Medicine Through Time

• What are the 4 humours?

  Blood, Black bile, yellow bile and phlegm
• When was the medieval period?

  C1250 - 1500
• When was the Renaissance Period?

  C1500-1700
• What were the causes of disease?

  • Miasma
  • The 4 humours
  • Punishment from God
• What were the the treatments of disease like in 1250-1500?

  • Herbal remedies
  • Purging/blood letting
  • Pilgrimage
  • Mass
  • Praying
  • Bathing
• What was the prevention of disease like in 1250-1500?

  • Praying
  • Flagellants
  • Good hygiene
  • Keep air fresh
• When was the Black Death?

  1348
• What was the difference between the bubonic and pneumonic plague?

  Bubonic travels through rats whereas pneumonic travels through the air
• Who was Thomas Sydenham?

  Thomas Sydenham was known as 'English Hippocrates'. He observed symptoms and thought treating the disease causing them was most important.

  He did not rely on medical books

  He concluded the nature of the disease had little to do with the person who had it.
• When was the printing press invented?

  1440
• What was the importance of the printing press?

  • More accurate texts as it was not copied by hand
  • Work could be shared quickly across Europe
  • The Church could not prevent the spread of ideas they did not agree with.
• Who treated disease in the years 1250 - 1500?

  • Physicians
  • Apothecaries
  • Wise men/women
  • Barber Surgeons
  • Hospitals were a place that people were cared for but no treatment was offered
• When was the microscope invented?

  1590
• What was the change in treatment in the Renaissance?

  1. Transference
  2. Alchemy (chemical cures)
• What things did not change during the Renaissance?

  1. Religion - God and the church still played a significant role in ideas
  2. Bleeding and Purging - many still believed in the 4 humours
• What did William Harvey discover? (17th century)

  • Proved that blood was not made from the liver as Galen had suggested
  • Showed that blood circulated around the body and that the heart was pump
  • Discovered veins and arteries
• Why was William Harvey significant?

  He proved Galen wrong, encouraging others to question his theories and take a more scientific approach. He also left many unanswered questions, encouraging others to research further.
• When did Vesalius release his book?

  1543
• What is the significance of Andreas Vesalius?

  • He published his book 'On the fabric of the human body'
  • He encouraged dissections
• What was Sydenham's book called?

  Observations Medicae
• What did Ambrose pare discover? (Renaissance)

  He created a solution for gunshot wounds: egg yolk, rose oil and turpentine. He also began to develop ideas for artificial limbs
• When was the Great Plague?

  1665
• What were the beliefs about causes of the Great Plague?

  • Miasma theory
  • God
  • Astrology
  • People
• How did they prevent the spread of the Plague?

  • Plague doctors who suits to avoid catching the plague
  • Carrying sweet smelling flowers to drive away miasma
  • Fires set up in the streets to drive away miasma
  • Quarantine
• What was treatment for the plague?

  • Transference
  • Praying
  • Flaggellants
• Why was their continuity of ideas about what caused disease during the Renaissance?

  Many people still strongly believed in God and that he sent the black death and the plague to clean the Earth of sin. Many people also did not want to change their ideas about Galen.
• What did Edward Jenner do?

  Developed the smallpox vaccine.
• When did Edward Jenner discover the vaccine?

  1796
• Why was there opposition to Jenner?

  • He could not explain how the vaccine worked.
• Who came up with The Germ Theory and when?

  Louis Pasteur in 1864
• What did Pasteur discover?

  He discovered microbes in the air resulted in the decay of beer and wine. This led to the Spontaneous Generation Theory.
• Why did Pasteur's work not have a short term impact?

  Because he could not apply the idea of microbes to humans
• What did Robert Koch discover?

  The idea that different germs cause different diseases.
• When did Koch make influential discoveries?

  1882 - Discovery of microbe that caused tuberculosis.

  1884 - Discovery of the microbe that caused cholera
• What is the significance of John Snow?

  He discovered Cholera is caused by dirty water when investigating Broad Street Water Pump in 1854
• What significance did the Public Health Act of 1875 have?

  • Encouraged local councils to clean their cities and provide clean water
  • Arranged for new sewer systems in London
  • This was a long term impact of John Snow's work on Cholera
• What war did Florence Nightingale work in?

  The Crimean War (1854-56)
• When was the 19th century?


  C1700 - 1900
• What was the importance of Florence Nightingale's work?

  People began to realise how important good hygiene is.
• What was the first anesthetic and who discovered it?

  • Chloroform
  • James Simpson
  • 1947