WEEK 7 (Medicine in Ancient Rome) Flashcards
What was important regarding hygiene?
- Roman baths were accessible to everyone
- Clean drinking water
- Spread awareness about the importance of general hygiene
- Exercise & Diet (VERY IMPORTANT)
Where was Greek medicine established?
Rome by Ascelpiades
What did The Methodic School emphasise?
Identification of the disease first followed by treatment; it paid less attention to the individual patient
What was distinguishable about The Methodic School?
- Knowledge in the disease itself is sufficient for treatment
[“if you know what the disorder is, you already know the treatment”] - Sufficient to observe some general symptoms of illnesses
- Did not believe in trials, research or experience
- A Methodist’s knowledge is “firm and certain” and leaves no room for future revision
How were Dogmatic schools different from Methodic Schools?
They believed there were hidden causes behind symptoms
[Research + experience is needed]
What was distinguishable about The Empiric School?
- Experience was a key factor
- Remedies should be familiar, tried and tested
- Not evidence-based medicine
- Rejected that there were hidden causes behind disease
- Knowledge is not “firm and certain” and leaves room for revision
What was distinguishable about The Dogmatic School?
- Knowledge is not “firm and certain” and leaves room for revision
- They believed that there were hidden causes behind symptoms
- Highlighted traditions of Hippocrates e.g HUMORS
- Developed GALEN (believed illnesses were caused by an imbalance in bodily fluids)
What was the major treatment in The Dogmatic School?
Rebalancing the humours to restore health
[which included changes in diet & exercise and herbal & mineral treatments]
What minor treatments occurred in The Dogmatic School?
- Bleeding
- Cupping
- Cauterisation
What was important about Asclepiades?
- Against Hippocratic humour theory
- Believed disease was caused by mechanical disturbance of the movement of the atoms through the pores of body
- Founder of The Methodic School -> students were also against Humour theory
- Opposed blood-letting and purging & relied on diets and baths for treatment
Did everyone in Ancient Rome have access to drinking water?
YES
Because Ancient Rome were the first to develop aqua ducts
Who was Celsus?
- One of the roman authors that wrote about the eye
- Believed that eyes served to produce light
- Introduced “COUCHING”
(Introducing a sharp needle through the front of the eye and pressing against the lens, dislocating the lens allowing light to pass through the pupil)
What did Celsus believe?
If you formed a cataract in your eye then the light would not be able to shine out and therefore you would not be able to see
Who was the main god of medicine in Ancient Rome and Greece?
Asclepius
What did the Ancient Romans believe about gods in terms of medicine?
- Believed that gods wished sickness upon those who lapsed in their worship and morality
- Less significant than in Ancient Egypt or Greece
- Offerings & Prayers were a routine part of many treatments