Medicine 1250 - present notes

Page 1

Approaches to treatment and prevention

RELIGIOUS TREATMENTS

Healing prayers and incarnation (spells)

Paying for special mass

Fasting

Pilgrimages to tombs - touching holy relics, presenting offering to shrines ( usually an image of the body part to be healed made from wax, jewels or precious metal), lighting candles proortionately to their height or praying to heal aliment.

ASTROLOGY TREATMENTS

Consulting star charts when diagnosing illnesses

The treatments depended on the horoscope of the patient

The alignment of the planets was then checked every stage of treatment prescribed: herb gathering, bleeding, purging and operation

HUMOURAL TREATMENTS

They believed that each symptom meant that their was an imbalance in the humour

Pholebotmy, Blood-letting/ bleeding was very common to treating imbalanced humours to get rid of bad humours.

Bathing in warm baths was regularly prescribed as it dissolves blockage in the humours

It was believed that humours were found from food eaten, by removing any leftover foods from the digestive system it balance the humours this was called purging

REMEDIES

Herbal infusions to drink, sniff or bathe in was very common

Theriaca- 70 ingredients remedy to help treat snake bites and poisons and many other illnesses.

Different foods were prescribed to encourage the balance of humours

Page 2

Preventing Diseases

Preventing Diseases

Physicians were paid a lot of money for providing treatments for disease

There was many regimens to prevent diseases

The Church

To prevent disease many people believed to live a life free from sin

Regular prayers, Confessions and offering tithes to the church to ensure minor sins were forgiven quickly

They believed that cleanliness was next godliness, so it was important to stay clean ( rich or poor)

Regimen Sanitatis

A guidance on maintaining good health was given by physicians this was called a Regimen Sanitatis

It became very popular during the 1250, a lot of the the advice it used today

Only used for very rich people because it took long to write such a detailed set of instructions

Houses was kept clean and smelled fresh by using lavender and herbs to keep free from maismata

Medieval 'medics'

Female family members did most of the treatments by caring for the sick and mixing remedies themseleves

Women acted as midwives

Many people had to pay for treatments

Some treatments are expensive and others

Physicians

Physicians diagnosied patients and recommend treatments

they rarely treated patients they left that job for uneducated midwives, apothecaries or barber surgeons

The consultation for a phyicians was in three stages:

The physicians would examine the patients urine, blood and faeces

He would also consult with astrological charts under when they where born and the time they fell sick

Based on the humoural tendencies of the patient. Then create a course of treatment

Apothecaries

They mainly mixed herbal treatments

Physicians prescribed the medications and the apothecaries mixed the remedy.

They are much cheaper than doctors, reason why they are very popular

Hospitals

Hospitals were religious as churches owned them

1,100 hospitals contains few to hundreds

They has to share beds

Nuns and monks was nursing patients

They focused of caring for the sick that treating and curing them

If you was insane and pregnant you would be rejected

They rarely gave out medical treatments