chapter 5- dealing with disease

• what had people learnt since the black death ?

  • dirt and disease are related
  • the sick needed to be examined
  • more effective quarintine
  • streets swept
  • crowds banned
  • trade was stopped
• what had changed since the black death ?

  • attitudes towards illness
  • hospitals began developing wards for different diseases
  • rats had developed greater resistance to disease so fleas don't need to feed on humans
  • many new hospitals were built and patient numbers increased
• what were barber surgeons ?

  poorly trained people who gave haircuts and performed minor surgery
• what were wise women ?

  women who had treatments based on superstition bu also had knowledge of herbs & plants
• what were apothecaries ?

  had little to no medical training but sold medicines
• what were quacks ?

  travelling salesmen who sold medicine
• when did the plague return to London ?

  1665
• how did they treat the plague the second time round ?

  • bleeding with leeches
  • smoking to 'keep out' poisoned air
  • sniffing sponges soaked in vinegar
  • using animals to draw out poison
  • moving to the countryside
• what did John hunter do ?

  • taught many surgeons
  • studied circulation and anatomy
  • saved a man's leg rather than amputating
  • wrote many books based of his dissections and experiments