the development of anatomy
- opium, lemon and lime could treat scurvy and tobacco could cure toothache.
What were the main illnesses people had in the renaissance?
- fever teeth (molars closing in could lead them to explode)
- gripping in the guts
- convulsions
Who was the Belgian doctor who developed new ideas, what were they?
Andreas Vesalius, created novels like the ‘fabric of the human body’ where he would describe how organs work. Believed galesa work was false as he used dissections on animals. Developed medicine on the skeleton, muscles, nerves and veins.
Name the french, Scottish and English doctors that were Significant in developing medicine
- ambroise pare
- John Hunter
- William Harvey
What was ambroise pare’s main discoveries?
Thought gunshot wounds were not poisonous and that they then had to be burnt
Though string was a better way of amputation. Ligatures not cauterisation
What were some strengths and weaknesses of pare?
S: used vesalius’ ideas to work to improve upon anatomy
W: ideas about using burning oil was wrong
What were John hunters main discoveries?
Sexually transmitted diseases by giving himself syphilis
Wrote books on anatomy
Had over 3000 specimens
What were some strengths and weaknesses of Hunter?
S: discovered sexually transmitted diseases, trained doctors like, Edward Jenner. Also created new anatomy ideas.
W: grave robber
What were some of William Harvey’s main discoveries?
Blood circulates around the body. And the heart is the organ that drives blood
Dismisses the theory that the liver is responsible for the blood
What were some strengths and weaknesses of William harvey?
S: discovered that the heart is the major organ in the body, book describing it got attention.
W: criticised, called a quack by many.
What is smallpox?
Smallpox was common around the renaissance, many had it, and couldn’t cure it. Buboes were on the body, permanent scars, and intense fever.
Who discovered the vaccine?
Edward Jenner.
How was smallpox treated before the vaccine?
They used inoculation as if it would permanently prevent the disease, they were starved and had scabs blew up your nose to inhale it. People were also quarantined in a stable.
How could you cure smallpox?
The answer was cowpox, milk maids had smallpox but because they were working with the cows, it went. Jenner attempted it on a young boy with smallpox and it went well, it was cured.
Why were people against the vaccination?
One reason people slowly developed an appeal against vaccination was because it was ‘wrong to use material off cows’ and in fact, hepatitis and syphilis could be acquired through vaccination.
What year was the great plague?
1665-1666
What was believed to have stopped the plague?
The great fire of London.
How was the disease spread?
The disease started in China, fleas had attached onto rats and had made it to England, where people couldn’t do much to prevent it.
How did people react to the plague?
The rich had fled to the country, the poor had to stay in the streets, some people were quarantined and some were sent to hospitals where it only got worse. Eventually people were left to pray for the disease to go, and in 1666 it did.
What are some similarities and differences between the Black Death and the Great Plague?
S: the same bacteria, travelled through the same animals. Praying and herbal remedies.
D: pneumonic and bubonic, plague doctors were introduced.
What were some symptoms of the plague?
Buboes appear, extreme fever, blotches over the body and rashings. Deaths occurred from the buboes bursting.
What were some causes of the plague?
- Bad air
- God and astrology
- stray animals
Treatments of the plague?
- praying
- herbal remedies
- bloodletting and quarantine
