health+the people

• during the middle ages, what was believed to be the cause of illness?

  physicians lacked the scientific knowledge required to understand the cause of illness.
• during the middle ages, what type of belief dominated treatments?

  supernatural beliefs
• during the middle ages, how did supernatural beliefs dominate treatments?

  The Doctrine of Signatures was followed. It taught that God had the power to create illness and guided doctors on treatements. Doctors used zodiac charts to decide treatment and when to operate.
• during the middle ages, what types of treatments were used?

  natural treatments
• during the middle ages, what types of natural treatments were used?

  women healers used balms made of herbs and honey, which were used to treat breathing problems or eye infections. Doctors used urine charts to diagnose illness.
• during the middle ages, who greatly influenced diagnosis and treatment of illness?

  Hippocrates (460-370BC)
• what did Hippocrates teach?

  clinical observations were very important. It still underpins medicine today.
• what was Hippocrates Theory of Four Humours?

  said that the body consisted of four humours (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile) that had to be balanced for good health.
• how long did doctor's follow Hippocrates theory?

  until the 1800s
• what method did Hippocrates use to prevent or treat illness?

  bleeding. It involved opening a vein or applying leeches to draw blood. It was used to balance humours. Monks were bled up to eight times a year.
• why was Hippocrates collection of books significant?

  it was used to train doctors for hundreds of years. They provided the first detailed account of symptoms and treatments.
• whos ideas dominated medical training and treatments through to the 1800s?

  Galen (AD130-c210)
• what did Galen do to learn about human anatomy?

  dissected animals. As a result he made errors, his erros were accepted as the Church banned people questioning his work.
• why did the Church like Galen's work?

  it supported the Design Theory. Galen called God 'the creator'.
• why did the Church like Galen's work?

  it supported the Design Theory. Galen called God 'the creator'.
• during the middle ages, what did the Church control in terms of medicine?

  universities where doctors trained. Teaching was based on ancient texts written by Hippocrates and Galen.
• during the middle ages, what did Christianity teach about medicine?

  God sent illness as punishment for sinful behaviour. To treat illness, people had to repent their sins. As a result, prayer was a popular treatment.
• during the middle ages, what did the Church ban in terms of medicine?

  medical research and human dissection. Roger Bacon was sent to prison by Church leaders for advocating scientific observation.
• what were medieval hospitals like?

  small and mainly a place for people to rest and recover from illness. They were linked to monasteries or nunneries. Hospital wards had altars where prayers were said regularly.
• there were no doctors at medieval hospitals, who were there instead?

  monks and nuns. They provided nursing care and mainly relied on prayer and herbal treatments.
• why were Islamic medicine and training significantly more advanced than the Christian West?


  Islamic doctors wrote medical encyclopedias, their ideas were spread to Britain by crusaders. Islamic hospitals treated patients and trained doctors.
• which Islamic philosopher and doctor wrote the Canon of Medicine?

  Avicenna
• how long was Avicenna's Canon of Medicine used by medical students for?

  until the 1700s
• how did warfare help surgeons improve their skill?

  improved skill in sealing wounds, quicker amputations, new tools, including the arrow cup, improved ointments (John Arderne's painkiller) and sharing through manuals or diagrams ('wound man').