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The medical renaissance in England (1500-1700) (Why was Andreas Vesalius…
The medical renaissance in England (1500-1700)
What was the renaissance?
Renaissance = rebirth
There was no change in attitudes most of the period however towards the end of the Renaissance people were more tolerable of new ideas
discoveries: circulation of blood, breakthroughs in anatomy
Very few scientists challenged tradition (Vesalius, Harvey)
New ideas about causes of disease
Thomas Sydenham
believed each disease was different
how it was important to work out the exact disease so the correct remedy could be chosen to cure it
He stressed that doctors should take a full history of a patients health and symptoms so the correct diagnosis can be made
'English Hippocrates'
made detailed descriptions of many diseases e.g. his first was Scarlet Fever
believed it letting the body fight disease by itself
scientific developments
In 1645, the first meeting of people who were interested in discussing new scientific ideas was held in London
Members demonstrated experiments as the society had its own lab and equipment (microscopes)
It published books and articles
in 1662 King Charles II attended meeting and it became known as the Royal society
Printing
spread new ideas rapidly
invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1450's by 1500 it was used through Western Europe
Approaches/ treatment
Physicians
still learned about medicine from books of Galen
some were trained on wards
studied Vesalius's anatomy and Harvey on physiology
training emphasized the importance of the scientific approach
more doctors had the chance to dissect bodies
new equipment was developed and used (thermometers, microscopes)
Healers
women were still the first people the sick went to
Lady Grace Mildmay kept records of treatment and patients. And Margaret Colfe had been a willing nurse, midwife, surgeon and in part physician to all
hospitals
Most were closed when Henry VIII became King in the 1530's as they were monastery run
Most hospitals did not admit people with infectious diseases just provided food, warmth and prayer
by the 1660's St Bartholomew's had 12 wards and up to 300 patients looked after by 3 physicians, 3 surgeons, 15 nurses and more nursing helpers
Treatment for disease
bleeding and purging
used to balance 4 humours
was used in the medieval period also
it weakened the patients considerably
Rhubarb was used to purge bowels and Ipecacuanha was used for dysentery and made people vomit
Herbal remedies
some ingredients used actually killed bacteria e.g.honey
some were beneficial e.g. the feeding of fruit to someone with scurvy
tobacco was brought from America and was recommended for: toothache, poisoned wounds, joint ache and protection from the plague but it was ineffective and made them sicker
God and king
between 1660-1682 92,000 people visited the King's court believing that if they touched Charles II they would be cured of Scrofula
the King was God's representative on Earth so if they touched the king they were touching God
folk remedies
people still used cures based on magic
Why was Andreas Vesalius important?
discovered:
-human jawbone is made from 1 bone, not 2 like Galen said
-the breastbone had 3 parts, not 7 like Galen said
-blood does not flow into the heart by invisible holes in the septum as Galen suggested
published 'The Fabric of the Human Body' in 1543- the illustrations showed the body in far more detail than ever before
was a professor of surgery in Padua, Italy
he was born in 1514- 1564 in Belgium and his father was an apothecary
impact
his book was used in Cambridge in 1560
the first dissection by an anatomist in Cambridge was in 1565
doctors wrote corrections in older medical books
made people begin to challenge old ideas (Galen)
William Harvey and the circulation of blood
discovered
solved the unknown function of the one way heart valves
heart pumped blood around the body in a circular pattern
calculated the amount of blood going through the arteries in an hour
veins carry blood not air
ideas he challenged
blood was constantly manufactured in the liver to replace the blood burned up by the body
the veins carried blood and air around the body
Blood passed through invisible holes in the heart from one side to the other in the septum
impact
laid the foundation for future investigation into blood and physiology
provided more evidence for the importance of dissection and experiments
Many aspects of medicine depended on understanding the blood system. so surgery couldn't develop before Harvey's discovery
The great plague (1665)
causes
imbalance of humors
punishment from God
Miasmas/ bad air
treatment
prayer and fasting
bleeding and purging
herbal remedies
supernatural/ magical treatments
plague doctors 'cured' the plague
preventions
public prayer and confession of sins
carried sweet smelling herbs
watchmen and rakers
minor cleaning was carried out
crowded areas and meeting places were closed
pigs, dogs and cats were killed (40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats)
people moved out of london
'Women searchers' identified those who had died of the plague
why was there so little change?
church
Was still very powerful and people were told that God controlled every aspect of life
individuals
The work of Galen etc. was still a central part of the doctors medical training
New discoveries by Vesalius and Harvey did not improve anyone's health
still very few doctors or scientists so there was no one to discover new ideas
Attitudes
some herbal remedies worked and encouraged people to maintain the old ways of treating illness
ideas about what caused disease did not change despite new scientific thinking
It was very hard for doctors to change their view on the accuracy of Galen's work
methods of preventing the plague was already carefully thought out and organised