Medicine Through Time

Question 1

Who were the key individuals in Medieval times?

Answer 1

Hippocrates - born in 460BC but ideas still used

Galen - born in 130AD but ideas still used

Question 2

What were Hippocrates’ theories?

Answer 2

Theory of Four Humours

Carefully observe symptoms

Question 3

What were Galen’s theories?

Answer 3

Theory of opposites
Heart has holes in it
Blood made in liver
Jaw made of 2 bones

Question 4

Why were people still using Galen’s work in the 1300’s?

Answer 4

The Catholic Church accepted his ideas
No dissection allowed so could not be disapproved
Medical schools still taught his ideas
No desire to test Galen’s ideas

Question 5

What did they think caused disease in Medieval times?

Answer 5

Didn't know what caused disease
Some beliefs were:
Sent by God
Caused by an imbalance of the four humours
Caused by earthquakes
Caused by movement of the planets
Caused by 'bad air'/miasma

Question 6

What were the treatments they used in Medieval times?

Answer 6

Balancing the humours
Burning or smelling herbs
Praying/Flagellation
Wearing lucky charms
Herbal medicines

Question 7

Who treated the sick in Medieval times?

Answer 7

Expensive physicians (doctors)
Apothecaries who sold supernatural and herbal remedies
Barber-surgeons
Local people/wise women with herbal remedies

Question 8

How were doctors trained in the Middle Ages?

Answer 8

Trained at medical school and took exams
Based on Hippocrates and Galen's ideas
Only men when to medical school
Used a Vademeccum
Used urine charts, astrology and the four humours

Question 9

What were hospitals like in Medieval times?

Answer 9

Run by the Church
Mostly monasteries and concerts where the monks and nuns cared for people
Provided care and prayer, not treatment
Some monasteries were for particular illnesses e.g. Leprosy and maternity
Main hospitals didn’t accept infectious diseases (separate hospitals/houses for leprosy)

Question 10

What was public health like in Medieval times?

Answer 10

Bad
Lack of clean water due to people dumping sewage in rivers
Water sellers sod water but was expensive and just taken form dirty rivers anyway
Rubbish dumped in streets
Animals allowed in streets

Question 11

Why was public health bad in the Medieval era?

Answer 11

Roman public health systems fell into despair
Towns grew in the Middle Ages so sewage and rubbish disposal problems grew
No one expected the government to take responsibility for keeping the streets clean
Government did pass some laws ( such as banning pigs from streets) but they were not enforced
No clean water as people dumped sewage in rivers

Question 12

What was the Black Death?

Answer 12

A terrible plague
Happened in 1348
Killed a third of the population in Britain

Question 13

How did people try to cure the Black Death?

Answer 13

Didn’t know what caused the plague so didn’t know how to cure it
Flagellants whipped themselves to show God they were sorry for their sins
Government ordered days of praying

Question 14

Were there any positives about Medieval public health?

Answer 14

London received clean water through lead pipes from the River Tyburn
Government did pass some laws but they were not really enforced
Rich people could afford their own toilet and bath
Monasteries and Converts were often near fresh water, not in main towns

Question 15

What was the Renaissance?

Answer 15

Renaissance means rebirth
A period when Greek and Roman ideas became fashionable
There was a decline in the church’s authority due to the reformation

Question 16

What were the features of the Renaissance?

Answer 16

Art - became much more accurate due to style and techniques
Printing - printing press invented in 1454
Royal society - set up in 1660. Intellectuals met to discuss scientific ideas
Microscope - invented, however still not powerful enough to prove Harvey’s theories
Scientific method - more emphasis on the importance of investigating and observing
Dissection - more acceptable, but still not very common at all

Question 17

Who were the key individuals in the Renaissance?

Answer 17

Galen
Andreas Vesalius
William Harvey
Thomas Sydenham

Question 18

What were Galen’s theories?

Answer 18

Theory of Opposites
Heart has holes in it
Blood made in liver
Jaw made of 2 bones

Question 19

What were Vesalius’ theories ?

Answer 19

1543 published The Fabric of the Human Body
Disproved Galen regarding the heart - said there were no holes
Disproved Galen regarding the jaw bone
HOWEVER: still couldn’t actually affect treatment

Question 20

What were Harvey’s theories

Answer 20

1628 published An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals
Disproved Galen regarding veins - showed that the heart acted as a pump
HOWEVER: still couldn’t actually affect treatment

Question 21

What were Sydenham’s theories?

Answer 21

Emphasised the importance of careful observation and experience
Known as the ‘English Hippocrates’
A founder of clinical medicine and the study and practise of medicine based on observation
A founder of epidemiology (the study of patterns, causes and effects of diseases

Question 22

What did some people think caused disease in the Renaissance?

Answer 22

Didn't know what caused disease 
Some beliefs were:
Imbalance of humours (natural)
Bad air (miasma)(natural)
God (supernatural)
Spontaneous Generation (natural)

Question 23

Who treated the sick in the Renaissance?

Answer 23

Expensive trained physicians
Self-treatment:herbs and remedies
Apothecaries
Local people/wise women with herbal remedies
Women: still made up the largest number of healers and midwives
Charity hospitals

Question 24

Why did women’s role as midwife decline in the Renaissance ?

Answer 24

1620 forceps invented

Women didn’t have the strength or training to use forceps

Question 25

How were doctors trained in the Renaissance?

Answer 25

Trained at university 
Still used Galen's work
Used astrology 
Could watch some dissections
About 50 trained physicians in London in the 1600's

Question 26

What were hospitals like in the Renaissance?

Answer 26

Henry VII closed the monasteries in the 1530’s which meant many hospitals closed too
However, some ‘hospitals’ were taken over by town councils to look after the elderly and poor
Some hospitals began to give patients ‘treatments’ (bleeding) as well as praying for them
Some hospitals allowed doctors to get experience by treating some of the patients

Question 27

What was public health like in the Renaissance?

Answer 27

Bad
Towns grew in the Renaissance and sewage and rubbish problems remained
Still a lack of clean water due to sewage in rivers and a lack of pipes and sewage systems
People still didn’t expect the government to take responsibility

Question 28

Why was public health bad in the Renaissance ?

Answer 28

Government - let London during the Great Plague and refused to enforce orders
Attitudes - people didn’t believe that it was the government’s job to provide public health
Technology - limited technology to aid public health - very few sewer systems bulit

Question 29

What was the Great Plague?

Answer 29

A terrible plague
Happened in 1665
Killed an estimated 100,000 people in London. 15% of the population
Didn’t know what caused the plague so didn’t know how to cure it either

Question 30

What actions did the government take during the Great Plague?

Answer 30

The government left London during the Great Plague
Some actions were taken:
People were locked in their houses for 40 days
Red Cross painted on infected houses
Barrels of tar to be burnt in the streets
Days of prayer ordered
Closed theatres and banned large funerals to prevent crowds
Killed dog and cats
Carts came through the towns to collect dead bodies and bury them
Days of fasting held

Question 31

Would any of the actions have helped?

Renaissance-Great Plague

Answer 31

Any useful measures would never been a coincidence

The government could not deal effectively with infectious diseases