Health and the People c1000 - Present (quick fire) Flashcards
(34 cards)
What was the dominant medical theory in the medieval period?
The Theory of the Four Humours
Who developed the Theory of the Four Humours?
Hippocrates
Who expanded on Hippocrates’ ideas and wrote many medical texts used in the Middle Ages?
Galen
What was the Church’s role in medicine in the Middle Ages?
It controlled medical knowledge, promoted Galen’s ideas, and discouraged dissection.
What were common treatments in the Middle Ages?
Bloodletting, purging, herbal remedies, and prayer.
What was the Black Death, and when did it reach England?
A deadly plague in 1348
What were believed causes of the Black Death?
God’s punishment, miasma, imbalance of humours, alignment of planets.
How did people try to prevent the Black Death?
Praying, flagellation, avoiding bad smells, carrying herbs, and fleeing infected areas.
What was the Renaissance and how did it impact medicine?
A revival of learning and discovery; it encouraged new thinking and anatomical study.
Who was Andreas Vesalius and what did he do?
A Renaissance anatomist who corrected Galen’s errors through dissection and wrote The Fabric of the Human Body.
What did William Harvey discover?
The circulation of the blood.
Why was Harvey’s discovery important?
It disproved Galen’s idea that blood was made in the liver and used up
How did people treat disease in the Renaissance?
Herbal remedies, bloodletting, prayer, and gradually more scientific methods.
What happened during the Great Plague of 1665?
A deadly outbreak similar to the Black Death with some improved public health measures.
What public health measures were taken during the Great Plague?
Quarantine, closing theatres, killing cats and dogs, and using plague doctors.
What was Edward Jenner’s contribution to medicine?
He developed the smallpox vaccine using cowpox.
Why was vaccination opposed at first?
People mistrusted it, feared side effects, and didn’t understand how it worked.
Who developed Germ Theory and when?
Louis Pasteur in 1861.
What did Germ Theory prove?
That microbes caused disease, not miasma or spontaneous generation.
How did Robert Koch contribute to Germ Theory?
He identified specific bacteria for diseases like tuberculosis and cholera.
What did John Snow discover in 1854?
That cholera was spread by contaminated water.
What was the significance of the Public Health Act of 1848?
It encouraged local councils to improve sanitation, though it was not compulsory.
What changes were made in the Public Health Act of 1875?
It made improvements in sanitation and hygiene compulsory.
What role did Florence Nightingale play in improving hospitals?
She improved hygiene and nursing during the Crimean War and founded a training school.
