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Renaissance Medicine 1500-1700 - Coggle Diagram
Renaissance Medicine 1500-1700
Change vs Continuity
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Theory of the four humours can't be used anymore
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More curious
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Rely on remedies and cures from older times
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Believe in miasma
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The practice of medicine is the same even though ideas were changing
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Scientists wanted to understand the world around them
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Secularisation
Ideas that changed a lot
The theory of the four humours
- very few physicians believed this by the end of the 17th century
The human body
- Better understanding of anatomy.
Diagnosis using urine
- Physicians knew urine was directly related to someone's health.
Ideas that changed a little
The use of medical books
- Carried out more observations but still relied on texts for looking at symptoms.
The influence of the Church
- most people thought that God didn't send disease however in times of an epidemic like the Great Plague, religious causes were still considered.
Supernatural
Astrology wasn't as popular however in times of epidemics people used charms to ward off disease.
Ideas that remained the same
Miasma
- Disease was still thought to have been spread by bad smells and evil fumes.
Thomas Sydenham
'English Hippocrates'
A well respected doctor in London who moved Britain away from the classical ideas of Galen and Hippocrates.
Encouraged other physicians to make their own observations rather than rely on a book
He knew to treat all symptoms as one disease
Controversially he knew disease wasn't down to a persons characteristics and was like a species.
He wasn't able to identify the microorganisms so there was no proof, however he identified that scarlet fever and measles were separate diseases.
Importance of the Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg in 1440
Information spread accurately and quickly.
Scientists could publish their own work which didn't have to be written by the Pope.
The Royal Society
A desire to explain the world in secular terms by scientists.
Made in 1660 and was supported by King Charles the 2nd
Shared knowledge and were encouraged to debate
The King's support gave it credibility and people were more likely to donate and believe them.
Treatment
Continuity
Balancing humours
- Bleeding, purging, sweating
Herbal remedies
- Remedies in the renaissance were chosen for their colour or shape. E.g. having a red rash and drinking red wine. Thomas Sydenham found a cure for malaria by using cinchona bark.
Change
Transference
- Illness or disease can be passed to something else. E.g. having an onion on a wart and the wart will move to the onion.
Chemical cures
- Growth of alchemy (medical chemistry)
Prevention
The only real way to stop yourself from dying of disease in the renaissance was to not get a disease.
Don't:
eat fatty foods, drink too much strong alcohol, be lazy, exhaust yourself
Condition at Birth
If you were born weak and small this may be used as an explanation in adulthood
Cleanliness
The home and the body needs to be kept clean and free from bad smells. However bathing became a lot less popular after the arrival of syphilis.
Removal of Miasma
Homeowners would be fined for not cleaning the outside of their house. Projects were set up where criminals had to drain swamps, bogs and removing sewage.
Professionals
Apothecaries and surgeons
- Carried on mixing remedies and doing small surgeries. Education for both increased considerably and both needed a licence for their trade.
Physicians
were more expensive as they had to be trained in university. Most learning was still from books however their were some practical training like dissections.
Andreas Vesalius
He studied medicine in Paris and became a lecturer in surgery in Padua.
Had a deep interest in the human body and wanted to show his discoveries.
Book:
On the fabric of the Human Body
Stole criminals bodies who had been executed.
The book included 300 mistakes Vesalius found in Galen's work
William Harvey
Particularly interested in blood flow.
Studied in Padua and his lectures taught him about Vesalius' theory about valves in the veins.
He proved Vesalius right by trying to pump liquid the other way and it didn't work due to the valves.
Also proved that arteries and veins worked in a system.
Book:
An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals
Caring for the sick
Hospitals
Previously hospitals were like hotels for pilgrims, travellers and a few sick people who needed food, shelter and prayer.
In the renaissance this changed as a patient could expect to be seen by a physician, get medication and have a good diet.
Pest Houses
A hospital that specialised in a particular disease.
Versions of these had existed in the Middle Ages (Lazar houses for Leprosy)
People now understood disease could be passed on form person to person so people needed to be isolated.
Community care
People most commonly remained at home and got advice for remedies off of their community member since they were close-knit.
Women in poor and rich families played the role of looking after the sick.