causes, treatment and prevention

• What were the Four Humours?

  Black bile, yellow bile, blood, phlegm. Linked to four seasons and elements and needed to be kept in balance for good health.
• How were the four humours used to diagnose illness?

  If you were ill you had too much of one liquid in your body e.g in winter too much phlegm meant colds
• Who came up with the theory of the four humours?

  Hippocrates
• Why was Hippocrates so important?


  Wrote a number of books about medicine

  Focused upon observation of patients and recording of symptoms

  Gave us the Hippocratic oath
• Why was Galen so influential?


  Wrote a number of books about medicine

  Was supported by Catholic Church

  Dissected animals to learn about anatomy

  Developed Hippocrates' ideas to produce theory of opposites
• What was the miasma theory?

  The belief that bad air caused disease. It was generated from rotting matter.
• Supernatural ideas about causes of disease

  God caused disease as a punishment for sins

  Disease was caused by evil beings or spirits

  The planets and the stars caused disease. Astrology was used to diagnose illness
• Why did the Church have such a big influence on medicine?

  Dominated the way people studied about medicine

  Encouraged the idea that God sent disease - led to fatalist approach towards medicine

  Promoted the ideas of Galen (which were incorrect)

  Outlawed dissection so no way of challenging inaccuracies
• How did people try to treat disease?

  Religion - prayer, pilgrimages, flagellants

  Four humours - bloodletting, purging

  Miasma - purifying the air

  Supernatural - natural remedies
• Physicians


  • Trained at medical school for seven years

  • Would diagnose (work out) what was wrong with you using urine charts and astrological information (studying the planets)

  • Treatments would be based on Galen's ideas ... bloodletting, purging to get your humours balanced.

  • Expensive; you had to pay for each visit.
• Apothecary


  • Usually a man, he was trained but had no medical qualifications.

  • Mixed various ingredients to produce medicines or ointments for the physicians.

  • He also made up his own mixtures/remedies at a price.

  • He was cheaper than a physician but you still had to pay for the medicine.
• Barber surgeon


  • Did not attend university but trained as apprentices through observing others.

  • Improved their skills through practice and reading books on surgery.

  Typically performed blood letting

  • Could deal with broken bones, removing surface tumours and sewing up wounds.

  • Could do some basic surgery like amputation but had very low success rates due to a lack of anaesthetics.
• Hospitals


  • Hospitals mainly cared for elderly people who could not look after themselves.

  • Run by monks and nuns allowed them to openly show their Christian values.

  • Aim was to care not to cure - the infectious & incurable weren't usually admitted.

  • By 1400 there were over 500 hospitals, many of which had only 5 or 6 beds.