Medicine Flashcards
1
Q
How did the church control ideas in the Middle Ages?
A
- It ran universities where physicians were trained
- Priests could read and write unlike most people, this meant monasteries had lots of influence so what was written and read
- Proved traditional, rational explanations for disease, they particularly liked Galen as his ideas fitted Christian beliefs
- They taught that people should follow Jesus example and care for the sick, hospitals were often in monasteries
2
Q
Who was Galen?
A
- Roman doctor
- Created the theory of opposites
- Drew detailed diagrams of human anatomy after operating on wounded gladiators
3
Q
Who was Hippocrates?
A
- Ancient Greek doctor
- Most treatments were based on diet, exercise, rest and for humours
- Wrote the Hippocratic oath - doctors would respect life and prevent harm
- Wrote the hippocratic collection, included symptoms and treatments
4
Q
What was the theory of Miasma?
A
- ‘Bad air’
- It related to God because bad smells indicated sin
5
Q
What were the religious and supernatural methods to prevent illness in the Middle Ages?
A
- Living a Christian life
- Carrying lucky charms or amulets
- Chanting incantations
- Self punishment, flagellation
6
Q
What were the rational methods to prevent illness in the Middle Ages?
A
- Trying to keep streets clean
- Bathing and washing
- Exercising
- Not over eating
- Bleeding and purging
- Purifying the air
7
Q
What were barber surgeons?
A
- No medical training
- Carried out bloodletting, pulling teeth and lancing boils
- Did basic surgery such as amputating limbs, very low success rate
- Cost less than a physician 
8
Q
What were apothecaries?
A
- Received training but no medical qualifications
- Mixed medicines and ointments based on their own knowledge or directions of a physician
- Cost money, but less than a physician
9
Q
What were physicians?
A
- Medically trained at university
- Diagnosed illnesses and gave treatments or send patients to an apothecary or barber surgeon
- Urine charts, astrology used
- Expensive, mostly used by wealthy
- Very few of them
10
Q
What gave care in the home?
A
- Most people were treated at home by female family member
- The village ‘wisewoman’, would also tend to people in their homes for free
11
Q
How did physicians treat patients?
A
- Observe the patient’s symptoms and check their pulse, skin colour, urine
- Consulted urine charts in their vademecum
- Consultant Zodiac charts
- Then either treated patients themselves or sent them to an apothecary or barber surgeon
12
Q
What were the features of hospitals in the Middle Ages?
A
- Many were places where travellers and pilgrims stayed on their journeys
- Patients and surroundings were kept very clean
- They were places of recuperation rather than where patients were treated for disease
- Patients were given fresh food and plenty of rest
- Usually people with infectious diseases were not admitted
- Some were built for specific infectious diseases
- Many were run by the church
13
Q
How did people think the black death was caused?
A
- Religion – God sent the plague as punishment for people sins
- Astrology – the position of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn was unusual at this time
- Miasma – bad air or smells caused by decaying rubbish
- Volcanoes – poisonous gases from European volcanoes and earthquakes carried in the air
- Four humours – most physicians is believed that disease is caused by an imbalance in four humours
- Outsiders – strangers or witches had caused the disease
14
Q
How did people try to avoid catching the Black Death?
A
- Praying and fasting – people believed God caused the disease, so tried to show god they were sorry by punishing themselves
- Clearing up rubbish in the streets
- Smelling toilets or other bad smells, believed it would overcome the plague
- Lighting a fire in the room, ringing bells, having birds fly around the room for air circulation
- Carrying herbs and spices to avoid breathing bad air
- Not letting unknown people enter the town
15
Q
What were the symptoms of the Black Death?
A
- Swelling of the lymph glands into large lumps filled with pus (buboes)
- Fever and chills
- Headache
- Vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
16
Q
What were the treatments for the Black Death?
A
- Praying and holding lucky charms
- Cutting open buboes to drain the pus
- Holding bread against the buboes then burying it in the ground
- Eating cool things and taking cold baths
17
Q
How did the work of physicians change in the renaissance?
A
- As fewer people believed astrology caused disease, physicians stopped using astrology charts
- Due to improved knowledge of digestion, physicians realised that urine was not a good indicator of disease and stopped using urine chats
- They carried out more direct observations rather than relying on the patient explaining their symptoms
18
Q
Who was Thomas Sydenham?
A
- He worked as a doctor during the 1660s and 70s
- In 1676 he wrote his book, Observationes Medicae
- Nicknamed ‘English Hippocrates’
- He didn’t rely on medical books when diagnosing, instead he recorded symptoms
- Believed disease wasn’t related to the nature of the person who had it
19
Q
How did the printing press promote change?
A
- Invented in 1440 by Gutenberg
- By the start of the Renaissance, there were hundreds of printing presses across Europe
- It meant that many exact copies could be produced in a short amount of time
- The ideas and discoveries of scientists and doctors could be shared more effectively and much faster
- It reduced the churches control of ideas, it couldn’t prevent the publication of ideas it didn’t approve of
20
Q
What was the Royal Society?
A
- They met for the first time in 1660
- It recorded the results of experiments and sponsored scientists to enable them to carry out research
- In 1662 it received a royal charter from Charles II, this gave them credibility and raised their profile
- In 1665 they published a journal called Philosophical Transactions, it meant that scientists could build on each other’s work
- It encouraged members to write reports in English instead of Latin, and in straightforward language to make it accessible for everyone
21
Q
How did hospitals change in the Renaissance?
A
- Used less for travellers and more for sick people
- Many had their own apothecary and physicians frequently visited
- In 1536, the dissolution of the monasteries caused most hospitals to close
- It wasn’t until well into the 1700s that the number of hospitals returned to pre-dissolution levels
- More pest houses appeared, where people with contagious disease went for care
- When hospitals did reappear, they were run by physicians who focused on treating the sick rather than religion
22
Q
What were some changes in prevention and treatment in the Renaissance?
A
- More emphasis on removing miasma, by removing sewage and rubbish
- People regularly change the clothes to keep clean instead of just bathing
- Herbal remedies from newly discovered countries appeared in England, and some were effective
- The theory of transference led people to rub objects on themselves to try and transfer the disease to the object
- Alchemy caused chemical cures using metals or minerals to become popular
23
Q
In what ways did the training for apothecaries and surgeons stay the same in the renaissance?
A
- They were still not giving university training
- They were still seen as inferior to physicians and they were cheaper
24
Q
In what ways did the training for physicians stay the same in the renaissance?
A
- They were still trained at universities and the training lasted for many years
- Training was still based on learning from textbooks rather than practical experience
25
Q
In what ways did the training for apothecaries and surgeons change in the Renaissance?
A
- Both were better trained through being in guild systems, where they were apprentices > journeyman > masters
- A license was now needed, these were only issued after complete training
26
Q
In what ways did the training for physicians change in the Renaissance?
A
- There was a wider variety of medical books and detailed drawings due to the printing press
- New ideas about anatomy inspired some physicians to become more practical and experimental
- Dissection was legalised but took time to become commonplace
27
Q
Who was Andreas Vesalius?
A
- He carried out a large number of dissections of human bodies
- He published his book, ‘On the fabric of the human body’, in 1543
28
Q
What was the importance of Vesalius?
A
- Made study of anatomy fashionable, it became central to study of medicine
- Proved some of Galen’s work incorrect, this encouraged others to question Galen’s theories
- He encouraged others to carry out dissections
- His work was widely published in England, his illustrations of the human body were copied into other medical textbooks
29
Q
When was the Great Plague?
A
1665
30
Q
How did people’s ideas about what caused the plague change during the great plague?
A
- Miasma, this was the most common belief
- Fewer people believed it was caused by an imbalance in the four humours
- People knew that disease could be passed from person to person
