Medicine through time 1250-1500 Flashcards
What did the ancient greeks think caused disease
everyone had a mix of four humours and when they were unbalanced people became ill.
what are the 4 humours
Blood - Air
Phlegm - Water
Yellow bile - fire
black bile - earth
What was the theory of opposites
if you had an unbalance of one of the humours you should do the opposite
such as too much phlehm so eat hot peppers
who developed the theory of opposites
Galen in the second century
Who was Galen and what did he do
Greek doctor who worked in Ancient Rome and he developed Hippocrates ideas and mainly used bloodletting or purging to prevent illness as well as the theory of opposites.
Who was Hippocrates and what did he do
Ancient Greek doctor
He dismissed the idea that god caused disease.
Most of his treatments were based on diet and exercise but also used bloodletting and purging.
what is miasma
bad air caused disease
what were rational treatments in connection to the 4 humours
bloodletting which was usually done by barber surgeons
purging which involved making the patient vomit or go to the toilet.
what were some religious and supernatural methods to prevent illness
carrying lucky charms
living a christian life
self punishment such as flagellation
what were some rational methods to prevent illness
keeping streets clean
purifying air
bleeding and purging
who treated the sick
apothecaries
physicians
barber surgeons
what were barber surgeons
had no training
carried out bloodletting, pulling teeth snd lancing boils
very low success rate but cost less than physician
what was an apothacary
received training
mixed medicine and ointments based on their knowledge
cost money but less than a physician
what was a physician
medically trained at university
diagnosed illnesses and gave treatments
expensive
very few of them
what did physicians do
observed patients symptoms and checked their pulse, skin colour and urine
consulted urine charts
consulted zodiac charts to work out the best time to treat patient
then either treated them or sent them elsewhere
what were some features of hospitals in the Middle Ages
-normally places where travellers and pilgrims stayed
-usually people with incurable diseases weren’t admitted
-run by church
-clean
when did the Black Death happen and how many did it kill
1348-49 and killed around a third of population
how did people thought the Black Death was caused
religion - god sent it as a punishment
astrology - position of planets
miasma
four humours
how did people try to avoid catching the Black Death
-praying and fasting to show they were sorry to god
-cleaning the streets
-carrying herbs and spices to avoid miasma
what were symptoms of the Black Death
buboes
fever
headache
vomiting and diarrhoea
how was the black death treated
praying and holding lucky charms
cutting open buboes
holding bread against buboes
