Medicine

• What was the problems with using alchohol as pain relief?

  It made the heart beat faster which made bleeding more difficult to control meaning many patients bled to death.
• What was the problem with using opium as pain relief?

  Opium was hard to manage the dose , if it was slightly wrong it would cause an overdose which lead to death.
• When was nitrous oxide discovered?

  1795
• Why was Hippocrates known as the ' father rising of modern medicine '?

  Because his ideas were lasting and had an impact.
• What did Hippocrates do?

  He founded the hippocratic oath - a set principle for doctors to follow

  The four humours - all humans are made from four elements

  Thought disease had natural cause rather than god/ghosts
• What was the four humours?

  The four humours were Black bile , yellow bile , blood and phlem , they believed if the element was to much they'll present a symptom eg: temperature and red meant to much blood.
• What is miasma?

  The belief that bad air caused disease
• What was Galens theories of the four humours?

  • The four humours needed to balance and could be done with using a treatment with oppsoite qualities to problem eg: use something cold/wet to stop fever
• What was Galens theories of blood creation?

  He believed blood was created in the liver and circulated around the body he carried out dissections on animals which helped discovered but led to mistakes - he believed the human jaw had 2 bones because he dissecrted a dog
• Why was Galens ideas approved?

  Galen believed people had a soul , he said the human body was perfect and it must be designed by god , the medieval church then supported his theories and printed them - ideas which were against the church was lost
• Why was their little discoveries of the body during medieval times?

  The church said the body should be buried whole therefore no dissections were allowed slowing down the discoveries meaning finding alternative theories was difficult.
• How did doctors diagnose illness in the medieval time?

  Compare urine by taste , smell and sight as well as checking their pulse.
• What was bloodletting and how did doctors do this?

  They used a leech to draw blood / open vein with a tool and remove it ( very unhygeinic )
• During the medieval time what was a doctors training like?

  7 years of training at a university like Oxford or Cambridge learning by debating or listening these were controlled by the christian church
• What did barber surgeons do?

  Barber surgeons performed minor surgeries based on experience - they didn't undergo enhanced training or experience clinical surgeries .
• What remedies did wise people offer?

  General first aid , herbal remedies , supernatural cures with charms and spells.
• What were the trained doctors like treating people?

  They would use Hippocratic and Galen theories to treat patients meaning their treatments were very limited as it was controlled by the church
• How did Christianity effect medieval medicine?


  The christian church believed that:

  • God sent illness as a punishment / test of faith so curing illness will challenge gods will
  • Monks copied texts by hand meaning they could control what came to light
  • Prayers > drugs
  • Christians believed in ' care not cure '
  • Miraclous healings like pilgrimages
• How did christian beliefs in medicine compare to islamic beliefs in medicine?

  • Christians believed in care not to cure therefore they weren't concentrated on coming up with treatments to these illnesses
  • Islamic people encouraged medical learning and discoveries as said by Prophet Muhammad ' For every disease , Allah has given a cure ' so doctors were encouraged to find them.
• How did Christian and Islamic hospitals differ?

  • Islamic hospitals named bimaristans were meant for treating patients not simply caring for them
  • Christians would pray and hope they'd get better they would not offer any treatments
• What was Rhazes significant for?

  • Distinguished measles from smallpox for the first time
  • Wrote over 150 books
  • Was critical about galen
• What was Avicenna significant for?

  • Wrote the cannon of medicine which listed medical properties of 760 different drugs and discussed ideas like anorexia and obesity
  • This book became the standard European medical textbook to teach medical students about
• What was Ibn al -Nafis signifcant for?

  In the 13th century he concluded that Galen was wrong about how the heart worked claiming blood circulated through the lungs

  Is
• What were the problems with surgery?

  • Patients faced pain which led to shock
  • Anaesthesia was used with natural methods like rum and opium which was very hard to control and ineffective
  • Many died due to infections during surgery as Germs weren't discovered yet
  • Blood loss , cauterisation was a thing however was very hard to manage still and very painful - could lead to shock which would kill )
• What was cauterisation?

  Using a heated iron to stop bleeding
• Who was John of Ardene?

  His surgical manual ' practica ' contained ideas of instruments and drugs to use as anaesthetics

  He made a surgery to treat anal abscess which was crucial at the same for those who rode horses

  He tried to separate surgeons from barbers by making a work association called the guild of surgeons in the city of London.
• Who was Mondino de Luzzi?

  Led the new interest in anatomy in the fourteenth century

  He wrote book Anathomia the standard dissection manual for 200 years

  Dissections were introduced in most European universities to train doctors and to prove Galen was correct - if the body opposed Galen's belief they thought the body was wrong not Galen.
• Who was Hugh of Lucca and his son Theodoric?

  He criticised the common view that pus was needed for a wound to heal

  Used wine on wounds to reduce chance of infection and new method of removing arrows

  Ideas to prevent infection were not listened to as it clashed with Hippocrates.
• What was trepanning?

  Drilling a hole into the skull to ' let the demon out '
• What is cauterisation?

  Buring a wound to stop the flow of blood using heated iron
• Public health: Water

  • As towns grew systems could not cope with the increased demand for water - rivers were often used to remove sewage and other waste this increased rate of disease as sewage would often carry germs.
  • However medieval towns took water from local springs wells and rivers instead
• Public health: Sewage

  • Towns were usually dirty with only a few paved streets ; cesspits could overflow into roads and into rivers
• Public health: Rubbish

  • In poorer areas streets stank and were often littered with toiet waste and household rubbish which caused disease
• Why was it difficult to keep medieval towns clean?

  • Town populations grew and public health facilities could not cope
  • Rivers were used for drinking water , trasnport and to remove waste
  • People had no knowledge of germs and the link to disease and infection.
• What was the conditions in a monastery and abbeys?

  • They had more money to spend on cleaner facilities
  • They learnt basic ideas of separating clean and dirty water
  • They understood ancient roman ideas of simple routines like moderation of diet , sleep and excersize
  • Isolation helped protect monks from epidemics
• What was the conditions in a monastery and abbeys?

  • They had more money to spend on cleaner facilities
  • They learnt basic ideas of separating clean and dirty water
  • They understood ancient roman ideas of simple routines like moderation of diet , sleep and excersize
  • Isolation helped protect monks from epidemics
• What did medieval people do to counteract unhygeinics?

  • In 1298 King edawrd complained about the conditions as it was a hazard to his sodiers so he encouraged councils to order toilets.
  • In 1330's laws were passed to stop butchers from throwing animal remains in to the streets
• What was the believed cause of Black Death?

  Miasma , Astronomy , poising of wells by Jews
• What is the difference between bubonic plague and pneumonic plague?

  Bubonic was spread by rats and fleas

  Pneumonic was spread by contact with victims breath
• What were the real causes of the Black death?

  Bacteria Yersina pestis which grew in fleas stomach

  Fleas led o rat's blood , disease killed rat , flea moved on to humans