The Renaissance (1500-1700)

• In the Renaissance period, more old theories on medicine were challenged
• In the Renaissance period, fewer people believed in supernatural or religious causes of disease. Some new rational theories were created, and the influence of the church declined. There was a shift to scientific approaches.
• Many still believed in miasma as the cause of disease. The theory of the four humours continued to be an accepted explanation for disease, although by he end of the renaissance (1700), few physicians still believed in it.
• People were still religious, but looked for different explanations on the cause of disease. Galen's ideas which were supported by the church, became relied upon less.
• Diagnosis by physicians improved, influenced by people like Thomas Sydenham:

  • Astrology charts were no longer used
  • Improved knowledge of digestion led to urine charts stopping being used for diagnosis
  • Physicians carried out more direct observations and examinations of patients, rather than relying on patients explaining their symptoms.
• Sydenham worked as a doctor in London during the 1660s and 1670s. His book, Observationes Medicae (1676) outlined his theories and observations
• Sydenham

  • didn't rely on medical books, observed patients and recorded symptoms in detail.
  • believed that a disease was not to do with the nature of the person who had it.
  • Based treatment on the disease as a whole rather than individual symptoms
• Sydenham became known as the 'English Hippocrates' due to his influence on doctors, mostly after his death.
• Printing press

  • hundreds across europe by the start of the renaissance(1500)
  • Meant that many copies of text could be produced in little time
  • Reduced the church's control, as it could no longer prevent publication of ideas that weren't approved by the church.
  • ideas and discoveries of scientists and doctors could be shared very effectively and faster across a wider area.
• The Royal Society

  • sponsored scientists to enable them to research
  • aimed to further scientific understanding by doing experiments, sharing knowledge, and encouraging new ideas
  • Published a journal called 'Philosophical Transactions' where scientists could share their work and ideas
• Most treatments and preventions stayed the same during the Renaissance
• Hospitals

  • By 1500, hospitals treated more sick people and were used less by travellers. Most had their own apothecary
  • In 1536, the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII caused most hospitals to close.
  • It wasn't until the 1700s that the number of hospitals returned to the previous number
  • More pest houses appeared, where people with specific contagious diseases could be cared for.
  • When the hospitals re-appeared, they were run by physicians focused on treating the sick rather than by religion
• Most sick people were still cared for at home, usually by a female relative. Physicians were still too expensive for most people. Female members of the community helped with advice and remedies.
• Continuing treatments/preventions

  • Traditional herbal remedies
  • Healthy living
  • Superstitions and prayer
  • Cleanliness
  • Bleeding and purging
• Changes in prevention and treatments

  • More emphasis on removing miasma by draining swamps, and removing sewage and rubbish
  • Changing clothes regularly to stay clean
  • New herbal remedies from newly discovered countries came to England
  • Theory of transference - people rubbed objects on themselves to try and transfer the disease to the object
  • Chemical cures using metals or minerals became popular
• The discoveries of the Renaissance had little impact at the time due to:

  • The ideas were slow to be accepted
  • They had no direct use in improving treatment or prevention of disease.
  • Their discoveries didn't improve understanding of causes of disease
• Apothecaries and Surgeons

  • Still not given university training and considered inferior to physicians and cheaper
  • Better trained by being in guild systems, where they are apprentices, then journeymen, then masters.
  • A licence was now needed to work as an apothecary or surgeon, only being given after completing training.
• Physicians

  • Still trained at Universities
  • Training was still based on textbook learning rather than practical
  • Printing press meant better access to more medical books and detailed drawings.
  • New ideas about anatomy (led by Vesalius) and causes of disease inspired some to become more experimental
  • Dissection was legalised but took time to become normal
• Importance of Vesalius

  • Carried out many dissections on humans and made many discoveries about how the body works
  • Improved understanding of the human body
  • Made the study of anatomy central to medicine
  • Proved some of Galen's work wrong, encouraging others to question Galen's theories
  • Inspired others to carry out dissections and make new discoveries
  • His work was widely published throughout all of Europe, and included detailed illustrations of the human body, which was after used in textbooks.
  • Most famous book, ' On the Fabric of the Human Body '
• Causes of the Great Plague

  • Miasma was the most believed cause by far
  • Few people still blamed an imbalance in the Four Humours
  • People knew disease could be passed from person to person
• The Great Plague was the same as the Black Death which happened over 300 years before
• Treatments for the Great Plague:

  Most treatments were the same as the Black Death, but there were a few new ones:

  • Theory of transference - usually to birds like chickens
  • It was thought that disease could be sweated out, so sufferers were wrapped up in thick blankets and put by a fire.
• Government Action - A big difference between 1665 and 1348 was that in 1665, local councils were ordered by the King to take action to stop the Great Plague from spreading.

  • Large gatherings were banned and theatres were closed
  • Dogs and cats were killed
  • Streets were cleaned regularly
  • Carts collected the dead daily, and buried them in deep mass graves
  • If a house member caught the plague, the household was kept inside for 40 days or taken to the pest house
  • Days of fasting and public prayers were ordered
• William Harvey

  • Influenced by Vesalius, and went on to influence others including Sydenham
  • Carried out public dissections
  • Studied medicine and became a lecturer of Anatomy
  • Discovered blood circulation and published it in ' An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals ' which contained detailed diagrams
  • Taught the importance of observing patient's symptoms rather than relying on textbooks for diagnosis and treatment
• The importance of Harvey

  • Proved some of Galen's theories wrong, bringing in questions of Galen's other theories
  • Improved knowledge of how the body worked
  • By 1700 his work was taught in medical schools
  • Inspired others to find out more
  • Others copied his successful methods of observation and dissections
  • His findings left unanswered questions, encouraging further experiments
• How Harvey discovered blood circulation

  • Vesalius had a theory that blood flowed towards the heart, contradicting Galen's theory
  • Harvey proved Vesalius right using dissected bodies
  • He proved that blood could not be produced by the liver and absorbed by the body, as Galen had thought
  • New technology like mechanical water pumps made him think the blood worked the same way
  • He discovered that arteries and veins were part of one system and blood was pumped around the body by the heart