Renaissance things Flashcards
why was the Company of Barbers and Surgeons formed?
to regulate surgeons practising in the City of London
what was a failing in Renaissance leaps in medicine?
- developments in thinking and research did not always lead to improvements in practice
- most new ideas didnt trickle down to general public
how did art impact medicine in the renaissance?
- people studied corpses - more accurate diagrams
- da vinci
how did the reformation under HVIII impact medicine?
- king schools and scholarships set up
- church of england allowed english bible which introduced standardisation of elngish language
- dissolution of monasteries weakened church power
who invented the printing press?
johannes gutenburg
who brought the printing press to england?
william caxton
how did the invention of the printing press impact medicine?
- helped spread ideas
- tyndale bible; banned by the church to control what people knew about christianity (no ‘pope’ as such, indulgences), operated from protestant germany
- increased literacy
what was the Tyndale Bible?
an english translation of the bible
what did Copernicus do?
- polish astronomer
- work was prohibited in catholic europe until 1835
- 1543 ‘on the revolutins of the celestial spheres’ published
- discovered a new star = observational science
- heliocentrism proved the church wrong on central point which weakened their power
- supported by galileo
how did new weaponry in the Renaissance impact medicine?
- e.g. gunpowder
- new injuries led to new treatments
how did the discovery of new lands impact medicine in the renaissance?
discovered new food and medicines (ie quinine from south america, opium from turkey)
what was the Role of religion and gvt in public health, in the Renaissance?
- no longer living under catholic ruler
- religion diminished in status
- weak regulation of quack doctors
- some towns employed people to pick up rubbish
- people could be fined for not keeping the street outside their house clean
how did the College of Physicians attempt to regulate quack doctors?
from 1600, started to license doctors
how were hospitals in the Renaissance funded?
- use of private subscription by local people
- founded by gifts from rich people
- HVIII gave some money to start hospitals - st bart’s (prev a monastery then taken on by london authorities), st thomas’
how were Renaissance hospitals different to Medieval ones?
- new dispensation of medicines straight to public
- new attempts to help ill children; eg. thomas coran set up foundling hospital
- less religious
- purpose built
- more doctor training
from 1720-50, how many more london hospitals were built?
5
why did HVIII give some money to start hospitals?
monasteries’ care had been removed
give 3 examples of charity hospitals that opened in the renaissance
Middlesex Infirmary, London Hospital, Guy’s Hospital
what were charity hospitals?
- hospitals funded by rich
- offered largely free treatment to the poor
- some specialised in treating certain illnesses or provided mothers somewhere to give birth
what kind of people were admitted to hospitals?
- only those likely to recover quickly admitted - partly due to lack of space and risk of contagious illness spreading
- ‘deserving poor’ had a greater chance of being admitted
how many people in london died because of the great plague?
100,00 - 1/4
by autumn, 1664, how many deaths due to the great plague were there per week in london?
7000
how did people respond to the great plague?
- people fled to countryside
- parliament postponed
- public health was almost non-existent
what did people believe caused the great plague?
- superstition
- prayers and charms
- george thomson refused to evacuate and claimed he survived by placing a frog on his chest
- pigeons, snakes and scorpions all believed to ‘draw out’ the poison
- london mayor ordered killing of 200000 dogs and cats (more rats)
what were the plague orders?
- imposed by local councils not national gvt
- quarantine laws stopped disease coming from ships from 1666
- city gates were locked unless a certificate of health was presented (which poor couldnt afford)
- if 1 family member was infected then all must quarantine
- scottish border closed
- trade with london stopped
what did the 1752 Murder Act say?
allowed corpses of executed murderers to be taken to Company of Surgeons in London for study and teaching
what was the impact of the 1752 Murder Act?
dissection more widely practiced and legalised, meaning human anatomy was better understood
what did Harvey do?
- worked as royal doctor and lecturer in anatomy in london
- 1604 joined Royal College of Physicians
- read widely
- challenged 4 humours
- studied human hearts through dissection
- experimented by trying to pump blood the wrong way - discovered the role of valves
- king charles allowed him to experiment on the royal herd of deer
- disproved galens theory of blood being produced in liver and used as fuel by mathematically calculating how much would have to be produced (clear and detailed proof)
- 1628 wrote ‘de motu cordis’- took fifty years before the uni of paris taught his theories
what was the significance/impact of harvey?
- discoveries led to attempted blood transfusions
- criticised for disagreeing with galen
- proved galen wrong
- groundwork for blood transfusions and pulse checking
what did pare do?
- surgeon in paris at hotel dieu and military surgeon
- designed and made false limbs - minimised pain for patients and wanted to increase their life quality
- translated vesalius into french
- 1537 battle ran out of boiling oil - used rose oil, turpentine and egg yolks - worked better
- discarded practice of castration with hernia
- 1545 ‘the method of curing wounds caused by arquebus and firearms’ published
- 1575 ‘collected works of ambroise pare’ published
- revived galens practice of ligatures - not readily accepted as could cause infection
- designed ‘bec de corbin’ clamp to halt bleeding whilst tying ligature
what was the significance/impact of pare?
- elizabeths surgeon william clowes greatly admired pare
- changed people’s views on surgery
- 1575 published ‘apology and treatise’ which changed the way surgeons treated wounds and amputations
what did vesalius do?
- said medical students should perform dissections for themselves
- challenged and corrected galen - no holes in the septum of the heart
- 1543 ‘on the fabric of the human body’ - illustrations - replaced galen; dissected animals to prove how galen got his theories (breastbones has 3 not 7(ape) parts)
- held popular lectures
- researched how the human body worked - muscles, veins, nerves, digestive system, reproductive system
- found no medical cures
- dissections to locate best places for bloodletting
- 1537 book prev. supporting galen
- became doctor for emperor charles v
what was the significance/impact of vesalius?
- influenced pare
- had an appreciative english audience; thomas geminus created the 1st edition of fabrica in england
- created detailed anatomical layout of the human body
- work was widely circulated due to the invention of the printing press
- challenged the ideas of galen, opening the way for improvements
what did john hunter do?
- pioneering surgeon and anatomist but was perceived as dangerous villain
- said the best healing method was nature
- 1760 army surgeon
- 1768 appointed as surgeon to St George’s hospital
- became a member of the company of surgeons where he trained 100s of others
- present for more than 2000 dissections
- 1776 was appointed surgeon to GIII
- part of the scottish enlightenment
- 1786 wrote ‘on venereal disease’ - self experimentation; actually made a mistake, but due to his renown was only proved wrong 51 yrs later
- used ligatures instead of amputation for aneurysms - willing to try radical approaches
- promoted careful observation
- opened museum as he though ignorance bred fear; 4000 objects, 500 species
what was the significance/impact of john hunter?
- connected surgery to the public (model for public engagement)
- developed better approaches to surgery
- edward jenner was his student
- known as the father of scientific surgery
- unrivalled knowledge made him a great teacher
what did thomas sydenham do?
- insisted doctors should visit the sick, rather than the other way round
- expert on epidemics including scarlet fever and malaria
- encouraged observation and that a natural remedy should always be sought
- suggested exercise and moderation
- wrote Observationes Medicae in 1676
what was the significance/impact of thomas sydenham?
- showed some progress in his thinking - not treating patients unnecessarily
- taught that disease was caused by ‘atmospheres’
- clinical observation
what were renaissance ideas about the causes of disease?
- superstition
- 4 humours
- miasma
- small worms in air caused syphilis (pre cursor to germ theory)
what were renaissance treatments of disease?
- bloodletting - actually worsened plague
- royal touch - coins
- bonfires and herbs against miasma
- apothecaries
- astrology
- in 1700s electricity started to be used in some medical treatments though it was rarely effective
- paracelsus (late 16th cent swiss physician) used chemical remedies for disease and challenged established ideas
how did approach to mental health change in the renaissance?
became more important; Robert burton linked lack of exercise and too much studying to poor mental health and published ‘the anatomy of melancholy’ in 1621
when charles ii became ill, how many different drugs was he given?
58
what was ‘the complete herbal’?
1653 book by nicholas culpepper explaining the uses of plants and astrology in treating disease
what kind of training did physicians have in the renaissance?
many doctors trained at College of Physicians, est 1518 - set training standards for surgeons for the first time
how did inoculation and variolation work?
giving a healthy person a mild dose of a disease allowing them to build up resistance - however it didnt always work and could kill
when did inoculation become common in britain?
after 1721, when lady montagu saw it in turkey and inoculated her children
what % of people who became infected did smallpox kill?
30%
what proportion of blind people were blind due to smallpox?
1/3
what did jenner do?
- developed first vaccine for smallpox using cowpox
- country doctor who heard milkmaids who got cowpox didnt get smallpox
- 1796 tested his theory and gave cowpox to 8 y/o james phipps - 6 wks later have him smallpox inoculation and there were no signs of disease
- repeated findings with 16 other patients
- 1798 published findings
why did people oppose jenner’s vaccination?
- snobbery
- worried about getting disease from cows
- william woodville claimed it didnt work - deaths occured at his hospitals as he tried to recreate jenner’s experiment - used contaminated equipment
- doctors profited from inoculation
- no theory/proof
how was vaccination accepted?
- 1853 compulsory but there were campaign groups against gvt enforcement
- proven through experimentation
- less dangerous than incoulation
- 1840 free for infants
- members of royal family vaccinated
- 1802 £10,000 gvt grant for clinic - further £20,000 a few years later
