Health and the people

• Supernatural beliefs


  • Dominated treatments
  • Some natural treatments were used
• Hippocrates


  • Used clinical observation
  • Four humours created theories followed until 1800's
• Galen


  • Built on the theory of the four humours
  • 'Theory of opposites'
  • Dissected animals to learn about human anatomy
• The church taught that God sent illness as a punishment for sinful behaviour
• Human dissection was banned
• Medieval hospitals


  • Linked to monasteries
  • Provided care but did not give medical treatment
  • Instead provided food and herbal treatments
  • Healing with prayer
• People believed that the sick should repent for their sins to get better
• Islamic medicine


  • Developed much faster
  • Islamic doctors wrote medical encyclopedias
  • Helped surgeons improve their skills and instruments
• Islamic public health systems were superior to those in Europe
• Explanations for the Black Death

  • Supernatural ideas
  • Astrology
  • Minority groups blamed
  • Miasma
• Methods of prevention for the Black Death were also based on superstition
• Vesalius


  • Dissected humans instead of animals
  • Published his discoveries and anatomical drawings
• Vesalius' work challenged the established views
• Ambroise Paré


  1. Used a mixture of egg yolk, turpentine and rose oil instead of cauterisation

  2. Introduced the use of ligatures
• Paré spread his ideas through books
• This was facilitated by increased education and the invention of the printing press
• Harvey


  • Discovered the circulation of blood
  • Challenged Galen's ideas on the liver
• Harvey's ideas were not initially accepted
• Treatments were limited by the lack of knowledge about germs
• Measures taken during the Great Plague of 1665

  1. Isolation to control spread

  2. Watchmen to prevent people entering or leaving homes

  3. Plague doctors
• The number of hospitals increased and the establishment of royal colleges improved training
• John Hunter


  • Trained many British surgeons after 1760
  • Encouraged investigation
  • Taught surgeons to respect the natural healing process
• Smallpox inoculation


  1. Developed in the 1700s

  2. Jenner introduced the first vaccination
• Vaccination faced opposition
• Pasteur


  • Germ theory demonstrated the link between germs and disease
  • Helped identify specific bacteria which cause disease
• Lister


  • Developed antiseptic surgery
  • Experimented with carbolic acid
  • Sterilised his operating room and tools
• Improvements in public health were driven by rapid urban growth and overcrowding
• John Snow traced cholera to infected water supply
• Edwin Chadwick's report on the poor living conditions of the working class led to legislation and the end of laissez-faire
• Penicillin

  • Discovered by Fleming but its potential was not realised until Florey and Chain's work
  • Widely used during WWII after an agreement with the US government
• Alternative treatments became popular but were rejected by the scientific community
• Improvements in surgery and new discoveries led to improvements in public health
• Liberal governments introduced social reforms and the NHS after the poor public health of the working class was highlighted
• The government also tackled public health issues in cities such as the removal of slums
• Over time, the pressures of the NHS have increased