Medieval Medicine Flashcards
What animal did Galen demonstrate on to prove what finding? - MEDIEVAL
A live pig.
Showed that the brain, not heart controlled movements.
Why did the Church support Galen’s ideas? - MEDIEVAL
Galen’s work referred to a ‘creator’ which fitted with the idea that God created man.
What were the 4 humours and their characteristics? - MEDIEVAL
Blood (Hot, Wet)
Phlegm (Cold, Wet)
Black Bile (Cold, Dry)
Yellow Bile (Hot, Dry)
Name 3 things believed to have caused illness in the Medieval period… - MEDIEVAL
An Imbalance of the Four Humours Punishment from God Miasmas (Bad Smells) Misalignment of the Planets The Supernatural
What methods were believed to treat illness that had been sent from God? (Name 2) - MEDIEVAL
Going on Pilgrimages
Whipping Themselves (FLAGELLANTS)
Prayers and fasting
What natural methods were used to treat disease? - MEDIEVAL
Herbal remedies, bloodletting, rest
Who treated lower class patients? - MEDIEVAL
A wise woman (herbal remedies and supernatural cures)
Apothecaries (supplied herbal remedies)
Barber surgeons (performed minor surgery)
How many people did they Black Death kill and when did it arrive? - MEDIEVAL
1348, killing at least 1.5 million people
What were the different types of plague and the symptoms? - MEDIEVAL
Bubonic - creates buboes on the skin, fever, blisters
Pneumonic - attacks lungs, 90% death rate
Septicaemic - infected the blood, caused fever and vomiting
Name 3 problems with public health - MEDIEVAL
Population overcrowding, lack of clean water, no ways of dealing with sewage
Name 2 rational and 2 irrational cures of disease - MEDIEVAL
Rational - Bloodletting, vomiting, herbal remedies
Irrational - Pilgrimages, whipping (flagellants), prayer
Describe a barber surgeon (jobs, education, class) - MEDIEVAL
Jobs - performed tooth extractions, amputations and trepanning
Class - lower class, operated on lower class
Education - often apprenticed or learned in battlefield
Describe a physician (jobs, education, class) - MEDIEVAL
Jobs - leaches to bloodlet, recommended prayer, pilgrimage, flagellants
Class - upper class
Education - university trained, read books (‘Compendium Medicine’, works of Galen), all theory
Name 3 ways Christianity helped medical progress - MEDIEVAL
Founded hospitals to follow Jesus’ example of caring for the sick
Set up 700 hospitals between 1000 and 1500
Controlled training of doctors at universities
Give 3 ways Christianity hindered medical progress - MEDIEVAL
Encouraged miraculous healing from pilgrimage
Hospitals had no doctors, just a priest to keep strict diet and prayer
Arrested those who challenged their ideas
Give 3 ways Islam helped medical progress - MEDIEVAL
Encouraged the discovery of new cures
Baghdad had a medical study centre that translated Arabic texts
Disapproved of Galen’s ideas
Give 2 ways Islam hindered medical progress - MEDIEVAL
Struggled to spread knowledge to Europe
Didn’t allow dissection
How did surgeons deal with pain, blood loss and infection? - MEDIEVAL
Pain - created early anaesthetics made of hemlock, opium and mandrake root
Blood loss - cauterised wounds (burning blood vessels) - painful
Infection - didn’t as they thought pus was a sign of poisoned blood being removed.
Give 3 examples of public health being better at monasteries - MEDIEVAL
Toilets were built downstream from water supplies
Better, healthier diets
Effective quarantining when people were ill prevented spread
Explain why public health was better at monasteries than towns - MEDIEVAL
They were cleaner
In the countryside meant less disease
Had better sewage plans
Name 4 treatments for the Black Death - MEDIEVAL
Prayer + fasting Building a candle as tall as yourself Strapping a shaved chicken to the buboes Cutting buboes and letting them bleed Bathing in urine
What were 3 impacts of the Black Death? - MEDIEVAL
Killed 1.5m (1/3 of the population)
Led to higher demand for peasant jobs so higher wages were demanded
Some became devoted to the church as a response for the ‘punishment from God’
Some lost faith in the church
What did Avicenna do to advance medicine? - MEDIEVAL
Translated Arabic texts into European languages
How many surgical instruments did Abulcasis create? - MEDIEVAL
26 new instruments
Why was amputation rarely used? - MEDIEVAL
Due to the risk of blood loss and infection
How did John of Arderne help advance medicine? - MEDIEVAL
In 1368 he created the Guild of Surgeons in London to separate surgeons from barber surgeons
Developed a pain killing ointment made from hemlock, henbane and opium
Treated anal abscesses
How did Mondino de Luzzi help advance medicine? - MEDIEVAL
Performed a public dissection in 1315 in Bologna
How did Hugh and Theodoric of Luca advance medicine (to an extent) - MEDIEVAL
In 1267, they wrote a book about their thinking that pus was bad for the body.
However, Guy de Chauliac challenged this idea, meaning it had little impact.
What attempts were made to improve public health in towns? - MEDIEVAL
Exeter and London used technology such as lead and wood pipes to deal with increased water demand
In 1330 laws were passed to stop butchers throwing animal remains into the street
Streets outside wealthy people’s houses were cleaned by servants
What was the Ancient Greek method of diagnosing disease? - MEDIEVAL
Clinical observation
How many patients did each medieval hospital care for? - MEDIEVAL
12 patients to mirror the 12 disciples
What were Islamic Hospitals called that provided care for all? - MEDIEVAL
Bimaristans
Which 2 doctors had their work translated into Latin for European doctors to use? - MEDIEVAL
Rhazes and Avicenna
Why did the Black Death spread so quickly? (2) - MEDIEVAL
Due to overcrowding, lack of knowledge about the causes of disease and poor disposal of bodies
What was the name of Baghdad’s medical library? - MEDIEVAL
The House of Wisdom
What were hospitals called that looked after people with infectious diseases? - MEDIEVAL
Lazar houses
Why were Muslim doctors encouraged to find out new things about medicine? - MEDIEVAL
The prophet Muhammad encouraged scientists to discover cures
