The beginnings of change (Renaissance) Flashcards
What did Andreas Vesalius think and do to help health (1514-64)
He observed and carried out dissections in order to inform his artistic work
His book De Fabrica Corporis Humani was illustrated with numerous detailed engravings
Corrected over 300 of Galen’s mistakes and argued the importance of doctors learning from dissections than books
What did Ambroise Pare think and do to help medicine (1510-90)
Lots of practical experience as he worked as an army surgeon
He invented a new way of sealing wounds on the battlefield and used ligatures to tie blood vessels
He published a book called Oeuvres in 1575
He was a surgeon to the French court, serving 4 kings over 38 years
What did William Harvey do and think to help medicine (1578-1657)
Interested in physiology especially blood
He did many dissections and proved blood circulates around the body using arteries and veins with valves. He also showed the heart acted as a pump for the system. Circulatory system
Took many years for his ideas to be accepted
Galen believed that the liver was in the centre of the body, and William Harvey proved him wrong, the heart was at the centre
Opposition to change
Some people embraced more scientific methods but others weren’t convinced
Many didnt agree with experimenting to prove theories
Many still believed Galen’s work and were reluctant to accept he may have been wrong
English textbooks for doctors still published Galen’s ideas until the 1650s
People like Harvey were ridiculed for their ideas at the time
In everyday medicine very little changed
What did Edward Jenner realise and do about it
He was a country doctor who realised that milkmaids who caught cow pox, never caught smallpox
He injected a 9 year old boy with cowpox pus from a milkmaid and later gave him a dose of smallpox. He didn’t catch it
Jenner did further tests which produced the same result
He was the father of vaccination in 1797
Opposition to change (vaccinations)
Opinion on vaccines were mixed at first
Many thought it was wrong to inject cowpox into humans as illness was a punishment from God
Vaccination wasn’t promoted actively until 1837-40 when vaccination was made free to infants
In 1853 infant vaccination was made compulsory (wasn’t strictly enforced however)
Anti-vaccination league was set up in 1866 to oppose compulsory vaccination
From 1871 parents were fined for not vaxing their kids
What did John Hunter do
Famous surgeon and anatomist
Taught dissection and anatomy
Found out about how the body works by doing 100s of post mortems
Served as an army surgeon
He taught many of the best surgeons of the time
Edward jenner was one of his students
What was the Foundling hospital 1741
Advantages + Disadvantages
Founded 1741 to care for abandoned children who were born out of wedlock.
It was funded by donations.
The babies were fostered until they were 5 and then brought to live in the hospital until the age of 15.
A - Some abandoned children were taken off the streets and received training in the hospital for military or domestic service.
D - Not all babies got places- a lottery system operated. It was also not really a hospital it was an orphanage.
What was the Royal hospital for Seamen 1694
Advantages
Founded in 1694 by Royal Charter, supported by Mary II and her husband William III. A place of refuge for elderly and injured seamen who had served in the Royal Navy and who “by reason of Age, Wounds or other disabilities shall be incapable of further Service at Sea and be unable to maintain themselves.”
A - Care for the disabled as a result of involvement in welfare
What was St Bartholomew’s hospital 1123
A
Founded as a religious institution in 1123, It was supported by both the City of London and by important individual benefactors. It gradually moved from being a hostel for the poor and destitute to being a place of treatment and research – Harvey did his experiments on the circulation of the blood here.
A - Training and research were prioritised. A hospital was moving from being a hostel for the poor to being more like a modern hospital
Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621)
Signs of progress and what is it
Burton divided ‘melancholy’ (depression) into two types – passing depression caused by events, and a tendency to be depressed, which Burton calls “a serious ailment”.
His extremely long book draws its information from a wide range of sources, including his own observations but also including astrology and the writings of Galen and Hippocrates.
Progress - Depression recognised as a mental illness to be treated. Called it melancholy.
Not progress - It also included astrology and ideas from Galen and Hippocrates.
Jane Sharp, The Midwives Book (1671)
What was it and signs of progress
Sharp’s book was based on her extensive experience and was designed as a practical handbook for use by expectant women and those helping them give birth. (There is even a section of advice for fathers.) It included diagrams covering normal complications of births, giving advice of how they could be overcome. She drew on published sources, such as the ideas of Galen, but correcting their mistakes in their light of her own experience. Her book was reprinted many times and was influential; it was kind of expensive.
Sharp was adamant that attending on women in childbirth was a woman’s job, and her book was a counterblast against the increasing masculinisation of this branch of medicine. In this, she had only limited success.
Progress - She corrected the ideas of Galen and Culpeper about childbirth and produced a practical childbirth guide for women helping women to give birth. Her practical ideas were widely used.
Not progress - The book was expensive so not all women had access to it
Sir John Floyer, A Treatise on the Asthma (1698)
What was it and signs of progress
This was a careful, scientific account of the causes, symptoms and treatment of asthma.
By contrast, Floyer also appears to have believed in many Galenic ideas, in the importance of the humours, and in the role of angels in bringing magical/miraculous cures.
Progress - Identified the causes of asthma
Negatives - Superstitious and Galenic ideas
Overall renaissance changes
New scientific ideas started to have an impact on medicine and public health
Printing press invented, ideas could spread rapidly
Many began to challenge the work of Hippocrates + Galen
People started to do experiments to prove the old ideas were wrong
New methods of treatment
More hospitals which started to treat the sick rather than just caring
Many towns had a pharmacy
Books on medicine for treating the family at home
Scientific approaches
