renaissance

• The Renaissance period saw new discoveries and challenges to long-held ideas from ancient physicians like Galen
• Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine during the Renaissance
• There was continuity in beliefs about the causes and treatments for disease during the Renaissance
• Andreas Vesalius was able to prove in his studies that some of Galen's ancient ideas were wrong, prompting others to question long-held medical ideas and theories
• During the Renaissance, ancient ideas were revisited and challenged, leading to discoveries in various areas including science, technology, art, exploration, and medicine
• In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, allowing new ideas to be quickly copied and communicated across Europe
• Artists during the Renaissance made significant progress in accurately drawing human bodies, aiding in the clear communication of ideas in medical books
• Andreas Vesalius, born in 1514 in Brussels, Belgium, worked at the University of Padua, Italy, specializing in anatomy
• Vesalius' work on the human body, particularly his book "On the Fabric of the Human Body" published in 1543, provided detailed and accurate drawings helpful for doctors
• Vesalius' discoveries, like proving the human jaw bone was one bone not two, challenged and corrected some of Galen's mistakes, encouraging other doctors to question established ideas
• Vesalius' accurate anatomical knowledge in his book allowed for future advances in medicine, enabling surgeons to develop new operations with a detailed understanding of the body's anatomy
• Ambroise Paré, a surgeon to French kings, made key contributions to the development of medicine, particularly in surgery
• Paré's ointment, made of egg yolk, rose oil, and turpentine, was discovered by chance to be more effective in treating gunshot wounds than the traditional method of using hot oil to cauterize wounds
• Paré used ligatures to tie blood vessels and stop bleeding, which was effective in stopping blood loss but did not necessarily reduce the death rate due to lack of knowledge about germ theory
• Paré's work was significant as he showed that new methods, like his ointment, could be more successful than traditional ideas, and he designed various examples of artificial limbs for amputees
• William Harvey, an English doctor born in 1578, studied at the University of Padua in Italy, where he focused on dissections and anatomy, achieving his medical qualifications before returning to England
• Harvey worked at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, later becoming the physician of James I
• Harvey's groundbreaking work on circulation challenged Galen's beliefs, showing through experiments with frogs that blood was pumped around the body by the heart and discovering the role of valves in blood vessels
• In 1628, Harvey published a book called "An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood," detailing his experiments and findings, which were widely shared due to his high profile as physician to the king
• Harvey's work was significant as it disproved Galen's theories, encouraging other doctors to question ancient ideas and eventually leading to the development of successful blood transfusions after the discovery of blood groups in 1901 by Karl Landsteiner
• The Great Plague of 1665 in England:

  • Devastating impact, killing 100,000 people in London
  • Cause: poor sanitation leading to an increase in black rats carrying the bubonic plague bacteria
  • Response: more organised and coordinated than in previous outbreaks, including quarantine for ships, locking infected households, and killing stray cats and dogs
  • Belief in miasma led to lighting fires in the streets to create smoke to mask the bad air believed to be causing the plague
• Government actions during the Great Plague:

  • Introduced quarantine for ships coming into London
  • Locked infected households with a red cross on the door
  • Employed searchers to identify the cause of death
  • Ordered the killing of stray cats and dogs, believed to spread the plague
• Belief in miasma during the Great Plague:

  • People were ordered to light fires in the streets to create smoke to mask the bad air believed to be causing the plague
• Cures during the Great Plague:

  • Bloodletting and purging were widely used, showing the continued belief in the four humours causing disease
• Plague doctors during the Great Plague:

  • Wore protective outfits including leather cloaks, masks with herbs, gloves, and hats to avoid contact with victims and the smell of the streets
• Impact of the Great Plague of 1665:

  • Killed fewer people than the Black Death of 1348-1349 due to a more organised government response
  • No significant plague outbreaks have occurred since 1665-1666
• The Renaissance period saw new discoveries and challenges to long-held ideas from ancient physicians like Galen
• Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine during the Renaissance period
• Hospitals in the 17th and 18th centuries based treatment on the four humours, leading to common practices like bloodletting and purging
• Physicians, who were doctors trained at university, offered the best medical care during the Renaissance, basing most diagnoses and treatments on the works of Hippocrates and Galen
• An apothecary in the Renaissance was similar to a modern chemist, selling remedies and medicines based on herbal traditions
• Quack doctors in the Renaissance were unqualified and often sold ineffective potions with mysterious ingredients, like crushed unicorn horn
• John Hunter, born in Scotland in 1728, trained as a surgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London
• Hunter's collection of human and animal body parts is now in the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons
• Hunter aimed to develop more scientific methods in researching medicine and had a particular interest in anatomy
• In his career, Hunter amassed a huge collection of animal and human skeletons, bones, and body parts, totaling over 14,000 items from more than 500 different species
• Hunter disproved the idea that a gunshot injury poisoned the area around the wound, leading to unnecessary treatments like cutting out the area around a wound
• The Renaissance period saw new discoveries and challenges to long-held ideas from ancient physicians like Galen
• Hunter argued that amputation should only be carried out as a last resort and experimented with ways to save wounded limbs
• Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine, using cowpox to protect against smallpox