Medicine

• Renaissance 1500-1700

  Main cause – Miasma, Main treatment – Herbal remedies AT HOME
• Beliefs on causes of disease in the Renaissance

  • Main belief was miasma
  • Less belief in religious causes due to the reformation
  • By the end of the period, not many believed in 4 humours
  • People still believed in astrology
  • Better understanding in anatomy thanks to dissection
  • Changes in communication led to better understanding: Printing press (allowed ideas to be spread) Royal society (shared ideas and kept a library)
  • Diagnosis changed – less focus on urine charts. Sydenham focused more on illness, rather than individual symptoms
• Treatments in the Renaissance

  • New idea of transference
  • Still using bleeding and purging (despite 4 humours not being as accepted)
  • Religious - The royal touch
  • Herbal remedies – included herbs and spices from the New World
• Prevention in the Renaissance

  • Focus on practicing moderation
  • Focus on cleanliness
  • Lighting fires/carrying herbs
• Individuals in the Renaissance

  • Andreas Vesalius
  • William Harvey
• Hospitals in the Renaissance

  • Affected by the reformation as many were closed down with the disolution of the monasteries
  • People started to get treatment in hospitals
  • People would get visits from physicians and some hospitals had their own apothecary
  • Pest houses were set up to treat contagious diseases e.g plague or pox
  • Most people are still treated in the community
• Drs Training in the Renaissance

  • Continued to be trained at university
  • Very little change
  • Learning was still from books, not from practical experience
  • Dissection was no longer illegal, but not many universities practiced it (it was considered that lowly surgeons would only need this knowledge)
  • Students could access a wider range of books thanks to the printing press
• The Great Plague 1665

  Cause- Miasma, punishment by God, astrology

  Treatment – Plague water, bursting buboes, transference (toads on buboes), herbal remedies, prayer

  Prevention – Clean streets, light fires, plague doctors had special outfits, killed stray animals, carrying posies and pomanders. Lord Mayor's rules in London (clean streets, bury dead outside the city, banned large gatherings)
• Factors for change in the Renaissance

  • Science and technology
  • Attitudes seeking improvement
• Factors for continuity in the Renaissance

  • Attitudes: Sticking to tradition
  • Individuals
• Industrial 1700-1900

  Main cause – Miasma but Germ theory 1861, Main treatment – Herbal remedies AT HOME
• Beliefs on causes of disease in the Industrial period

  • Main belief was miasma and spontaneous generation until Germ theory in 1861
  • JOHN SNOW 1854- studied Cholera outbreak in Soho. Realised that Cholera was water borne and not miasma, but didn't understand why
  • PASTEUR 1861 – discovered that spontaneous generation was wrong and that microbes in the air caused decay
  • KOCH – Read Pasteur's work and figured out that microbes caused disease as well as decay. Discovered that particular microbes caused particular disease
• Treatments in the Industrial period

  • Herbal remedies still popular
  • Cure alls available to buy from pharmacies
  • Surgery made possible due to SIMPSON 1847 discovered Chloroform (but led to black period of surgery. JOHN SNOW developed inhaler to measure dosage)
  • LISTER 1865 reads Pasteur's work and soaks bandages in Carbolic acid. Then uses it to sterilise equipment – leads to ASEPTIC SURGERY
• Prevention in the Industrial period

  • JENNER 1796- Developed the Small pox vaccination after injecting a boy with cow pox. Has little impact until vaccination becomes compulsory in 1852
  • KOCH and PASTEUR build on the work of Jenner to help develop other vaccines
  • PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1845 Introduced by government to advise local councils to improve public health
  • PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1875 In response to germ theory, EDWIN CHADWICK'S REPORT and the
• KOCH

  Read Pasteur's work and figured out that microbes caused disease as well as decay. Discovered that particular microbes caused particular disease
• Treatments

  • Herbal remedies still popular
  • Cure alls available to buy from pharmacies
  • Surgery made possible due to SIMPSON 1847 discovered Chloroform (but led to black period of surgery. JOHN SNOW developed inhaler to measure dosage)
  • LISTER 1865 reads Pasteur's work and soaks bandages in Carbolic acid. Then uses it to sterilise equipment – leads to ASEPTIC SURGERY
• Prevention

  1. JENNER 1796- Developed the Small pox vaccination after injecting a boy with cow pox. Has little impact until vaccination becomes compulsory in 1852

  2. KOCH and PASTEUR build on the work of Jenner to help develop other vaccines

  3. PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1845 Introduced by government to advise local councils to improve public health

  4. PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 1875 In response to germ theory, EDWIN CHADWICK'S REPORT and the Great stink, meant that local governments were forced to improve public health, including water supply
• Hospitals

  • After being in the Crimean war, FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE convinced the government to make changes to hospitals. She built them with more windows, bigger rooms
  • She changed the way nurses worked and wrote a book called Notes on Nursing , which made nursing a respectable profession
  • By 1900 hospitals were clean, offered surgery and antiseptic were used
  • Effective treatment was given by trained doctors and nurses
• Drs Training

  Still university, but more hands on experience in hospitals had become part of doctors' training
• Factors for change

  • Science and technology
  • Attitudes seeking improvement
  • Individuals
  • Government
  • War
  • Chance
• Modern 1900-present
• Main cause – Germ theory 1861, DNA and lifestyle
• Main treatment – NHS from 1948
• Beliefs on causes of disease(Modern Day)

  DNA- Crick and Watson discovered the structure of DNA 1952. Human Genome project decodes and maps each gene. This allows scientists to see and understand genetic diseases<|>Technology – development of blood tests, scans, monitors allows doctors to pinpoint the cause of disease<|>Lifestyle – Smoking, diet, alcohol, tanning and unprotective sex all cause disease
• Treatments

  • Magic bullets – chemicals which could attack microbes causing disease. First was Salvarsan 606 which targeted syphilis (killed patient). Domagk discovered prontosil which cured blood poisoning
  • Antibiotics – Fleming discovered mould which killed bacteria. Florey and Chain developed this and trialled it on a human. WW2 encouraged governments to mass produce penicillin.
  • Advances in science – mass production of pills, hypodermic needles, insulin pumps, pacemakers etc
  • NHS – 1948 – introduced after the Beveridge report. Largest government intervention into healthcare. Gave access to all.
  • Hi Tech treatments – keyhole surgery, chemotherapy, transplants etc
• Prevention

  • Vaccinations – mass vaccinations by the government against childhood disease e.g. smallpox/measles
  • Government legislation – laws to improve public health e.g. smoking ban, clean air act
  • Government lifestyle campaigns – Campaigns to improve lifestyles e.g. stopping smoking, healthy eating
• Hospitals

  • Run by the NHS
  • Range of treatments available
  • Specialist doctors and nurses
  • Money into research and development
• Drs Training


  Training at university<|>Hands on experience in hospitals a large part of training
• Lung cancer

  85% of cases are people who smoke<|>By 1950s studies showed a massive rise in lung cancer, along with rise in smokers<|>Difficult to diagnose as main symptom is a cough<|>Developments in technology e.g. scans has made diagnosis more accurate<|>Encouraged government to take steps to reduce smoking e.g. raised age to 18, banned advertising and banned smoking in public places
• Factors for change

  • Attitudes
  • Government
  • Science and technology
  • War