History AQA GCSE Grade 9 Health and the People: Medicine Stands Still Notes
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Course
History
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GCSE
History AQA GCSE Health and the People: Medicine Stands Still, printable notes made and used by Grade 9 History student. Contains in-depth facts/research covering every aspect of the specification. Includes analytical-response notes, visual aids, and extremely helpful revision aid for making flashc...
Health and the People: Medicine Stands Still
Medieval medicine
Approaches to Disease
Methods of treatment and diagnosis weren’t very reliable in Medieval Britain. Most explanations and
treatments were based on supernatural approaches, or based off works from the Ancient world – especially
Hippocrates and Galen.
Natural and Supernatural Approaches
Natural approaches Supernatural approaches
Apothecaries – medicine makers, used herbs to Praying to God or saints – they believed disease was
make ‘medicines’ punishment sent from God
Burning herbs to create a sweet smell to get rid of Flagellation (whipping) – to show God they were
miasma (smells were believed to cause disease) sorry for their sins
Astrology – people believed the stars and planets
could be responsible for illness
Hippocrates
Greek doctor born around 460 BCE
So influential his ideas are still used today
Advocated careful observation of patients and recording what he saw
Now it’s called clinical observation
Some medieval doctors would have followed this
Created the Theory of the Four Humours
Created the Hippocratic Oath
- Oath taken by new doctors
- Promise to be ethical and not harm their patients
- Still sworn today by all new doctors
Galen
Greek but studied medicine in Egypt
Follower of Hippocrates
Most celebrated physician in the Roman Empire
First doctor to encourage dissection even though it was illegal
Gained lots of practical experience as doctor to the gladiators of his hometown
Developed the idea of the Four Humours
Encouraged doctors to check their patient’s pulse for signs of what was wrong
Wrote many books, edited by Islamic scholars in the medieval period
The Four Humous
The Greeks believed the body was made up of four basic elements (Four Humours). When they were out of
balance, a person became ill.
The idea had some merit as it was rational and based on observational evidence (not superstition). The
remedies prescribed were often unhelpful, and thus it hindered development in medicine.
The balance could be restored by reducing whatever was out of balance, either by purging or bleeding using
leeches or cutting to reduce the amount of blood.
This idea continued until the 19th century.
Theory of Opposites
In the 2nd Century CE, Galen developed the Four Humours. Besides bleeding and purging to reduce excess
humours, the Theory of Opposites aimed to restore the balance by giving the patient the ‘opposite’ to their
symptoms, e.g. too much phlegm (linked to water/cold) would be treated with eating hot peppers.
, The Medieval Doctor
Hippocrates and Galen
Medieval doctors continued to use medical ideas of Hippocrates and Galen, and accepted the Theory of the
Four Humours and the Theory of Opposites without question. These weren’t always useful and patients
deteriorated. Most doctors still believed in supernatural causes for disease.
Methods of treatment
Some medieval doctors carried a toolkit:
Vademecum – diagnosis book
Leeches – for balancing the humour of blood
Posies and other pungent objects to ward off miasma
Herbs – mixing natural remedies
Zodiac chart – to predict illnesses and suggest cures
Urine chart – they examined the colour, smell and taste of a patient’s urine
Superstition increases through the period: monarchs thought by touching a patient suffering from the ‘King’s
Evil’ (scrofula) could cure them and peasants prayed to St Roch to cure toothache or plague.
Training
New universities of physicians were established, e.g. in Bologna and Padua. At Padua students visited sick
people as part of training. In schools doctors debated the best treatments for diseases and began watching
people dissect bodies to improve their understanding.
Doctors returning from new medical schools were sometimes licensed. New books were produced for new
doctors to read by scholars, e.g. Rhazes.
Dissections were done by low-paid employees while a professor stayed in his chair. Doctors were encouraged to
learn from books of Hippocrates and Galen, rather than practical work like dissection and experimentation.
Observation
Some doctors adhered to Hippocrates’ methods; they observed patients in an effort to understand the issue.
Doctors might try work out what was wrong by taking a patient’s pulse or tasting their urine. Battlefield like
Arderne started to take a more scientific approach.
Practitioners
Healthcare was available but it had limited effectiveness, and religion restricted most healthcare – influenced
heavily by the church. There was very inconsistent treatment – where you lived and who you went to see
massively influenced the quality of your treatment.
Medical practitioner Treatment received
Barber-Surgeon did bloodletting, minor surgery; based on experience
Apothecary used herbal treatments
Wise Woman gave first aid, herbal remedies, supernatural cures with charms and spells based
on tradition; based on word-of-mouth and trial and error
Physician scholars who studied at university, most prestigious, very sparse, charged fees
for services, used Hippocratic and Galenic methods, studied for at least seven
years
Surgeon more prestigious than a barber-surgeon, received schooling
Monk copied out manuscripts of the works of Hippocrates and Galen, gave medical
aid, used herbal treatments, bloodletting, prayer and rest; based on ancient
knowledge, word-of-mouth and experience
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