Medicine Through Time

• Miasma


  Bad stinking air that was believed to cause disease, as dirt/waste from the streets poisoned the air
• People blamed miasma for causing disease, as it seemed logical that dirty places that smelt bad could cause illness
• The idea of miasma was supported by Hippocrates and Galen, making it more widely accepted
• It was also thought that miasma was sent from God himself, or caused by the planets
• The Bible taught people that diseases were a punishment from God
• Four Humours


  The belief that the body contained four humours (black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm), and illness was caused by an imbalance of these humours
• Four Humours theory


  • If you are healthy the humours are balanced
  • If you are ill, you have imbalanced humours (Too much of it)
  • You would see evidence of this when you were sick, e.g. nosebleed if you had too much blood
• Curing illness using Four Humours theory

  To cure illness, you needed to get rid of the humour that was unbalanced, e.g. use leeches or cups to remove excess blood
• Theory of Opposites


  Galen's theory that if you had too much of a humour, you needed to cure it with the opposite, e.g. too much phlegm (cold and wet) needed something spicy (hot and dry)
• The church supported the idea of the Four Humours and all physicians (doctors) were taught about it when educated by the Church
• Physicians used urine charts linked to the Four Humours to check the colour, smell and taste to check for illness, e.g. white = too much phlegm
• Physicians also used urine charts linked to the Four Humours to check the colour, smell and taste to check for illness e.g. white = too much phlegm
• Miasma


  Bad stinking air that was believed to cause disease
• Even King Edward III said 'The filth from the houses is infecting the air with contagious sickness' during the Black Death
• The idea of miasma was also supported by Hippocrates and Galen, making it more supported
• The bible taught People that diseases were a punishment from God for their sins


  Or a way of God testing your faith
• A common disease linked to sin was leprosy
• The 1348–49 Black Death was thought to be a punishment for peoples sins
• Many people in the Middle Ages were superstitious – they believed in the supernatural like witchcraft and astrology
• In the 14th Century, astrology (the study of the movement of stars and planets) was key part of medical training and physicians used planetary movements and zodiac signs in their treatment
• Physicians believed the stars and planets affected your health and caused disease, for example the movement of Saturn and Jupiter was to blame from the Black Death
• Other causes were witchcraft, bad luck or blaming minority groups such as Jews were blamed for poisoning wells
• During the Middle Ages, no progress was made towards understanding the cause of disease
• People knew nothing of the real causes of disease
• A respect for tradition, a lack of education and scientific coupled with the power of the church caused continuity in ideas from the ancient world
• Religious healing included: Healing prayers and incantations, Paying for mass to be said, Fasting (going without food)
• Pilgrimages to tombs were popular and the sick would touch holy relics or pray at a shrine to cure their illness
• Herbal remedies to drink/sniff/bathe in were given by wise women or apothecaries
• Many remedies used herbs, minerals and animal parts – Stye in the eye used onion, garlic, bulls bladder and wine
• Blood letting – The most common way to remove bad humours/blood. It included: Cupping - Putting warmed cups onto open cuts to draw out blood into the cup, Leeching – Using leeches to suck out bad blood
• Purging – Swallowing a mixture of herbs and animal fat to make you sick, or taking laxatives to empty your bowls and 'cleanse'
• Bathing - Warm baths prescribed with herbs to draw out the humours
• Specific treatment for illness, such as a magpies beak around your neck for toothache
• Barber surgeons 'Trepanned' skulls to release demons making them ill but dangerous!
• Medieval surgeons could do some complex external surgery, from removing eye cataracts or trepanning – the drilling of a hole into the skull to remove demons
• They used wine as an antiseptic, natural substances (opium or hemlock) as anaesthetics and honey to clean wounds
• Surgeons were not trained and knew little about anatomy
• They would use 'Wound Man' illustrations which gave advice on how to deal with different wounds
• In a time of frequent war, surgeons' skills were much in demand and as a result their skills increased – Prince Henry V was saved by his surgeon John Bradmore
• Surgeons still had no idea that dirt carried disease so surgeries and equipment were often filthy, causing infection