Renaissance Medicine Flashcards
What did people in the Renaissance think caused disease?
Natural - Continuation of the Theory of the Four Humours and the ideas of Galen. Bad air theory, disease was caused by bad smells.
Supernatural - Disease was a punishment from God. Astrology (movement of the planets caused disease).
Very much the same as the Middle Ages.
Who treated disease in the Renaissance?
Most Doctors were now trained at universities established by the church. Many people could not afford to see a doctor and would instead visit apothecaries (herbal pharmacy) or Quack doctors (frauds).
How was disease treated in the Renaissance?
Natural - Apothecaries dispensed herbal remedies. People carried sweet smelling herbs to avoid bad air. Balancing of the humours (bleeding, purging etc.) Doctors used urine charts to diagnose patients.
Supernatural - People prayed for forgiveness or punished themselves (Flagellants). Doctors used astrology charts to diagnose illness.
What surgery could they perform in the Renaissance?
Mostly external surgery and amputations, although progress was made in rates of survival.
What anatomical knowledge did they have in the Renaissance?
Vast improvements were made by Andreas Vesalius. He published the first accurate sketches of the human skeleton and muscles (Fabric of the Human Body 1543), proving Galen wrong on over 200 aspects of anatomy. He broke the law to do this by stealing bodies from the gallows and cemeteries.
William Harvey proved that the heart was a pump and blood circulated rather than being produced by the liver and burned as fuel as Galen suggested. He did this by experimenting on cold blooded animals.
Could Surgeons in the Renaissance control pain, bleeding and infection?
Pain - Pare began to use bandages with turpentine, oil of roses and egg yolk rather than boiling oil for bullet wounds.
Bleeding - Pare encouraged the use of ligatures (silk threads) to tie off arteries rather than using cauterising irons. This was an effective way to stop bleeding.
Infection - No effective way to prevent infection. Ligatures would often be unsterile and spread infection.
What was Public Health like in the Renaissance?
Continued public health problems in towns and cities such as further outbreaks of the plague. The government could not control the Great Plague of 1665.
The government’s systems were more effective than in 1348 but still did not work fully e.g. bodies had to be buried at night at least 6 feet down, watchmen guarded houses to quarantine plague victims.
What factors affected Medicine in the Renaissance?
Religion - The rebirth of scientific thought began to weaken the power of the church. People were more willing to challenge Galen.
Individuals - Pare improved surgical procedures (bandaging rather than boiling oil and ligatures rather than cauterising). Vesalius revolutionised anatomy (Fabric of the Human Body 1543). Harvey proved the heart was a pump.
Science & Technology - Printing press helped to spread knowledge and ideas. The water pump helped to inspire Harvey’s theory.
War - Injuries during war inspired Pare to make his changes.
