Medicine- Medieval Flashcards
Who treated the sick in medieval
Barber surgeons: no training, did bloodletting, teeth pulling, lanced boils, cut hair and amputations- was cheaper than physician.
Home care: most people were treated at home by female family members and the ‘wise woman’ or Lady of the manor would tend to people.
Apothecaries: some training, mixed medicines and ointments based from a physician and cost less than a physician.
Physician: medically trained, diagnosed and treated illnesses, mainly used by the wealthy, not many physicians, they consulted urine charts and zodiac charts for diagnosis and mainly sent patients to barber surgeons or apothecary for treatment.
What were some non-rational methods of treatment
Religious methods: praying, fasting, going on a pilgrimage or paying for a special mass to be said.
Supernatural methods: using specific ideas to treat certain illnesses such as hanging a magpie beak around the neck to cure toothache.
Remedies: made with herbs, were drunk, sniffed or breathed in; included food to rebalance humours or ointments for the skin and these were made and sold by apothecaries.
What were the rational methods of treatment
Bloodletting: very common to treat an imbalance of the humours; done by cutting a vein, leeches or cupping. Occasionally done by physicians but mostly by barber surgeons or untrained people.
Purging: a treatment to balance the humours. Involved making a patient vomit or poo out food from the body. Emetics and laxatives were mixed to enable this, physicians also prescribed treatments or gave enemas themselves.
What did hospitals do in medieval
People with infectious diseases weren’t admitted.
Patients and surroundings were very clean.
Used for recuperation instead of treating disease.
Gave patients fresh food and lots of rest.
Some hospitals were for specific infectious diseases.
Mostly run by the church, so focused on on God and soul healing.
The number of hospitals increases over time.
Many were places where travelers and pilgrims stayed on their journeys.
What were the symptoms and treatments for the Black Death, 1348-49
Symptoms: Swelling of the lymph glands into large lumps filled with pus (buboes). Fever, chills, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Treatment: Praying and holding lucky charms, cutting open buboes to drain the pus, holding bread against the buboes and then burying it in the ground and eating cool things.
How did people think the Black Death, 1348-49 was caused
Religion- God sent the plague to punish people for their sins.
Astrology- Mars, Jupiter and Saturn’s positions were unusual.
Miasma- Bad air or smells caused by decaying rubbish.
Volcanoes- Poisonous gases from European volcanoes and earthquakes carried in the air.
Four humours- Physicians believed disease was caused by an imbalance of the humours.
Outsiders- Strangers or witches caused the disease.
How did people try to avoid catching the Black Death 1348-49
Praying and fasting to show God that they were sorry.
Cleaning up rubbish on the street.
Smelling good smells, trying to overcome the plague.
Lighting a fire in the room, ringing bells or having birds fly around a room kept air moving.
Carrying herbs and spices to avoid breathing in miasma.
Not letting unknown people enter the town or village.
How did religion and astrology cause disease
Religion: people believed God made them ill to test their faith or he was displeased with them. The church trained physicians, approved and wrote books that fitted with Christian beliefs (Galen’s theories) and taught people about Galen’s theories of anatomy, ignoring others- anatomy knowledge and medical research was held back.
Astrology: planet and star alignment caused disease, astrology was used to diagnose patients.
Astrology was believed a lot more after the Black Death.
How did the four humours and miasma cause disease
Miasma: disease was transmitted by ‘bad air’, bed smells indicated sin- it was believed well into the 19 century.
The Four Humours: a mix of 4 humours in the body, illness was caused by an imbalance of them.
Galen developed Theory of opposites, balancing the humours by giving the opposite of a patients symptoms.
People did everything to balance them
Who were Hippocrates and Galen
Hippocrates: a doctor in Ancient Greece, he wrote influential books and dismissed theories of Gods causing disease.
He believed in physical causes and cures for disease like diet, exercise, bleeding and purging.
Wrote the Hippocratic Oath and studied symptoms and treated accordingly.
Galen: a Greek doctor in Ancient Rome, he wrote books about the basis of medical training.
Developed Hippocrates’ ideas and based treatments on the Theory of Opposites and he drew diagrams on anatomy using knowledge from operating on gladiators and animals dead bodies.
What were methods to prevent illnesses
Religious/Supernatural methods: living a Christian life properly, chanting incantations, carrying lucky charms/amulets and self punishment (flagellation).
Rational methods: keeping the streets clean, bathing and washing, exercising, not overeating, bleeding and purging and purifying air.
