medicine through time Flashcards
what is meant by supernatural causes?
when disease is ‘caused’ by supernatural reasons e.g God or astrology
what is meant by natural causes?
when disease is caused by things happening on earth e.g miasma / four humours
What were the two reasons people pointed to God for the causes of disease?
1- There was limited science to answer questions that were unable to be answered
2- The church held huge amounts of power and influence over the people
Which disease was particularly attributed to God?
Leprosy
Where were many lepers sent?
Lazars
What did the church say caused God to put serious diseases like the plague or leprosy on people?
Due to people committing sin
Astrology was another supernatural cause of disease. What would astrologers look at after examining the alignment of stars/planets?
A star/zodiac chart that contained a list of remedies according to the alignment of the planets
What would the physician then use to treat the disease after looking at the star/zodiac chart?
A remedy of different herbs according to the star chart
Which major disease pandemic did people say a strange alignment of the planets caused?
The black death
Who came up with the Theory of The Four Humours?
Hippocrates
What were the four humours?
Blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm
What historical period did Hippocrates come from?
Ancient Greece
How did the Four humours cause disease/illness?
If they were imbalanced e.g too much phlegm
If you were hot with a fever what did people think you had too much of?
Blood
If you had a cold and a runny nose, what did people think you had too much of?
Phlegm
If you felt sick and was vomiting, what did people think you had too much of?
Yellow bile
Which institution heavily supported the Theory of The Four Humours?
The Church
Why did the Church support the Theory of The Four Humours?
This is because Hippocrates stated that the imbalance of the humours was due to a creator. This matched what the Church was saying about God’s existence
Was the Church open to people challenging the Theory of The Four Humours?
No, the Church refused to accept any challenges to the theory and punished people severely
What is another reason why the Church stopped people challenging the Four Humour?
The only people that could actually write were monks and they worked for the Church
What was the name of the disease that was attributed to ‘bad smells’?
Miasma
Where was ‘miasma’ usually found?
‘Godless’ places like swamps and corpses
Did the Church support the idea of miasma causing disease?
Yes it did
Why did the Church support/not support the idea of miasma causing disease?
They supported this idea because God causes miasma according to the Church. This ‘shows’ God’s existence
Describe how urine charts were used?
The colour of urine would be compared to a ‘urine chart’. The darker the urine, the more unwell the patient was
What were the main factors that prevented advancement in the understanding of the causes of disease?
The church, individuals, lack of science and technology, attitudes in society
Who were the individuals that limited the development of medicine during the medieval period?
Hippocrates and Galen
Why did people continue to follow individuals Hippocrates and Galen’s ideas?
They were Greek/Roman and era of intellect and they were trusted. Also people were scared of the Church
Explain why the Church limited the development of medicine during the medieval period
The church stated that it was sinful for people to challenge their teachings that God causes diseases and the Theories of Hippocrates and Galen. The only people that could write were monks who wouldn’t challenge the Church
Explain why science and technology limit the development of medicine during the medieval period
Technology was limited during the medieval period and new technology and ideas was expected to fit into the Church and support Galen/Hippocrates
Explain why attitudes in society limited the development of medicine during the medieval period
People were simply too scared to challenge the Church as they were told they would go to Hell. Therefore the they were simply just did what they were told
Explain how communications limited the development of medicine during the medieval period
Books had to be written by hand. This took a long time, therefore new ideas would not be spread easy
Who came up with the Theory of Opposites?
Galen
What historical period did Galen come from?
Ancient Rome
Describe the Theory of Opposites
The idea that an imbalance of a humour would be rebalanced by using something that is the opposite of the humour
what would be the treatment for someone who was hot with a fever?
something cold:
- cold bath
- cold cucumber on the forehead
what would be the treatment for someone who left chilly with a common cold?
- sit by a fire
- eat a hot pepper
did the Church support Galen?
yes
why did the Church support Galen?
- Galen agreed with Hippocrates that a ‘creator’ caused the imbalance of the humours.
- Galen stated that people have a soul = Church taught that
what did priests say one should do to treat major diseases?
Pray to God
ways people could prevent serious disease or treat a loved one according to the Church?
- Pray to God
- go on a pilgrimage
why did the church say sometimes one should not pray to God or go on pilgrimages to treat disease?
sometimes the Church stated that God has put the disease on the Earth and it should run its course
How would physicians use star charts to treat disease
they would look at star/zodiac charts and make a remedy according to what the star charts states
Some used incantations to treat disease? what were these?
spells
What did the church think of incantations?
It disapproved of them
Is praying, incantations, pilgrimages and astrology natural or supernatural treatment of disease?
Supernatural
What was blood letting? and how was it done?
Blood letting was a method used to remove the amount of blood to rebalance the humours. this was done through cutting a vein or leeches
How common was the use of blood letting?
It was the most common treatment for the imbalance of humours
What was the official name for blood-letting?
Phlebotomy
What was purging?
Purging was making the patient vomit
Which humour did purging aim to balance?
Yellow bile
Why was bathing used to treat disease?
Bathing was used to dissolve blockages in the humours by drawing in heat
What animal was superstitiously supposed to help speed up recovery if put in a bath to be bathed with?
a dead fox
What are remedies?
A herbal mixture
What was a theriaca?
theriaca was a common mixture, containing ginger, cardamom , pepper and saffron
Are purging, blood-letting, bathing and remedies natural or supernatural treatment of disease?
Natural
What was supposedly airborne that caused people to catch disease?
Miasma
How would people purify the air to prevent miasma?
Use pleasant smells by using herbs such as lavender and flowers
Some people wore a pomander to prevent miasma. what was a pomander?
A pomander was a herb smelling neckless
Hygiene was a way of preventing disease. What did people do for hygiene?
Bathing (poor people - rivers, rich people - baths)
Some people followed the regimen sanitatis. What was the regimen sanitatis?
This was a list of hygiene and health routines to keep clean and avoid disease.
Give two examples from the regimen sanitatis?
take moderate exercise and keep clean with regular bathing
Diet was another form of prevention. What were people told not to do to prevent disease?
Don’t eat too much food or too much rich food
What did the church say people should do to prevent disease?
Pray regularly and to avoid sin
Medieval physicians were the medieval ‘doctors’. How long would their university training be for?
7-10 years
What was the main role of medieval physicians?
To diagnose rather than treat
Physicians would diagnose diseases. What did they look at to diagnose disease?
Faeces, blood, urine and star charts
Who performed the majority of surgery during the medieval period? and why?
Barber surgeons because they were the best trained in knives
Were the barber surgeons all unskilled?
No some were highly trained
What could some barber surgeons do?
remove an arrow head or set a broken bone
Who were responsible for making remedies?
Apothecaries
What book did many apothecaries get their information on the herbs for the remedies?
Materia medica
Where else did apothecaries get their information/training from?
passed down from family members
What was the main function of medieval hospitals?
to care for the sick and ensure the comfort of the patients during their recovery
What would the nuns in the monasteries do for the patients?
Change bed linens and clothing of the patient and to make them feel as comfortable as possible
How many hospitals were there in england by 1500?
1,100
What % of hospitals were run by the church? and where did the remainder of hospitals come from?
30%, the remainder of hospitals were paid for by private citizens after their death
What was it called when someone leaves money in their will?
These were called endowments
Were people who were extremely ill or with terminal disease accepted into hospitals?
No
because severely/terminally ill people weren’t accepted into hospitals, what was the recovery rate pf people who were accepted? + why did the church like this?
due to the fact that the severely/terminally ill weren’t accepted, the recovery rate for those in hospitals were quite high. the church liked this because it showed God’s existence as a large number of hospitals were church led
Where did most care take place?
At home
Who mostly took responsibilities of care in medieval England?
Women
