Medieval Health and Medicine (1000 - 1500) Flashcards
Why was Arab/Islamic medicine more advanced than western medicine during the Middle Ages?
- Monitored patients
- Gave effective treatments based on observations
- Have similar pain killing methods that we still use today
- Not based on religion
Who was Hippocrates? Why was he so important to health and medicine during this time?
- 460-370 BC, 4000 years prior in Greece
- Founded the Humours
- Doctors today still take the Hippocratic Oath
Who was Galen? Why was he so important to health and medicine during this time?
- 130-210 AD, 500 years after Hippocrates
- Galen built on Hippocrates ideas
- Dissected animals to understand the human body
- His ideas were accepted by the church as he refer to the “Creator” in his books.
What was the Theory of the Four Humours?
Its was the belief that the body was made of four aspects:
- Yellow Bile
- Black Bile
- Phlegm
- Blood
If one of these were “out of balance” the opposite must be done to cure it.
Why was religion so important to health and medicine during the Middle Ages?
- Thought God sent illness as punishment
- Prayers were the most important treatment rather than drugs
What did medieval people think made them ill?
- God
- Four Humours
- Miasma
- Astrology
Why was public health so bad during the Middle Ages?
- Water was contaminated
- Cesspits could overflow onto roads and into rivers
- Towns were usually dirty with only a few paved streets
- Animals roamed the streets
- Leather tanning used dangerous chemicals
What role did Wise Women play in health and medicine during the Middle Ages?
- They knew all the herbal remedies that had been passed down their families for generations
- They would preform rituals
- They were the physicians for the poor.
What were Apothecaries?
- Sold herbs and other medicinal stuff
- Singles or compounds
- Had to serve as an apprentice for around 7 years
What role did Physicians play in health and medicine during the Middle Ages?
- Had to go to University
- Had to study for 7 years
- Only studied Galen’s work
- Very few in Medieval England
- Charged phat fees
What role did Barber Surgeons play in health and medicine during the Middle Ages?
- Did bloodletting
- Minor surgery
- Based on experience
- Apprentice for 7 years
- Hair cuts
What was a Zodiac Chart?
- They used the Zodiac Chart to decided what was the best time for treatments.
- Believed that each part of the body were linked to each sign and the planets
What was a Urine Chart?
- Physicians would look carefully at the colour of the
- Urine and compare it to the chart
- They may smell it and even taste it to determine what was wrong with the patient
What was ‘Bleeding’?
Treatment of removing some blood from a patient by opening a vein or using leeches to suck it out
What was ‘Purging’?
Forcing the patient to swallow herbs and animal fat to make them sick.
Giving a patient laxatives to clear their bowels
Why was surgery so dangerous during the Middle Ages?
- Incredibly unhygienic
- No understanding of the human body
- No painkillers or anaesthetics
- Little to no survival rates
What were Hospitals like during the Middle Ages?
- They were connected to monstrosities
- The staff were Monks and Nuns
- Did not allow the sick to enter, it was only for the elderly and the poor
- Prayer was the main, if not only, treatment
What was the Black Death? When did it reach England?
1348-1350
It was a disease that came in epidemics
How many people died from the Black Death?
1/3 but is now thought to be 60%
3.5 million are assumed to have died across England
What were the three main forms of plague during the Black Death?
- Bubonic Plagues
- Septicimic Plague
- Pneunomonic Plague
Describe the symptoms of each of the three plagues?
- Bubonic: comes from a bite -
caused painful swelling, intense fever and
swellings all over the body, death after a
couple of days
Septicimic: when the infection reached the
bloodstream -
The fingers, toes and nose would turn black
and rot away.
Pneunomonic: Breathing in cough droplets from the
already infected -
Coughing up blood, death within 2 days
What did people think caused the Black Death?
- God
- Miasma
- Astrology
- Jews
- Four Humours
What really caused the Black Death?
-Yersinia Pestis that lived in fleas and travelled through international trade routes
How did people try to prevent or get rid of the plague?
- Punish themselves
- Pray
- Carry flowers
- Ring bells
- Keep birds to fly around homes
- Bleeding and purging
- Cleaned the streets
Who were the flagellants?
Would walk around towns and cities, barefoot, whipping themselves to appease God and ask for forgiveness.
They came from Europe and wanted others to join them but many English didn’t want to
