summarised notes (12 pages) on medicine through time following the GCSE AQA specification- covers individuals, medieval medicine, modern medicine, the four humours and much more important knowledge needed for your GCSE history exam!
The four humours
First, Hippocrates made this theory, where he believed that the body was made up of four fluids:
Black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. He suggested that they needed to be balanced in
order to remain healthy.
Many years later, Galen suggested that to treat an imbalance of the humours, you could
outweigh the issue by doing the opposite. He thought that different drinks, herbs, spices and
foods could balance the excess of the humour.
Miasma:
The theory that bad air / smells caused disease, e.g the smell of rotting dead bodies
This theory originated in ancient Greece and Rome and remained highly influential until the
1860s.
The miasma theory meant that people cleaned up streets and their homes, which resulted in
better hygiene and sometimes reduced the spread of disease.
Islamic medicine:
Islamic medicine was usually more rational and evidence based than European medicine and
this was partly due to their knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman medicine texts.
Treatments of disease:
Many people thought that disease was caused by god- and that illness was a punishment from
god for your sins. So many people prayed and tried to repent themselves but some people did
‘flagellation’ which was where someone would go around in public whipping themselves to show
god they were sorry for their sins (this was particularly popular during the black death)
Bloodletting was also popular. Bloodletting was an attempt to balance the four humours. Blood
would be drawn out of the body by cutting a person’s arm or using blood sucking leeches. Blood
letting however was very dangerous as you couldn’t control how much blood was being lost and
many people died.
Purging- act of getting rid of other fluids in the body. E.g doctors gave laxatives
The theory of miasma also meant that a lot of doctors carried around oranges and posies with
them when they were treating patients, in order to block and protect themselves from the ‘bad
smell’ that caused disease.
During the black death, incense, myrrh, and juniper were all burnt in order to block and protect
the room from the bad smell that caused disease.
Public hospitals
, The main focus of public hospitals was to look after the sick and elderly rather than cure or treat
them of their illness.
Hugh of luca and his son theordic
Both these Italian surgeons worked in the early 13th century, and they recognised the
importance of practical experiments and observations, and even began to question Galen’s
ideas. The two surgeons began dressing wounds with bandages soaked in wine and noticed
how it helped clean the wound and prevent infection. They also realised that puss was not a
healthy sign, unlike doctors at the time who thought puss was good as it meant that toxins were
being released from the body.
Hygiene in the middle ages
After the black death, many people died so the population dropped, but towns were
overcrowded and there wasn’t enough space for everyone. A lot of towns also didn’t have
access to clean water supplies and waste was chucked into streets or rivers which polluted and
contaminated drinking water.
Butchers, tanners, and dyers dumped their toxic waste (e.g animal cut-offs) into rivers and
streets which contaminated towns even further.
1388- the government ordered authorities to keep streets clean of waste and many towns
introduced public health measures to keep water supplies clean.
Examples:
-in many towns, such as york, butchers, tanners and dyers were moved outside of the city walls
to prevent waste being collected in streets by where people lived
-London eventually banned people from dumping waste in the Thames and carters were hired
to move waste out of the city
-York and London both banned people from dumping waste and these cities also built latrines
which would carry sewage away.
However, whilst people recognised that contaminated water wasn’t good for them, authorities
didn’t have enough money or knowledge to properly fix these public health issues.
Monastries:
1. Many monasteries had two separate water supplies and separated clean and dirty water.
One water supply would be for cooking and drinking and the other would be for washing
and drainage
2. Many monasteries were built next to rivers which would give them a clean water supply.
If there was no river then man made waterways would be built so clean water could still
be supplied
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