Treating Disease

• Treating Disease


  As the Middle Ages went on, medical treatments continued to be based on ideas we'd nowadays consider very unscientific. Treatments were ambitious though, and theories quite sophisticated in their own ways
• Prayer


  Major treatment for disease in the medieval period
• Repentance


  Major treatment for disease in the medieval period
• Disease was believed to be a punishment from God, so sick people were encouraged to pray
• The sick often prayed to saints, in hope they would intervene and stop the illness
• Medieval people also believed that pilgrimages to holy shrines (e.g. sites containing the remains of saints) could cure illnesses
• Flagellants


  People who whipped themselves in public in order to show God that they were sorry for their past actions
• Flagellants were particularly common during epidemics, such as the Black Death
• Many doctors had superstitious beliefs - e.g. some used astrology to diagnose and treat illness or believed that saying certain words while giving a treatment could make that treatment more effective
• Bloodletting and Purging aimed to make the Humours balanced


  1. Bloodletting and purging were popular treatments because they fitted in with the Four Humours Theory

  2. If someone apparently had too much blood inside them, the doctor would take blood out of their body through bloodletting - they might make a small cut to remove the blood or use blood-sucking leeches

  3. Some people were accidentally killed because too much blood was taken

  4. Purging is the act of getting rid of other fluids from the body by excreting - doctors gave their patients laxatives to help the purging process
• Comment and Analysis


  Bloodletting caused more deaths than it prevented, but it remained a popular treatment. This shows the strength of medieval people's beliefs in the face of observational evidence
• Miasma theory


  The belief that purifying or cleaning the air could prevent sickness and improve health
• Purifying air to prevent disease

  • Physicians carried posies or oranges around when visiting patients
  • During the Black Death, juniper, myrrh and incense were burned so the smoke or scent would fill the room and stop bad air from bringing disease inside
• Purifying air for other health conditions

  In the case of fainting, people burned feathers and made the patient breathe in their smoke
• Remedies were Early Natural Medicines

  1. Remedies bought from an apothecary, local wise women or made at home were all popular in medieval Britain and contained herbs, spices, animal parts and minerals

  2. These remedies were either passed down or written in books explaining how to mix them together. Some of these books were called 'Herbals'

  3. Other remedies were based on superstition, like lucky charms containing 'powdered unicorn's horn'
• Treating Disease


  In the Middle Ages, people were extremely fortunate if they were treated by a doctor. Most had to go to an apothecary, a public hospital or a barber-surgeon if they needed treatment for something
• Physicians


  • Male doctors who had trained at university for at least seven years
  • Read ancient texts as well as writings from the Islamic world
  • Their training involved little practical experience
  • Used handbooks (vademecums) and clinical observation to check patients' conditions
• There were fewer than 100 physicians in England in 1300, and they were very expensive
• Apothecaries


  • Prepared and sold remedies
  • Gave advice on how best to use them
  • Most common form of treatment in Britain
  • Most accessible for those who could not afford a physician
• Apothecaries


  Trained through apprenticeships
• Types of healers


  • Physicians
  • Apothecaries
  • Wise women
• Most apothecaries were men, but there were also many so-called 'wise women', who sold herbal remedies
• Public Hospitals


  • Most were set up and run by the Church
  • Relatively few such hospitals
  • Very popular and highly regarded
• Main purpose of hospitals

  • Not to treat disease, but to care for the sick and elderly
  • Provided patients with food, water and a warm place to stay
  • More hygienic than elsewhere due to developed water and sewerage systems
• Some monasteries also cared for the sick, the elderly or the poor
• Most sick people were treated at home by members of their family
• Famous hospitals


  • St. Bartholemew's
  • St. Thomas' in London
• These famous hospitals started life as church establishments
• The monastery at Canterbury Cathedral already had a complex water and sanitation system by 1250
• Surgery - work for Barbers, not doctors


  . Medieval surgery was very dangerous - there was no way to prevent blood loss, infection or pain. It was therefore only attempted rarely and for very minor procedures, e.g. treating hernias or cataracts

  . There were a few university-trained, highly paid surgeons, but surgery as a whole was not a respected profession in medieval times - most operations were carried out by barber-surgeons (who also cut hair)
• Hugh of Lucca and Theodoric


  Surgeons who worked in Italy in the early 13th century
• Hugh of Lucca and Theodoric


  • Recognised the importance of practical experience and observation
  • Questioned some of Galen's ideas
• Dressing wounds


  1. Bandages soaked in wine

  2. Helped to keep wounds clean and prevent infection
• They made the discovery of using wine to dress wounds by chance
• Pus


  Not a healthy sign, unlike what other doctors at the time believed
• Reducing pain during operations

  1. John of Arderne created a recipe for an anaesthetic in 1376

  2. Included hemlock, opium and henbane

  3. Carefully controlled doses may have worked

  4. But was very likely to kill
• Comment and Analysis


  Hugh and Theodoric's approach was unusual in the Middle Ages. It wasn't until the Renaissance that people started to question widely-held beliefs about the causes of disease, and to carry out experiments to find more effective methods of treatment and prevention