Early modern

• Causes

  • Religion/ sin
  • The theory of the four humours
  • Miasma
  • Diagnosis - Sydenham
• Treatments

  • Humoural - phlebotomy + purging
  • Transference
  • Herbal remedies - exploration lead to new remedies
  • Chemical cures
• Medical care

  • Apothecaries - now needed licences
  • Surgeons - needed a licence + new wounds due to new technology on battlefield
  • Physicians
  • Women
  • Hospitals - many closed down during Henry VIII reign
  • Pest houses - only for people suffering from the plague or pox
• Prevention methods

  • Moderation - fatty foods, alcohol + laziness
  • Constitution - if child was born weak/ small they would likely be sick as an adult
  • Clean homes and communities - homeowners fined for not cleaning street outside their house
  • Hygiene - regimen sanitatis but people no longer bathed because of spread of syphilis in bath houses
• Individuals

  • William Harvey - dissected cold blooded animals (lizards), proved blood flowed through veins and arteries, heart acted as a pump (circulatory system)
  • Thomas Sydenham - observed symptoms before treatment, discovered that measles and scarlet fever were different diseases
  • Andreas Versalius - dissected criminals bodies, corrected theories of human anatomy + published this using fugitive sheets
• Key factors affecting medicine

  • Institutions - the Church + government
  • Individuals - Sydenham, Harvey + Versalius
  • Science and technology - the printing press allowed ideas to be shared + mechanical pumps inspired Harveys discovery
  • Attitudes in society - humanism