History of Medicine: Key Phrases

Question	Answer
Bloodletting	The drawing of blood from a patient by a doctor.
Dissection	Cutting open a body to examine its internal structure.
Four Humours	A theory that developed in Ancient Greece to explain illness due to an imbalance of blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile.
Latrine	Something used as a communal toilet.
Privy	Individual latrines.
Medieval	A 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.
Physician	A trained doctor
Public Health	The standard of living conditions and general health of the people.
Purging	Getting rid of bad or excess Humours by making someone sick or by making them have diarrhoea.
Society	The way a group of people links together in some common ways.
Supernatural	Forces outside nature that some people believe can affect events, for example, God, charms and luck, witchcraft or astrology.
Surgeon	Someone who deals with wounds or with treatment that involves cutting the body.
Anatomy	The structure of the body, for examples, bones, nerves, muscles.
Black Death	A highly infectious disease that spread throughout Europe in the mid- 14th Century.
Physiology	The way organs function within the body, for example, the work of the heart, liver and kidneys.
Reformation	A period of challenges and divisions within the Christian Church.
Renaissance	A period in the 16th and 17th centuries when people thought they were reviving Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman culture but also made new discoveries.
Royal Society	A group set up in 1660 to enable educated people to discuss scientific ideas.
Epidemic	A severe outbreak of an infectious disease.
Industrial	Connected to industry and manufacturing.
Industrial Revolution	The period c1750 - c1900 when there were rapid changes in the way work and industry was organised.
Inoculation	A way of giving a patient a mild dose of an illness so that the body builds up its immunity.
Miasma	The theory that disease is caused by poisonous vapours in the air.
Spontaneous Generation	The idea that rubbish or decaying material creates microbes.
Microbes	Small organisms or germs.
Vaccination	A safe way of stimulating the body's immune system against a particular disease.
Antibiotics	Drugs that stop infections caused by bacteria.
Consultant	A doctor specialising in a specific disease or part of the body; usually based in hospital.
Crystallography	Using radiation to take a high-powered X-ray photograph.
DNA	The abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the genetic instructions for every cell in the body.
General Practitioner (GP)	A doctor who works in a practice dealing directly with the public.
Genetics	The study of genes and inherited characteristics.
Immunisation	The process of making someone immune to a disease, including inoculation and vaccination.
Magic Bullet	A chemical drugs that kills the microbes causing a specific disease without harming the rest of the body.
National Health Service (NHS)	An organisation set up by the government in 1948 to give free health care.
Pharmaceutical Industry	The business of manufacturing medicinal drugs prescribed by a doctor or sold by a chemist.
Pharmacy	A business selling medical drugs; a chemist's shop.
Prescription Charges	Payment for medicine prescribed by a doctor.
Radiotherapy	The use of radiation in medicine, often to attack cancer.
Welfare State	The co-ordination and provision by the government of all matters affecting the health of people.

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History of Medicine: Key Phrases

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	Created by Nuala Glasheen over 8 years ago