Flashcards
History of Medicine: Key Phrases
Cards in this deck (40)
- 1BloodlettingThe drawing of blood from a patient by a doctor.
- 2DissectionCutting open a body to examine its internal structure.
- 3Four HumoursA theory that developed in Ancient Greece to explain illness due to an imbalance of blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile.
- 4LatrineSomething used as a communal toilet.
- 5PrivyIndividual latrines.
- 6MedievalA name for the 'Middle Ages', the period between the Ancient World, which ended when the Romans left, and the Renaissance of the 16th and 17th Century.
- 7PhysicianA trained doctor
- 8Public HealthThe standard of living conditions and general health of the people.
- 9PurgingGetting rid of bad or excess Humours by making someone sick or by making them have diarrhoea.
- 10SocietyThe way a group of people links together in some common ways.
- 11SupernaturalForces outside nature that some people believe can affect events, for example, God, charms and luck, witchcraft or astrology.
- 12SurgeonSomeone who deals with wounds or with treatment that involves cutting the body.
- 13AnatomyThe structure of the body, for examples, bones, nerves, muscles.
- 14Black DeathA highly infectious disease that spread throughout Europe in the mid- 14th Century.
- 15PhysiologyThe way organs function within the body, for example, the work of the heart, liver and kidneys.
- 16ReformationA period of challenges and divisions within the Christian Church.
- 17RenaissanceA period in the 16th and 17th centuries when people thought they were reviving Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman culture but also made new discoveries.
- 18Royal SocietyA group set up in 1660 to enable educated people to discuss scientific ideas.
- 19EpidemicA severe outbreak of an infectious disease.
- 20IndustrialConnected to industry and manufacturing.
- 21Industrial RevolutionThe period c1750 - c1900 when there were rapid changes in the way work and industry was organised.
- 22InoculationA way of giving a patient a mild dose of an illness so that the body builds up its immunity.
- 23MiasmaThe theory that disease is caused by poisonous vapours in the air.
- 24Spontaneous GenerationThe idea that rubbish or decaying material creates microbes.
- 25MicrobesSmall organisms or germs.
- 26VaccinationA safe way of stimulating the body's immune system against a particular disease.
- 27AntibioticsDrugs that stop infections caused by bacteria.
- 28ConsultantA doctor specialising in a specific disease or part of the body; usually based in hospital.
- 29CrystallographyUsing radiation to take a high-powered X-ray photograph.
- 30DNAThe abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the genetic instructions for every cell in the body.
- 31General Practitioner (GP)A doctor who works in a practice dealing directly with the public.
- 32GeneticsThe study of genes and inherited characteristics.
- 33ImmunisationThe process of making someone immune to a disease, including inoculation and vaccination.
- 34Magic BulletA chemical drugs that kills the microbes causing a specific disease without harming the rest of the body.
- 35National Health Service (NHS)An organisation set up by the government in 1948 to give free health care.
- 36Pharmaceutical IndustryThe business of manufacturing medicinal drugs prescribed by a doctor or sold by a chemist.
- 37PharmacyA business selling medical drugs; a chemist's shop.
- 38Prescription ChargesPayment for medicine prescribed by a doctor.
- 39RadiotherapyThe use of radiation in medicine, often to attack cancer.
- 40Welfare StateThe co-ordination and provision by the government of all matters affecting the health of people.
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- Description
- These are flashcards outlining the key points and phrases.
- Created by
- Nuala Glasheen
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