Medieval Medicine Flashcards
When was the medieval time period?
c.1000 - c.1500
When was the renaissance time period?
c.1500 - c.1700
When was the industrial time period?
c.1700 - c.1900
When is the modern time period?
c.1900+
Name a treatment before Hippocrates
Drilling holes into the head (prescribed by Shaman/witch doctors) to alleviate evil spirits.
What time period was Hippocrates from?
Ancient Greece
Name the 4 humours
Phlegm, blood, yellow bile (urine) and black bile (faeces)
How did Hippocrates spread his ideas?
He wrote 60 books which were translated and spread across the globe
How did Galen develop the 4 humours?
By creating the theory of opposites
Why did Galen’s work contain mistakes?
He conducted experiments on animals- not humans.
Name 4 symptoms of the black death
Headache, swollen glands (buboes), coughing up blood and a fever
When did the black death first start?
1346
Name 3 “causes” of the black death of 1346
Punishment from god
Alignment of the planets (bad things to come)
Bad air/miasma
Name 3 treatments of the black death of 1346
Bleeding and purging
Lancing buboes
A pilgrimage to a holy site
Name 3 preventions of the black death of 1346
Lighting a fire and boiling vinegar (to ward off bad smells)
Avoid bathing (it will open pores and allow impurities to enter)
Clearing dung and rubbish from the streets
What is the regimen sanitatis?
A book providing information on how to live healthy
Other than the church, what was one reason many people died from the black plague?
A lack of understanding of germs meant they couldn’t find a cause, and therefore couldn’t find a treatment.
Also, a lack of technology meant that people weren’t able to create vaccines, or use microscopes to understand these germs.
What were some features of hospitals in the medieval period?
-Only offered hospitality
-Rejected infectious or terminally ill patients
-Most required shared beds unless someone was dying
Explain the role of wise women in the middle ages
They helped women give birth, relied on herbal treatments , carried out minor surgery
They had no training and weren’t very effective
Explain the role of physicians/clergymen in the middle ages
To diagnose and recommend treatments, and to examine the humours
They were expensive and couldn’t cut a patient
Name the role of apothecaries in the middle ages
They mixed herbal remedies, studied herbal manuals and were cheaper than physicians
They went against the Hippocratic oath and used supernatural theories
Name the role of surgeons in the middle ages
They had a steady hand to remove rotten teeth and stop bleeding and were trusted with sharp tools
Only a few were fully trained
Name 2 natural and supernatural treatments in the medieval period
Natural:
Bleeding and purging
Herbal remedies
Supernatural:
Prayer
Self flagellation
