Summary
Summary medicine through time
medicine through time gcse
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PrehistoryWhat they thought caused illness
Natural included hunger, climate, accidents, parasites and wounds
Supernatural included spirits of the dead, planets, witches and magic
Surgery
Trephining was a procedure that was thought to help illnesses such as broken skull, epilepsy and
headaches, although it was suggested that it was also to let out evil spirits.
Treatments and prevention
Because of beliefs they buried their excrement and hair, which consequently kept their living areas
cleaner and helped prevent the spread of disease.
They wore charms to ward off evil spirits
Used herbs and plants from their surroundings to treat surface wounds
Key ideas
Everyone contained a spirit and you became ill if your own spirit left you or if an evil spirit entered
you.
Who treated disease?
Medicine men and women dealt with daily health and knew the healing properties of herbs
Main factors
Religion helped as they buried their excrement to prevent spirits from entering their body
Lifestyle / public health
Moved around a lot so didn’t pollute water supply and pile up filth that attracted insects
Infections were uncommon, as organisms needed a mass of people living in the same vicinity
They didn’t keep animals that spread disease to them
They ate a wide range of plants and animals, which gave them all necessary nutrients to be healthy
Although this began to change - Some disease was spread by mice
Caught malaria by mosquitoes and parasitic worms took residence inside humans giving them
diarrhoea and malnutrition
Groups started to become larger and airborne diseases spread by coughing and sneezing
They kept more animals, which transferred disease to humans such as polio, typhoid and cholera
, Egyptians
Over view
Some treatments were effective as mould from rotten bread were antibacterial so cleared wounds,
radishes, garlic and onion were fed to pyramid workers whose chemicals prevented dysentery,
typhoid and cholera.
What they thought caused illness
Thought there were over 40 channels from the heart to around the body so if one was blocked you
would become ill
Rotting food in the stomach / undigested food and consequently the gas and smell coming from
these and thought this prevented the regular flow blood, air and water
Surgery
Embalming
Treatments and prevention
Used natural remedies like honey, mice, myrrh, red ochre, malachite, fats of animals and rotten
bread
Purging which prevented the channels from being blocked patients give a laxative style medicine to
induce diarrhoea and clear the bowels
Embalming after death included removing organs and putting them in pots to preserve them for the
afterlife
Cauterising by red hot iron bar placed onto amputation wound to seal ends and stop bleeding.
Key ideas
Healthy channels were vital for good health
Observation, examination and recording (for others to use)
Used natural and supernatural together, didn’t distinguish between i.e. used a medicinal drink whilst
saying a spell, believed both worked.
Who treated disease?
Priest physicians used herbal remedies and common sense to treat patients
Priest magician used supernatural remedies, prayers, charms and spells.
Main factors
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