History of Medicine

• Treatments in Islamic medicine

  1. Islamic doctors used anaesthetics such as opium

  2. Operated on eyes to remove cataracts

  3. Used a variety of drugs made from animal and plant extracts

  4. Used chemicals like Copper Sulphate to treat eye infections
• How Christianity helped in medieval medicine

  • Monasteries helped preserve ancient Greek/Roman medical texts and spread knowledge when universities developed
  • Churches established some early hospitals and infirmaries out of Christian charity
  • Pilgrimages to holy sites were believed to have healing properties, encouraging travel and spread of ideas
• How Christianity hindered in medieval medicine

  • Divine causation beliefs saw illness as God's punishment, hindering the study and investigation for treatments for diseases
  • The four humours and bloodletting persisted due to Greek influence being reconciled with Christianity, delaying adoption of newer ideas
  • Christians were selective on who could enter and get help in infirmaries, for example, people with contagious diseases would not be treated
• Al-Nafis was the first person to correctly suggest that blood circulated around the body, a discovery not made by a European doctor for another 400 years
• Reasons why Islamic medicine was better than European medicine in the Middle Ages


  • Islamic scholars preserved ancient Greek medical texts
  • Early clinical trials and careful observation/experimentation by scientists improved understanding beyond ancient theories
  • Establishment of the first major hospitals and medical schools facilitated development of treatment
• Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina, wrote a million-word book on medicine containing treatments for diseases used to train doctors until the 1600s
• Characteristics of humours and seasons

  • Phlegm: Cold & wet, black bile: Cold & dry, yellow bile: Hot & dry, blood: Hot & wet
• Treatments for natural illnesses in the middle ages

  • Bloodletting, herbal poultices, remedies made by village healers/apothecaries using plants like garlic, thyme, willow bark
• In Islamic medicine in the middle ages, the most prominent development factor was belief/religion
• Development of medical knowledge in Europe

  1. Assimilating knowledge from Galen and Hippocrates

  2. Early clinical trials and careful observation/experimentation by scientists like Ibn Sina and Ibn Zuhr

  3. Establishment of the first major hospitals and medical schools facilitating development of treatment and teaching
• Causes of natural illnesses in the middle ages

  • Imbalance of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile)
  • Common natural illnesses like fevers, infected wounds, accidents, starvation
• Treatments for supernatural illnesses in the middle ages

  • Clergy-led prayers, exorcisms, confessions, pilgrimages to holy sites believed to have healing properties
• The teachings of the Quran encouraged scientific inquiry, leading to the preservation and study of ancient Greco-Roman medical texts
• Causes of supernatural illnesses in the middle ages

  • Religious/spirituality explanations like punishment from God, demonic possession, witchcraft, ghosts/spirits
• Medical beliefs and treatments in medieval Europe

  • Bloodletting using leeches, enemas, belief in humoral theory, astronomical influences, superstitious beliefs intersected with medicine
• Hippocrates believed that diseases were caused by natural factors such as climate, diet, and lifestyle rather than supernatural causes like demons or gods.
• Galen's work on anatomy and physiology influenced medical practice for over 1000 years.
• Hippocratic medicine emphasized the importance of observation and documentation, as well as the need for physicians to be honest with their patients about prognosis and treatment options.
• Hippocratic medicine emphasized the importance of observation and documentation, as well as the need for physicians to be honest with their patients about prognosis.
• Galen's theories on anatomy and physiology were based on animal dissections but not human dissection due to religious restrictions.
• Public Health in Towns

  1. Overcrowded and unsanitary conditions with little access to open land or fresh water supplies

  2. Lack of waste removal led to build up of rubbish/sewage in streets and spreading disease

  3. Outbreaks of plague more common due to rats and fleas thriving in filthy urban centers

  4. Limited medical assistance available to poor populations
• Barbers provided an important community-based medical service demonstrating how care adapted to social hierarchies of a time when university-trained doctors were scarce
• More serious operations were left to elite surgeon-physicians who practiced at courts or early hospitals
• Local barbers provided basic healthcare services in addition to haircutting and shaving
• Barbers met the healthcare needs of much of the population during the Middle Ages
• During the Middle Ages, most people could not afford the fees of a university-trained physician
• Barbers

  • Underwent some apprenticeship training which provided practical knowledge of superficial anatomy
  • Could perform minor surgical procedures such as bloodletting, wound suturing/dressing, tooth extractions, and potentially amputations or tumor removal
  • Used surgical tools like razors, knives, and saws which they sharpened themselves
  • Practiced rudimentary hygiene including handwashing
• Public Health in Monasteries

  1. Located away from crowded urban areas with access to land for agriculture/fresh water

  2. Had requirements for hygiene like regular bathing and laundry of robes

  3. Understood value of sanitation and waste disposal, with drainage and latrines

  4. Medical knowledge and limited treatments available through texts in library/infirmary
• The term "plague" was first used by the Greek physician Galen


  2nd century AD
• Spread of the Black Death

  Reached England in June 1348 via trade ships sailing from China to Italy, spreading via overland trade routes
• Pneumonic plague


  A virulent form that could spread directly from person to person via airborne respiratory droplets in the case of advanced infection
• Bubonic plague


  Transmitted by the bites of fleas typically found on rodents like black rats. It caused painful, blackened lymph nodes called buboes under the arms and groin
• Lack of medical understanding, unsanitary living conditions, and lack of quarantine measures allowed the disease to devastate medieval populations
• Black Death


  A pandemic of plague that occurred in 1347-1351 and is estimated to have killed 75-200 million people globally and up to 50% of Europe's population
• Types of plague

  • Bubonic plague
  • Pneumonic plague
• Plague


  An infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis that can result in high death rates if not treated
• Yersinia pestis


  The bacteria that causes both bubonic and pneumonic plague
• With few alternatives

  Peasants were able to demand higher real wages from desperate landowners in need of field hands
• With so much of the peasant workforce dead, there was a massive shortage of food. Farm fields lay fallow without enough laborers to work the land
• The crisis prompted reforms like the Statute of Labourers in 1351 which tried to fix wages at pre-plague levels but could not be fully enforced