Health and the people part 1: Medieval period

Beliefs about causes of disease
1. God
  1. You live sinfully? Here, have this disease.
  2. Would always create a plant to treat his diseases (the doctrine of signatures)
    1. People experiment more
      1. They actually find plants to help cure some diseases
2. Bad smells (miasma)
  1. They found diseases more common in cities
    1. Cities = stinky
      1. Therefore stinky = disease
3. Supernatural
  1. Witches
  2. Demons
4. Four humours
  1. Ancient Greek belief
    1. Galen believed
      1. Galen christian, so church believed
  2. An imbalance of these causes disease
    1. Yellow bile
    2. Black bile
    3. Phlegm
    4. Blood
    5. Need to rebalance to cure
5. Similar to ancient beliefs
  1. Progress had stalled
Diagnosis of disease
1. Urine charts
  1. Doctors would look at, smell and taste patients' urine
    1. They match its properties to a chart, telling them what disease it is
  2. Occasionally useful
  3. Unreliable
  4. At least they were trying to observe symptoms
2. Zodiac man
  1. Each star sign corresponds to a part of the body
  2. Uses four humours to diagnose
Surgery
1. Key figures
  1. John Arderne (1307 - 1392)
    1. First notable English surgeon
      1. Best surgeon at the time
        Could treat major wounds
      2. Didn't rely on Galen and Hippocrates
      3. Wrote some books
        'The Practice of Surgery'
    2. Experienced from treating soldiers
      1. Hundred years war
      2. Good at 'fistula in ano'
        50% success rate
    3. Discovered an anaesthetic
      1. Made of henbane, opium and hemlock
        First real anaesthetic
    4. Decent guy
      1. Recommended good bedside manner
      2. Charged rich a lot, served poor for free
        Ahead of his time
  2. Abulcasis
    1. Muslim dude
      1. More compassionate towards ill
      2. Ideas found due to crusades
        Thanks to religion
    2. Invented surgical instruments
    3. Wrote books
    4. Made cauterisation popular
      1. More survive wounds
  3. Hugh of Lucca
    1. Said pus didn't help wounds
      1. Didn't fit with Galen
        Church didn't agree
        People reluctant to disregard Galen
      2. De Chauliac didn't agree
        Wrote in book
        Hugh's ideas didn't catch on
2. Performed by:
  1. Barber surgeons
    1. Trained by apprenticeship
    2. Charged a lot
3. VERY dangerous
  1. No anaesthetics
    1. Die of shock
  2. No ability to stop/prevent infection
    1. Even if it was successful you may die
  3. Blood loss a huge challenge
    1. Have to do it very fast
      1. Large chance of mistakes
      2. Can't find better methods
    2. Some cauterised
Treatment of Disease
1. 'Hospitals'
  1. Set up by church
    1. Wanted to heal people like Jesus did
    2. Clean(ish)
      1. Actually somewhat helpful
  2. Dealt with small complaints
    1. Didn't let badly sick people in
  3. Prayed and cared for patients
    1. Couldn't actually help a lot
2. Lazar houses
  1. Lepers went there to stop infecting others
3. Apothecaries
  1. Herbs and spices
    1. Some worked
  2. 7 year apprenticeship
4. Wise Women
  1. Just someone who knew of plants that could help
  2. Wisdom from family
5. Four Humours
  1. Rebalance humours
    1. Purge bowels
      1. Useful sometimes
    2. Blood letting
      1. Dangerous
6. Pilgrimages
  1. God will help you get better
Public Health
1. Cities
  1. Attitude to cleanliness
    1. Don't really care
    2. Couldn't afford to keep clean
      1. Very little government help
        Some tried a little
    3. Some belief in miasma
      1. Therefore some wanted to clean up
  2. Water supply
    1. Wells often near to cesspits
      1. Contamination
    2. Rivers
      1. Also used for sewage
      2. Unpurified water
    3. Some took directly from springs
      1. Less likely to be infected
  3. Sewage
    1. Thrown onto streets
    2. Cesspits
      1. Often overflowing
    3. Some had own outhouses
    4. Money left in wills to build public toilets
  4. Some better than others
    1. Coventry
      1. Fines for not cleaning street
      2. Taxes pay for waste collection
      3. Waste sold to farmers
      4. Waste disposal sites out of town
      5. No sewage dumped into rivers
      6. Council very good
2. Monastries
  1. Attitude to cleanliness
    1. Good - Holy, celibate and pure
    2. Had to be clean
      1. Worship God
    3. Wealthy - could afford to keep clean
    4. Away from filthy towns
  2. Sewage
    1. Privies empty into cesspits
      1. Can be washed out by river
    2. Manure transported out
  3. Water supply
    1. Rivers
      1. Filtered water
      2. Pipes divert water
    2. Some goes to brew houses
3. The Black Death (1348)
  1. Specifics:
    1. Came from East via trade links
    2. Two types:
      1. Bubonic
        Spread by fleas
        Big black buboes formed
        Then fever and vomiting
        Then death
      2. Pneumonic
        Spread through droplets in the air from an infected person
        Rarer but deadlier
    3. Killed 1/3 to 1/2 of the population
  2. Beliefs about it
    1. Causes
      1. Miasma
      2. Four humours
      3. God
      4. Planets alligning weirdly
      5. Chinese earthqukes
      6. Jews
    2. 'Treatments'
      1. Before contracting
        Pray and march through streets
        More exposed to it
        Burn big candles
        Don't eat much
        Don't bathe (pores let disease in)
        No sex (weakens you with excitement)
        Avoid victims
        Worked
        Clean up
        Carry flowers (miasma)
        Have wine
        These were mostly rubbish
        Go to church
      2. After contracting
        Pop buboes
        Attach live pidgeon to buboes
        Drink vinegar and mercury
        Toxic
        Flagellate (whip self)
        Pray
        These were all rubbish
  3. Outcomes
    1. Fewer workers
      1. Bad economy
      2. Starve
    2. Inflation
    3. Peasants go to new lords
      1. New laws to stop this
        Peasants' revolt (1381)

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Health and the people part 1: Medieval period

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	Created by Frank Shrimpton over 4 years ago