Medieval medicine : 1250 - 1500

• Medieval causes for disease include God sending disease as a punishment for sin and astrology, which is the alignment of planets and stars making us ill.
• Miasma refers to bad air as a cause of disease in medieval times.
• Four humours - Phlebotomy (blood-letting usually by cutting a vein, leeches or cupping), purging (removing leftover food from the stomach by either an enema or a laxative), herbal remedies (theriaca was the most common), bathing, Theory of Opposites- if the patient is too hot give them something cold.
• The Four Humours theory in medieval times stated that an imbalance of the Four Humours (phlegm, blood, black bile, yellow bile) makes us ill.
• Medieval preventions for disease include God, prayer, fasting, going on pilgrimage, self-flagellation, living a life free from sin, confessions, offering a tithe to the church, and good hygiene.
• Astrology, a medieval belief, stated that as God controlled the world, he also controlled the planets, so religious preventions were often used.
• Miasma refers to the concept of pollution as a public health issue, with a focus on bathing, homes smelling fresh, and the use of sweet smelling herbs.
• The Regimen Sanitatis, a set of instructions to maintain good health, included bathing, diet, and exercise.
• Purging and blood-letting were common medieval treatments.
• God was often invoked in medieval treatments through healing prayers and incantations (spells), paying for a special mass to be said, fasting, and pilgrimage.
• Astrology was a common tool used by physicians in diagnosing patients, with star charts consulted.
• Treatment varied depending on the horoscope of the patient, often including herb gathering, bleeding, purging, operations, cutting hair and nails.
• Hippocrates-

  • Lived 1500 years earlier in ancient Greece.
  • Developed the Theory of the Four Humours.
  • Promoted a natural approach to medicine
  • Hippocratic Oath - promise doctors make to not intentionally cause harm to patients.

  Galen-

  • Lived 500 years after Hippocrates in Rome.
  • Built on the Theory of the Four Humours with the Theory of Opposites.
  • Well-respected. Wrote over 300 medical books