Medicine: Renaissance Flashcards

1
Q

What was the Renaissance?

A

The end of the Middle Age and the rebirth of ancient ideas

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2
Q

How far did ideas about disease change during the Renaissance?

A

During the renaissance there were still the same ideas about the cause of disease but more people looked to the rational causes and fewer turned to a God to cure disease
The 3 main reasons for the changes in attitudes were:
-power of church
-printing press
-scientific revolution

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3
Q

How far did ideas about disease change during the Renaissance?
-THE POWER OF THE CHURCH

A
  • Power was declining
  • Science questioned the bible (Copernicus: we are not the centre of the universe = astrology not cause of disease)
  • Henry VIII set up CofE which caused reformation of monarchy
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4
Q

How far did ideas about disease change during the Renaissance?
-PRINTING PRESS

A
  • Invented around 1450s
  • Printed quickly and accurately
  • Ideas could spread further and faster
  • Communication was not controlled by the Church (less limited)
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5
Q

How far did ideas about disease change during the Renaissance?
-SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

A
  • More science in education
  • Printing press meant greater access to ideas
  • Realised ‘the Ancients’ loved inquiry, inspired Paré’s bezoar stone, criminal and poison experiment
  • Used scientific methods to find answers
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6
Q

Charles II

A
  • He ruled over England from 1660 to 1685
  • He represents the ideas of Renaissance well:
  • On one hand he helped science develop by setting up the Royal Society
  • On the other, he believed he had power to cure scrofula by touch
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7
Q

What can we learn about Renaissance medicine from the case study of Charles II?

A
  • Ignorance and attitudes of physicians hindered progress
  • When Charles II had a stroke in 1685 his physicians repeatedly bled and purged him, amongst a few supernatural techniques, until he died of blood loss 4 days later
  • Charles II died because his physicians were scared of change and didn’t trust the new science-developed ideas and cures because they were too new and different to what they had grown up learning
  • Their old theories had already been reliable to them since Ancient Rome and were familiar and comfortable
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8
Q

What was the Royal Society?

A
  • Took place weekly in London, 1645
  • Discussed new ideas in physics, astronomy, medicine, etc.
  • Was named ‘Royal Society’ in 1662 when King Charles II attended meetings
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9
Q

Who was Thomas Sydenham?

A
  • He believed that each disease was different and that it was intranet to identify the exact disease so the correct remedy could be used to cure it
  • His ideas included taking a patient’s pulse pulse to make the correct diagnosis, as well as doctors taking a full history of the patient’s health health and symptoms and recording the illness
  • Wrote detailed descriptions of illness so people could study and recognise it, e.g. Scarlet fever
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10
Q

What was William Harvey’s anatomical investigation in Padua?

A
  • In dissections of the heart he tried to pump past the valves in the veins, but couldn’t
  • Also measured amount of blood moved by each heartbeat and calculated how much blood was in the body
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11
Q

What was William Harvey’s anatomical investigation in England when he returned from Italy in 1602?

A
  • On his return, became successful physician working for King James I
  • Continued his research on heart by conducting vivisection on cold-blooded animals (slow heartbeats) so he could see the movements of each muscle in the heart
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12
Q

How did William Harvey prove Galen wrong?

A
  • Galen had thought new blood was produced in liver to replace blood that was burnt up in body
  • Harvey discovered that blood flowed just one-way and proved that heart worked like water pump, pumping blood around body again and again
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13
Q

What was the POSITIVE immediate impact of William Harvey’s discovery on blood circulation?

A

+ 1628 published his findings in a book entitled ‘An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals’

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14
Q

What was the LIMITED immediate impact of William Harvey’s discovery on blood circulation?

A
  • Doctors struggled to believe Galen was wrong
  • Harvey’s ideas didn’t improve health in Renaissance as he failed to develop new or better treatments
  • Doctors didn’t understand blood transfusions and used methods which were fatally unsuccessful
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15
Q

What was the long term impact of William Harvey’s discovery on blood circulation?

A

+ 50 years after his discoveries first published, University of Paris taught Harvey’s ideas instead of Galen’s
+ 300 years later, when blood groups were discovered, Harvey’s ideas used to create first blood transfusion

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16
Q

How was William Harvey influenced by others?

A
  • Vesalius already said that Galen was wrong about blood flow
  • Fabricius, scientist and surgeon who tutored Harvey at Padua, recognised that veins in human body had one-way valves, but Harvey used foundation of their work to solve the function of the valves
17
Q

What was Andreas Vesalius’ anatomical investigation in Paris?

A
  • Tried to learn about each of the 206 bones, piecing the human skeleton together 1 bone at a time
  • 1536 snatched bodies from gallows and cemeteries
  • Correctly identifies all nerves, muscles and organs in human body
18
Q

What was Andreas Vesalius’ anatomical investigation in Padua?

A
  • Learnt from Galen’s incorrect textbooks basing human anatomy on animals at his medical school
  • Dissection was permitted there as they liked Vesalius’ ideas and he was able to repeat and compare dissection of humans
  • Worked with artists on realistic human skeletons (Jan Van Calcar)
19
Q

How did Andreas Vesalius prove Galen wrong?

A
  • Galen only dissected animals, mainly apes
  • Vesalius corrected over 200 of Galen’s mistakes:
  • Location of kidney
  • Vesalius wrote about and corrected the structure of the human jaw
  • Blood doesn’t move through the heart through holes in the septum
  • He encouraged doctors test rather than accept Galen’s ideas
20
Q

What was the POSITIVE immediate impact of Andreas Vesalius’ discovery on the human skeleton?

A

+ His book was used at Cambridge to train doctors by 1560s

+ 1565 first dissection by an anatomist at Cambridge

21
Q

What was the LIMITED immediate impact of Andreas Vesalius’ discovery on the human skeleton?

A
  • Had little impact upon health of people in Renaissance as he didn’t discover any new or better ways of treating illnesses
  • Work was only slowly appreciated
  • Doctors criticised his book, found it hard to accept Galen was wrong
22
Q

What was the long term impact of Andreas Vesalius’ discovery on the human skeleton?

A

+ 1543 published ‘On the Fabric of the Human Body’ which didn’t directly defy Galen
+ Began the proper study of the human anatomy
+ Influenced the work of other medical researchers (inc. Harvey)
+ 1555 his book was republished as he finally had the confidence to openly challenge Galen’s idea

23
Q

What are the similarities and differences between HEALERS from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Physician
A

•Still studied Galen’s work on anatomy for most of period

Towards end of period, training began to change:
+ Emphasised importance of scientific approach (Thomas Hobbes)
+ In physiology studied work of Vesalius and Harvey
+ More had the chance to dissect
+ New equipment developed (e.g. thermometers)
+ Some training took place in wards

24
Q

What are the similarities and differences between HEALERS from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Apothecary
A

•Still provided remedies as most preferred cheaper and more familiar treatments

No differences

25
Q

What are the similarities and differences between HEALERS from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Women
A

•Still a major part in everyday medicine

+ Wealthy ladies provided care for local families (e.g. Margaret Colfe acted as a nurse, midwife, surgeon and physician to aid both the rich and poor, expecting no reward)

26
Q

What are the similarities and differences between HEALERS from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Hospitals
A

•City councils and charities helped keep open Church hospitals (e.g. St. Bartholomew’s) which still provided warmth, food and prayer

+ 3 physicians, 3 surgeons, 15 nursing sisters and helpers provided care instead of nuns and monks
+ Began actually treating illnesses e.g. nursing sisters treated patients with herbal remedies
+ Nursing sisters did the heavy, manual work and had no medical training

27
Q

What are the similarities and differences between TREATMENTS from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Four Humours Theory
A

•Bleeding and purging were still common treatments as physicians still believed in the four humours

No differences

28
Q

What are the similarities and differences between TREATMENTS and from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Herbal remedies
A
  • Still used and passed down through generations from mother to daughter
  • Girls learnt how to mix up remedies using ingredients like honey

They discovered new ingredients as they explored new continents:
+ Quinine from the cinchona tree bark from South America was effectively used to treat malaria
+ More people could now research and write so more remedies were discovered
+ Printing press meant people could get copies of popular remedies

29
Q

What are the similarities and differences between TREATMENTS and from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 Miasma
A

•Still believe miasma so still used sweet smelling herbs and tried to keep houses clean

+Smoking tobacco from America was believed to prevent illnesses from bad air

30
Q

What are the similarities and differences between TREATMENTS and from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance?

 God and superstition
A
  • Still believed king could cure scrofula (King’s Evil) as he was appointed by God, so had His healing powers
  • Continued to pray and use cures based on magic as people were desperate for help

+These treatments were not as popular as in the Middle Ages

31
Q

What were the SIMILARITIES between the Black Death 1348 and the Great Plague 1665?

A
  • Spread quickly due to poor conditions
  • No understanding of germs
  • Widespread impact across Europe
  • Movement of planets (cause)
  • Miasma (cause)
  • Herbs and incense (treatment)
  • Fasting (treatment)
  • God’s punishment (cause)
  • Prayer (treatment)
  • Lancing buboes (treatment)
  • Actual cause was Fleas carrying bacteria
32
Q

What were the DIFFERENCES between the Black Death 1348 and the Great Plague 1665?

During just the GP….

A
  • Government had main influence over response
  • Drinking plague water (treatment)
  • Abracadabra charms
  • Enforced quarantine
  • Better understanding of contagion
  • Vinegar to clean money
  • More miasma and based treatments (e.g. fires in streets)
  • Pigeons and toads placed on buboes (treatment)
  • Nose gays
  • Plague doctors
  • Examiners identified victims
33
Q

What were the DIFFERENCES between the Black Death 1348 and the Great Plague 1665?

During just the BD….

A
  • Church had main influence over response
  • Let birds fly around house
  • Imbalance of humours (cause)
  • Flagellation (treatment)
  • More supernatural treatments