Renaissance medicine 1500-1700 Flashcards
what does renaissance mean
rebirth mean
what were the chnages in ideas on the cause of disease
- fewer supernatural and religious
- new rational ideas
- seeds in the air spread disease
- reduced influence of the church
- fewer people belived in astrology
- urine was found not to be a good indicator of disease
what were the continuity of ideas on the cause of disease
- theory of miasma (popular by epidemics)
- theory of the four humours
how did the influence of the church change
- people began to challenge the ideas of the church
- people were still religious but looked for other ideas about the cause of disease as opposed to god
- dissolution of the Catholic church by Henry VIII was in 1536
what changed in the work of physicians and scientists
- fewer believed in astrology so astrology charts for diagnosis and timing treatment were no longer used
- stopped using urine charts as an indicator if disease because of improved digestion knowledge
- more direct observations and examinations rather than relying on the patient explaining their symptoms
who was Thomas Sydenham
- doctor in London during 1660’s and 70’s
- his book Observationes Medicae (1676) outlined his theories and observations
- didn’t rely on medical books to make a diagnosis but observed patients and recorded symptoms in detail
- he was instrumental in the ‘new’ idea that disease had no correlation with the nature of the person who had it
- based treatment on disease as a whole and didn’t treat individual symptoms
his influence was mainly after his death so people called him the ‘English Hippocrates’`
when was the printing press invented
1440 by Gutenberg
what did the printing press mean
- exact copies of books could be produced in a short amount of time
- helped reduce the churches control of ideas because they couldn’t prevent the publication of ideas it didn’t approve of
- communication and sharing of ideas
what was the royal society
- aimed to further scientific understanding by carrying out and recording results of experiments, sharing scientific knowledege and encouraging new theories and ideas
- sponsered scientists to enable them to carry out research
- 1665 published journal called Philosophical Transactions in which scientists could share their work and ideas
- confirmed or dismissed or spread ideas quickly
- build on each other’s ideas
what were hospitals like
- treating more sick people
- used less by travellers and pilgrims
- most had their own apocathary
- physicians frequently visited patients
- In 1536 dissolution of church caused most hospitals to close
- some free charity-funded hospitals were set up but it wasn’t until the 1700’s when the number increased to pre-dissolution levels
- when they re appeared they were ran by physicians and focused on treating sick rather than religion
- more pest houses began to appear for people suffering a specific contagious disease
what was community care
ill people being cared for at home normally by a femal relative as physicians were still to expensive for the majority
- traditional herbal remedies
- bleeding and purging
- cleanliness
- superstitions and prayer
- healthy lviing
what were the changes in preventions and treatments
- emphasis on removing miasma through draining swamps and removing sewage and rubbish
- regularly changed clothes rather than bathing to keep clean
- new herbal remedies came from newely discovered countries
- the theory of transference led people to try and rub objecys on themselves to transfer the disease to the object
- alchemy caused chemical cures using metals or minerals to become popular
how did the imporoved knowledge and discoveries of the Renaissance have a limited impact at the time
- slow to be accepted
- they had to direct use in improving the treatment of preventing of disease
- their discoveries did not improve their understanding of the cause of disease
what continued in the work of apothacaries and surgeons
- not given university training
