Medicine through time, c1250-present

Question 1

Leprosy

Answer 1

Disease included in the Bible as an illustration of punishment for sin. Painful skin disease. Lepers were banished from communities. c1250-1500.

Question 2

Theory of the Four Humours

Answer 2

Theory by the Ancient Greeks, suggested the body was made up of four components attained by food: blood, black bile, choler and phlegm. Unbalance in these would suggest illness.

Question 3

Theory of opposites

Answer 3

Suggested by Galen following on to Hippocrates’ work. Balancing the Humours by making patients eat the opposite of the Humour they had too much of.

Question 4

(extra) Articella

Answer 4

Medical textbook with everything medical students would need to know in the Middle Ages. Contained work from Hippocrates and Galen.

Question 5

Why did Galen’s influence stretch so far?

Answer 5

• Influence of the Church (Galen’s theories fitted with ideas about the existence of God)
• Importance of book learning (a good physician was considered to be one who had read many books)
• The lack of alternatives (lack of scientific evidence to support any other theories)

Question 6

Miasma

Answer 6

A bad air that was believed to be filled with harmful fumes. Also associated with God.