History Changes In Health & Medicine, c.500 to Present Day Flashcards
(102 cards)
1. Causes of illness and disease - Medieval Era
Describe how poverty
was a cause of illness
- Most people in medieval england depended on their fields for food. By 1300 the population of England was about 4.75m, largest it had every been.
- 25% of rural families had enough land to support themselves. 40% of rural families had to buy some/all of their food.
- Often farm work had to be supplmented by wage labour in order to make enough money to survive.
- As landowners were enclosing more and more land for sheep, much of the country’s wealth came from wool trade - paid work was hard to come by. ( Therefore most people were poor )
- People would eat bread and pottage, a new kind of stew made from beans, peas & oats, with herbs. Poaching penalty’s existed & child manutrition was high.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Medieval Era
Describe how famine
was a cause of illness
- Famines were very deadly. For example, in 1069, William the conqueror, angry with continuing Anglo-Saxon rebellion, destroyed a whole swathe of land & his men poured in salt, preventing anything from growing. Thousands died.
- The worst Famine is Europe was in 1315-17 when torrential rain ruined planting and harvesting for 3 years. The poor harvest was compounded by the death of animals from disease & a shortage of fodder.
- Most of the seed grain was eaten, so crops couldnt be sowed even when conditions improved in 1318, so the effects of the famine rumbled on until 1324-25. Estimated 10-15% of Englands population died during this Famine.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Medieval Era
Describe how Medieval Warfare was a cause of illness
- There is a suggestion that an epidemic killed many otherwise healthy males in the Viking army winter camp at Repton in Derbyshire in 873-74.
- At the start of the Medieval Era, armies were relatively small, meaning fewer deaths. This changed later on, Edward I often called out 10,000 calvary & 30,000 infantry in his wars with Wales & Scotland. At the battle of Townton, in 1461, around 22,000-28,000 soldiers died fighting.
- Wars were also dangerous if you were in a besegied town, city or castle. If you held out too long or didn’t surrender, once the attacking army broke in, inhabitants were often killed or driven off with nothing.
- Villages, farms and towns were often left with little to no food as armies that provisioned themselves as they travelled needed enourmous amounts of food, which they stole.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Medieval Era
Describe the issue of Accidental deaths
- Maud fraus was killed by a large stone accidently dropping on her head at Montgomery Castle in Wales in 1288. At Aston, Warwickshire in October 1387, Richard Dousyng fell when a branch he had climbed broke & he broke his back and died.
- Storing crops over the winter brought their own problems. ‘Saint Anthony’s Disease’, for example, was caused by a fungus growing on stored in damp conditions. Once the rye was ground into flour & baked into bread, those who ate it developed painful rashes.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Medieval Era
Describe what made towns so unhealthy in the Medieval Era
- There was little regulations on what you could or could not build. Houses were crowded together & sanitation was very limited. Improvements depended on the corperation that ran the town & most wanted to keep costs as low as possible.
- Homes were also unhealthy, floors were covered in straws which were rarely changed. This was the perfect breeding ground for rats, mice, lice & fleas. There were few windows, & usually smoke from a wire would have to leave through a whole in the roof. Only the rich could afford windows & chimmneys, so homes were dark & smoky.
- Towns were unhealthy since there so many people living together & there were few regulations about building or waste removal. Clean water was also short in supply often taken from streams that were contaminated. Rubbish accumulated in streets until the water washed it away.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Medieval Era
A) Describe the effects of the Black Death
B) Describe what people thought caused the Black Death
A) In 1348 a ship docked at Melcombe in Dorset, bringing with it the Black Death. Its impact was devastating. In some places whole villages were wiped out.
- In 1348-49, its estimated 50-66% of the British population died.
B) Different ideas were
- Bad smells, from an overflowing privy or rotting food, corrupting the air
- The 4 humours are out of balance in each victim
- God is angry with the victims, they aren’t praying enough
- Jews have poisoned for wells & springs.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Early Modern
Describe;
A) The biggest killer diseases in this period
B) The dangers of the Plague
A) The biggest killer diseases in the Early modern period were; ‘fever, consumption, teeth, griping in the guys, and convulsions.’ The very descriptions show how little surgeons & physicians new about the causes of such diseases.
B) In 1604, 30% of the population of York died in an ourbreak of the plague. In 1665 around 100,000 people died of plague in London ( Nearly 25% of population ).
- Wealthy people fled the city for their country houses until the plague left, but it many cases it only spread the plague.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Industrial period
Describe the impact brought by industrialisation on health
- In Bethnal Green, in 1842 richer people lived on average to 45, while laboures till 16. In Manchester 57% of children died before age 5. Social survey show often a whole family lived in 1 room.
- Contagious diseases, such as typhoid, typhus, diarrhoea, smallpox and TB spread rapidly in overcrowded conditions. Bad conditions shown by Rickets spread, caused by calcium defiency and lack of fresh air & sunlight.
- Young boys were forced to clime up chimmneys came in contact with soot & gases, Percivall Pott, an English surgeon, identified scrotal cancer in many of these boys.
- Young girls making matches at factors developed ‘phossy-jaw’ caused by the fumes. Part of their jaw would be eaten away or glow in the dark. It also caused brain damage.
- Coal miners developed pnuemoconiosis, a disease of the lungs, caused by inhaling dust below grounds. Machines in new textile factories rarely had guards with few regulations.
1. Causes of illness and disease - Industrial period
Describe the issue of;
A) Cholera
B)Typhoid fever
A) The cholera epidemics of 1831-32, 1848, 1854 and 1866 were perhaps the biggest concerns. Cholera is a bacterial infection caused by ingesting contaiminated food/water.
- Originated in Bengal, India & slowly spread acroos trade routs.
- 1831-32: 50k deaths, 1848: 60k deaths, 1854: 20k deaths
B) Typhoid is caused by poor sanitation & lack of cleanliness, had killed people since Ancient Greece & was especially noticeable in armies. Industrial cities, being hard to keep clean, was a ferile place for typhoid. Prince Albert died in 1861.
- 1897-98in Maidstone, Kent a typhoid outbreak infected 1800/34,000 people & killed 132. Over 200 reports in first 8 days.
1. Causes of illness and disease - 20th Century
Describe the impact of the Spanish Flu
- In 1918, a flue pandemic spread worldwide, estimated 20-40million people died as a result & originated in China. Said to have infected 20% of world’s population & was most deadly for 20-40 year olds.
- The mass troop movements in 1918 after the end of WW1 helped spread the disease worldwide. The Uk gov.t imposed censorship about the spread, but newspapers reported on the 7million deaths in Spain.
- In a few months in the UK around 280,000 people died. Up to 20% of those infected died. Australian troops were staioned at Sutton Veny in Wiltshire from 1915-19, and there was a military hospital there.
1. Causes of illness and disease - 20th Century
Describe the fight agaisnt AIDS & it’s impacts.
- AIDS was first identified in 1981 in USA where it was seen large numbers of homosexual were dying. In 1983, it was seen a viral infection was attacking the immune system.
- By 2014 it’s estimated that 40million people have died from AIDS, & another 40million living with it. In the UK there are over 100k people living with AIDS and it’s thought that 25% of them have no idea they have the disease.
- It’s thought AIDS originated among primates in Africa, people don’t die of AIDS but from catching simple infections due to a weakned immune system.
- AIDS is usually cause by:unprotected sex with someone who has the disease; by sharing hypodermic needles; by contaminated blood transfusions; & from mother to child during pregnancy or breast feeding.
1. Causes of illness and disease - 20th Century
Describe the reactions to AIDS
- Some belive it is a religious issue, caused by God’s punishment to us, others believe it could be spread by touching while others thought those with AIDS should be isolated.
- Others have set up charities, like the Governments World Health Organisation, have spent millions on awareness campaigns to slow the spread of the disease. Some people argue, theres no need for anyone to catch AIDS.
- Some people see the story of AIDS as a pessimistic one. New disease and epidemics are always going ot break out, and science and technology are not always going ot be able to control them.
- Others see AIDS in a more optimistic light. Yes, it is an epidemic that has killed millions but the gov.t and internation organisation are working hard together to control the spread of disease and will find a cure.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - Medieval Era
Describe how;
A) Herbal medicines
B) Bleeding
were used as a cures in medieval england.
A) Herbal remedies:
- Herbal medicines often contained ingredients such as honey and a mixture of other plants that we know today do help.
- Treatments would be written down in ‘Herbals’ which included ingredients needed and prayers to say while collecting them ( to increase effectiveness )
- Some recipies would only work when picked at certain times of day, ( e.g. a full moon ).
- Remedies were often closely guarded family secrets
B) Bleeding:
- Most favoured way of fighting illness, and restore balance of the 4 humours.
- This was either achieved by ‘cupping’ or leeches. ( Monasteries showed monks bled almost 8 times a year! )
- Illness had been said to been caused by having to much blood.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - Medieval Era
Describe how;
A) Urine in diagnosis
B) Zodiac charts
were used as cures in medieval england.
A) Urine in diagnosis
- Urine was a vital diagnosis tool for doctors in the mediavel era
- Physicians would look carefully at the colour & compare it to a chart. ( He might smell/taste it to decide whats wrong with patients )
- Many patients today still have to submit a urine sample to treatment.
B) Zodiac Charts
- Charts like these would tell physicians which parts of the body were linked to which astrological sign, indicating what might cure a patient.
- Might also tell him what the best time to carry out treaments were, and when to pick certain ingriedents for treatment.
- Some ingredients picked at the wrong time might cause more harm than good.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - Medieval Era
Describe the role of Barber surgeons & leeches in acting as cures to illness.
1. Barber Surgeons
- These were surgeons with little to no experience/training that could; pull teeth, mend broken limbs, carry out bloodletting & cut hair ( Could also carry out surgeries ).
- They may sometimes combine their trade with an apothecary, producing herbal medicines to varying degrees of succesfullness.
- These were the only medical professional available to alot of people
2. Leeches
- Leeches have been used in medicine for over 2500yrs, they slowly suck out blood, as a natural form of bloodletting.
- Their saliva contains a natural anti-coagulant that also anaesthesis the wound area.
- It was thought leeches only removed ‘bad’ blood and left ‘good’ blood in the body.
- They were used way past the medieval period, even until 19th century. Still used today.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - Early Modern
Describe the changes that occured entering the Early modern era.
- Many physicians wrote in English rather than Latin, to help more people.
- Herbs were used in a more coherent way than before by incorperating the doctrine of signatures.
- New ingredients started to appear from around the world; Rhubarb called a ‘wonder drug’ from asia, Tobbaco from NA by Walter Raleigh - which found many uses in herbal remedies.
- The scientific approach to medicine, which involved observations, experiments and recording results, brought new ideas to deal with illness & herbal remedies ingredients
- New studies of mental illness, ‘melancholy’ and other disciplines such as midwifery were also conducted during this period.
- Some individuals began to indentify lifestyle issues such as taking in fresh air & improved diet as ways of preventing illness.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - Early Modern
Describe how anaesthetics were before James Simpson introduced his ideas.
- Surgery had always been companied by pain, copious amounts of alcohol or opium was used to try and subdue patients, but getting right dose wasn’t easy.
- Sir Humphrey Davy was the first one to use nitrous oxide, or laughing gas as we know it. The gas became used to relieve pain in surgeries but it was difficult to control dosage.
- In 1846, Robert Liston successfully amputated a leg using ether as an anaesthetic. However, a drawback was that patients sometimes woke up mid operation.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - Early Modern
Describe how anaesthetics were after James Simpson introduced his ideas.
- In 1847, James Simpson used chloroform, after experimentations, to reduce pain from childbirth
- Chloroform induced sleepiness, dizziness and unconsciouseness, so it needs to be administrated carefully.
- While there was opposition, this was partly overcome when in 1853 Queen Victoria used chloroform while having a child, convincing people to use it.
- Finally, in the 1850s, coca leaves from SA were used to produce cocaine, used as a local anaesthetic. The use of cocain rapidly grew, especially once it could be chemically produced in 1891.
- By the end of the century surgeries no longer had to be painfull
- Anaesthetics however, did not necessarilly make surgeries safer, it was still hard to get correct doses & doctors with more time now tried more dangerous operations
- Some surgeons had higher mortality rates using anaesthetics than before, so in the 1870s, some stopped using cholorform altogether.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - 19th Century
Describe the role of;
A) Ignaz Semmelweis
B) Joseph Lister
In advancing medical treatments
A) Ignaz Semmelweis
- Sepsis had been the biggest killer post-surgery for a long time
- Ignaz was the pioneer of antiseptics in 1847, having been in charge of the maternity ward.
- Reduced mortalilty rates from 35% to 1% by making doctors wash their hands in Calcium Cholride.
B) Joseph Lister
- After the publishing of germ theory, Lister used an operating room sterilised with carbolic acid. ( Based on experiments with frogs )
- His surgical instruments were also sterlised with it, he also soaked the wound with it from time to time.
- He managed to reduce mortality in operation from 46% to 15% in 3 years.
- In 1871 he invented a machine that sprayed carbolic acid over the whole room.
- He became known as the ‘Father of Antiseptic Surgery’.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - 19th Century
Describe other developments that came to Aseptic surgery, including surgical clothing
Developments of Aspetic Surgery;
- This followed on from the work of Robert Koch who discovered in 1878 most diseases were spread by infected surfaces
- In 1881 Charles Chamberland invented a steam steriliser for medical instruments, discovering that heating them at 140C for 20mins would sterilise them
- Next step was by Gustav Neuber, a German surgeon that is recognised for having the first sterile opening theatre.
- He published a paper in 1886, setting the standards for others.
Surgical Clothing;
- William Halsted in America started his team wearing surgical gloves due to a nurse developing an allergic reaction on her hand because of carbolic spray.
- He then asked the Goodyear Rubber company to make special thin gloves.
- Berkley Moyniham became the first in britian to wear gloves during a surgery, and later made a point of always changing his clothes for surgical gowns b4 entering sterile theatres.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - 20th Century
Describe the role of Mary Curie in the development of radiation
- Describe as the most famous female scientist of all time, won the noble prize of 1903 and 1911.
- She was born in poland, working as a governess. She and her husband were the first to discover and isolate radium and polonium
- These radioactive elements played a key role in destorying tissue, and thus opened up a way of treating cancer. Her 1911 Noble prize was earned as she discovered a way to measure radiation
- She also played a leading role in developing mobile X-ray units during WWI, making diagnosis and treatment of injured soldiers quicker & easier.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - 20th Century
Describe the role of Fleming, Florey and Chain regarding antiobiotics.
1. Role of Alexandar Fleming;
- During WWI Fleming observed that antiseptics could not prevent infections, so he decided to find something that could kill the microobes that caused infections
- In 1928, he noticed a mould - pencillin - growing on one of his petri dishes. He also noticed staphylocci around the mould had been killed off.
- That was how pencillin started, Fleming published these results in 1929, but could not get enough funds to develop the drug.
2. Role of Howard Florey & Ernest Chain:
- In 1937, these 2 working at Oxford Uni, began to research pencillin after seeing Flemings research on it.
- They overcame the difficulty of producing enough drugs. They first experimented on mice ( 1940 ) then humans ( 1941 ).
- Their first trial, a policemen badly infected died 5 days after their store of drugs ran out, proving it worked.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - 20th Century
Describe the use of pencillin and the impact it had.
- WWII provided a big incentive for the development of pencillin & in 1943 it was used for the first time on allied troops in North Africa, to huge success.
- American and Britian both produced large amounts of pencillin, saving many lives in 1944 and 1945.
- After the war ended it was widely used to treat many disease like; bronchitis, impetigo, pneumonia, tonsilitis, syphilis and others.
3. Attempts to treat and cure illness & disease - 20th Century
Describe the role of Christian Banard along with the development of different types of surgeries
1. Christian Banard
- In 1967 the world’s first heart transplant operation was undertaken in Cape Town, South Africa. ( Patient lived for 18 days )
- There were 2 main problems; The availability of replacement organs, and rejection of transplant.
- This was largly solved with the development of immunosuppressant drugs, such as cyclosporine.
2. Developments of different surgeries
- 1952 - The first kidney transplant surgery.
- 1961 - The first British implanted pacemaker was developed, along with heart bypass surgery
- 1972 - Introduction of Hip replacement surgery, brining mobility back to many people.