Renaissance Flashcards
(33 cards)
How did protestantism impact medicine
Lifted restrictions on dissection
Lifted the churches control of book publication
The printing press
Invented around 1440
Work could be published and shares more easily
Gave church less power of books being produced as monks were no longer the only ones producing them
Microscopes
More powerful microscopes meant scientists could see microorganisms, like bacteria
Exploration
More land was discovered leading to New substances with medical qualities being brought back e.g ginger
Anatomy
Allowing dissection lead to Harvey discovering the circulatory system
And better drawings of human anatomy
Surgery
More dangerous weapons like mechanical crossbows were developed leading to more serious wounds and more people wounded, meaning surgions got more practice
Vesalius
Wrote “ on the fabric if the human body “ 1543 which noted over 300 mistakes galen made on human anatomy
Eg the lower jaw is only in one part not two
Encouraged physicians rather than a surgeon to perform dissections
Shared his work with his students, inspiring people like William Harvey
Parè
Worked as a battlefield surgeon
Ran out of hot oil on the battlefield so improvised using egg yolk, rose oil, turpentine, an ointment
After amputations surgeons used hot oil to cauterise blood vessels, but many patients died from shock or infection. Pare created ligatures which was less painful. However the ligatures took a long time meaning he could treat less men and the ligatures were often unclean
He designed and made artifical limbs for his patients
He did not know about germs so couldn’t explain why the ointment worked and the ligatures cause infection.
William Harvey
Discovered the circulatory system
Disproved galens theory that the liver created blood by calculating that, if galen was right, a human would need to make 1800 litres of blood per day to survive
A lot of Renaissance physicians ignored his work as it had limited use in medical treatment
Tye understanding of the circulatory system helped develop blood transfusions in the 19th and 20th century
Which medival ideas about disease declined
The four humours had a decreased influence of physicians however the general public still believed in it
Belief in Astrology declined
It was understood that God didn’t make People ill but in times of national emergency ( eg plagues) people still looked for religious explanations and preventions
Renaissance ideas about cause of disease
Scientists began to realise that diseases could be passed from one person to another ( transference)
First sighting of bacteria from a Microscope, they called the bacteria ‘ animalcules’
Latrochemistry
Treatment that became popular in 17th century
Experimenting with metals to create chemical cures
Tried to find chemical cure for syphilis but failed
Antimony cause sweating , vomiting or poisoning depending on the dose
Transference
A type of treatment
Idea that touching an object or animal could move a disease from one thing to another
It lead to physicians prescribing temreatments like:
Rubbing onions on warts - they believed the wart would transfer to the onion
Strapping live chickens to buboes - the plague would transfer to the chicken
Natural treatments
Herbal remedies remained popular and exploration meant new ingredients eg lemons and limes to treat scurvy
Sweet smells to ward off miasma
Bloodletting remained popular
Supernatural treatments
King’s touch
In times of plague people still prayed and wore charms
People relied less on these treatments
Quackery
Quacks were fake doctors with no medical qualifications
Sold cures for things like the plague, but they were mostly ineffective
Remained a problem in England until 20 century, often gaining popularity in times of fear and national emergency
Black death 1348 vs great plague 1665
Both times it was believed to be caused by supernatural things like god , and natural things like miasma
People used humoural treatments in both like bleeding and purging
In both they used herbal remedies and charms
Transference inspired creation of plague doctors who used a mask and gloves, which is still used today
In the great plague the government took on more of a role, making quarantine laws stricter, and the king published a decree banning certain activities
Neither had effective measures to stop the spread as germ theory had not been discovered
Causes of great plague
God was angry at the constant change between Catholic and protestant
Unusual alignment of planets in late 1664
The warm weather caused miasma to be released from the soil
Some beloved it spread from person to person ( transference) but there wasn’t any proof so it wasn’t a popular explanation
New approaches to curing the great plague 1665
Strapping a live chicken to buboe to draw out the plague by transference
Wrapping patients in woollen clothes and laying them by the fire so they would sweat out the plague
Ways to prevent catching the plague
Prayer
Quarantine
Fasting
Eating safe and garlic
Plague doctors
Beak like mask as it was believed birds attracted disease so the plague would move from victim to the mask by transference
The beak would be stuffed with herbs to counteract miasma
Completely covered so that blood and puss wouldn’t touch them
Carried a stick to keep people away
Government action for great plague 1665
Charles 11 released a royal decree with rules as well as actions people with the plague should take to avoid catching the plague
Eg 28 day quarantine for those with it
Red Cross on plague infected houses
Ban on theatres and fairs
Lighting fires in the streets to ward off miasma
Killing cats and dogs
Apothecaries
Lactrochemistry provided more remedies to formulate
Took multiple years to become a master in the profession
They were required to have a licence
Affordable but sometimes dangerous
Barber surgeons
More complex wounds = more complicated surgery
Better education
Required licence
Low survival rate
Used by poorer people
