Medicine: Pre-Renaissance Flashcards
When was Hippocrates operating?
460BC-370BC
What 5 things did Hippocrates believe about illness?
Believed:
In the Importance of observation
That the body should b treated as a whole
Illness was caused by things inside the body not evil spirits
That diet and rest were very important for recovery
In the 4 humours
When was Galen operating?
130AD-210AD
What did Galen believe in in terms of treating illness?
Treating patients with opposites (4 humours)
Why did the church love Galen so much?
He said the human body was so intricate and complex that it could have only been created by a God
What did Galen do to better understand the workings of the human body?
Practice dissection
Who was more significant in the development of medicine? Hippocrates or Galen?
Hippocrates:
Moved away from ideas of evil spirits and towards more scientific theories.
Strongly believed in the importance of diet and rest
Father of modern medicine— all current theories came from his ideas
Hippocrates Oath—do no harm
Galen:
“Improved” Hippocrates ideas (his ideas were more advanced)
Discovered arteries, veins and the importance of taking a pulse
Had church approved ideas so dominated the medical agenda for 15 centuries even if it was wrong
When was the Black Death?
1348-1349
What were the beliefs about the cause of the Black Death?
Miasma
Jews poisoning wells
4 humours
Punishment from god for: bad behaviour, the evil, arrogant people and lack of church attendance
What were some slightly effective ways to prevent infection during the Black Death?
Clean the filthy streets
Avoid plague victims (house arrest)
What were the crazy ways to prevent infection of the Black Death?
Carry sweet smelling herbs Make candles as tall as urself March through the streets praying to god Don’t eat too much or bathe Bathe in urine 3x a day or drink it once Attend church everyday
What were treatments for those infected with the Black Death?
Attach a live chicken to your sores Drink vinegar and mercury Self-flaggelation Bleeding (to release evils) Pop buboes (to release the disease)
What was the real cause of the Black Death?
Rat from Europe has BD, flea bites rat, fleas gets BD, flea bites human, human gets BD, human spread BD thru poor sanitation
What were the 5 most common causes of death in medieval England?
Everyday infectious disease The Black Death War Famine Bad harvests (Childbirth)
What would treat the different classes when they were ill?
Rich—doctors
Poor—nuns, monks, medicine women
Husbands/children—woman of the house
Name 4 logical or remotely scientific treatments in the medieval period.
Drink warm tea and lie down for 15 mins for a headache
Take urine samples for diagnosis
Natural healing herbs (foxglove, aspirin, basil)
Bleeding by leeches (based off 4 humours)
Name 4 superstitious and religious treatments for disease in the medieval period.
Self-flaggelation
Zodiac charts
Paying the church today sorry
Touching the king for scrofula
What did medieval hospitals offer?
Blessing, bath, warmth, food, prayer (mass and confession)
Monks and nuns could successfully amputate, induce childbirth, make hangover cures and make surgical implements
What did John Arderne develop?
A painkilling ointment which stopped the need for cauterisation
Name 5 public health hazards of the Middle Ages.
People lived close together
With animals everywhere
Shopkeepers sold out of date food
There were very few regulations on waste disposal
Clean water was in short supply so came from the river, polluted with waste
What measures were made to improve public health?
Monasteries got drinking water upstream from their toilets
Bathhouses
People used combs, tweezers and mouthwash
Coventry
What public health measures were implemented in Coventry
Homeowners had to clean the streets
There was designed waste disposal locations
Waste disposal into the river Sherborne was banned
Toilets over streams were closed in 1421
How did the church help medical progress in the Middle Ages?
Monks encouraged cleanliness and grew herbal gardens
Roman, Greek and Arabic texts stored in monastic libraries
Pilgrims brought back knowledge from the Middle East
How did the church hinder medical progress in the Middle Ages?
Would not let anyone challenge the ideas of Galen
Banned dissection
Said illness was just a punishment and prayer would help
