Renaissance Prevention & Treatments · Common prevention in the Renaissance period •...

RenaissancePrevention&TreatmentsCHANGE&CONTINUITY

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FourHumours ISITSTILLAROUND?

Beliefinhumouralimbalanceisstillaround!Asaresultsoaresomeoftheoldbalancing

treatments– Bleeding,Purging&nowSweating

Treatments:Change&Continuity

Anythingnew?...

Transference:

Anewideathatanillnessordiseasecouldbetransferredfromapatienttosomethingelseifyourubbedanobjectonanailment(suchasaboil)eg:Rubbinganoniononwartswouldtransferthewarttotheonion

Surelytheycandobetterthan

this?...

HerbalRemedies:Herbalremedies

continuedtobepopularalthoughtheirusechangedslightly!

• Remedieswerechosenbecauseoftheircolourorshapeeg:Yellowherbs,suchasradishorsaffronwereusedtotreatjaundice

• Smallpox,whichhadaredrashwastreatedwiththe‘redcure’– drinkingredwine,eatingredfoodsandwearingredclothes!

• Astheageofexploration,newherbalremediesstartedtoappearfromtheNewWorld,thisopenedupahugenumberofpossibilites.

Treatments:Change&Continuity

TheNewWorld

Britain(&Europe)

MakeanoteoftheherbstheexplorersbroughtbackfromtheNewWorld

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Healers:

Treatments:Change&Continuity

Asyouknow,physiciansweretrainedinuniversitiesandexpensive.Evenstill,peoplepreferredthecheaperremediesfromtheapothecaries,barbersurgeonsandtheirfamilies.Mostpeoplewerestillcaredforathome.

• Women:Stillplayedamajorpartineverydaymedicine.Thefirstpersontotreatnearlyeveryonewasthewifeormotherofthesickperson.Richwomenkeptdetailednotesofthehealing/treatingshedid.Poorwomenwenttocitiestoworktosupporttheirfamilies

• Folkremedies/Supernatural:

• GodandtheKing:Between1660&1682over92,000peoplevisitedtheKing’scourt,hopingtobecuredfromtheKing’sEvil.ThiswasasclosetoGodasyoucouldgetonearth.

ChemicalCures:Thegrowthofalchemyhadamassiveimpactaspeoplebegantolookforchemicalcuresfordiseaseinsteadofrelyingonherbsandbloodletting.ThiswasknownsasIatrochemistry.

Metalswereusedtotreatcommonailments,theCollegeofPhysicianspublishedamanualofremedies.Therewere2140 intotal,ofwhich122 werechemicalpreparationsincludingmercuryandantimony.

• Antimony (insmalldoses)makesyousweat,thereforecoolingyoudown• Largerdosesmadeyousick- fittinginthepurgingideabutanewwayofdoingit• Mercury wascommonandusedfor Syphilis(akaGreatPox)

Treatments:Change&Continuity

Prevention:Change&ContinuityPreventingdiseasewasstillconsideredtobethebestwaytoavoiddyingfromit:SincetreatmentshadgenerallynotmovedonsincetheMiddleAges,therewasstillnocertaintythatapersonwouldrecover.

CommonpreventionintheRenaissanceperiod

• Practising moderationinallthings- Avoidingdraughts,exhaustion,richandfattyfoods,toomuchstrongalcoholandbeingtoolazy

• Conditionatbirth– beingbornsmallorweakmightbeusedtoexplainillness&deathinadulthood

• Cleanlinesswasstillimportant– boththehomeandthebodyneededtobekeptcleanandfreefrombadsmells(bathinghadbecomelesspopularsincethearrivalofsyphilis– HenryVIIIcloseddownthepublicbathhouses*)

• Continuedtopractise regimensanitatis

*Mightbemoretodowiththefactthebathhouseswerebrothelsaswell!

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Prevention:Change &ContinuityPreventingdiseasewasstillconsideredtobethebestwaytoavoiddyingfromit:SincetreatmentshadgenerallynotmovedonsincetheMiddleAges,therewasstillnocertaintythatapersonwouldrecover.

NewpreventionsintheRenaissanceperiod

• Peoplechangedtheirsurroundings(movingawayfromadiseasedarea)morethankeepingtheirareasclean

• Weatherconditions,orthesurroundingatmospherespreadingdiseasewasmorepopular

• Newinstrumentslikebarometersandthermometerswereusedtomeasureweathertoseeiftherewasalink

• Homeownerswerefinedfornotcleaningthestreetoutsidetheirhomes(miasmata)

• Drainingswampsandbogswasimportant• Minorcriminalsweregivenjobstoremovesewageandrubbishfromthestreets

Makealistofallthenewtreatmentswe’vefoundinRenaissanceBritain.

Howmanyofthemarenewerversionsofoldtreatments(NVer)

Howmanyarebrandnew(New)

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Stickthistableinyourbooks

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Whathashappenedtotraining1500-1700?ChangeContinuity

• Apothecaries– Stillmixingremedies

• Surgeons- Carryingoutsimplesurgery

- Apothecaries– organised intoguilds(apprenticeships)thenspendingmanyyearsasa‘Journeyman’underthesupervisionofamasterbeforebecomingamastersurgeonorapothecaryhimself.- Iatrochemistryintroducedtheneedformoretraining.- Neededalicence topracticetheirtrade

- Educationincreasedconsiderably,largelyduetowarsfoughtwithnewtechnology,newwoundsthereforemoresurgery- Neededalicence topracticetheirtrade

BothstillmainlyusedbythoseunabletoaffordPhysicians

Physicians:

Change

Continuity• StilltrainedatUniversity,withlittlechangetocourses,somenewideasbut

slowtotakeeffect• MoststilllearningfrombooksandinLatin• Stilllittlepracticaltraining,despitedissectionbeinglegalised duetodecline

ofthechurch

• Newsubjectslikeiatrochemistryandanatomyintroduced• Physicianswereinspiredtochallengetheoldteachings,observationbecame

muchmorepopular• Muchbetteraccesstomedicaltextbooksduetotheprintingpress• Artistswhodiddecoratechurcheswerenowoutofwork,sotheycouldnow

makedetaileddrawingsforthesetextbooks(Vesalius)

“I’dratherhavetheadviceortakemedicinefromanexperiencedoldwoman,whohadbeenatmanysickpeople’sbedsides,thanfromthelearnedestbutunexperiencedphysician” ThomasHobbesc.late1600s Whatcanyouinferfromthis?

Hospitals:

Change

Continuity• Travellers,pilgrims,theelderlyandafewsickstillattendedhospitalsforfood,

shelterandprayer- CARE

• Patientrecordssuggestthatmanypeoplewenttohospitalwithwoundsandcurablediseasessuchasfeversandskinconditions– TREATMENT

• Theydidn’tspendlonginhospitalsuggestingtheygotbetter• Agooddietwasprovided,especiallygoodforthepoorerpatients• Physicianswouldvisittoobserveandprescribetreatments• Mosthospitalsnowhadpharmaciesandanapothecarysomedicationwas

given• HenryVIII’sdissolutionoftheMonasteriesin1536diddramaticallyaffectthe

availabilityofhospitalcareinEngland

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DissolutionoftheMonasteries

Whatcanyouseehappeninghere?

SincethevastmajorityofhospitalswereconnectedtotheChurch,veryfewwereabletostayopenafterthedissolution.AshospitalswereattachedtotheAbbeys,MonasteriesandConvents,itwastheMonksandNunswhoadministeredthecare.

HenryVIIIre-foundedStBartholomew'shospitalhimselfin1546.By1660,ithad12wards,300patients,3Physicians,3Surgeonsand15nursesaswellasnursinghelpers

Smallerhospitalsopenedup,fundedbycharitiesbutwithlessmedicaltreatmentbeingprovided.

Eventually,thehospitalsreopenedwithouttheirreligioussponsor,butittookalongtimetoreturntopredissolutiondays.GCSE9-1

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PestHouses:WhatdoyouthinkaPestHousewas?

• Hospitalsbeganspecialising inaparticulardisease(LazarhousesappearedinMiddleAgesforleprosy).

• Therewasagrowingunderstandingthatdiseasecouldbespreadfrompersontoperson(eventhoughtheyhadnoideawhy).

• ThesePestHousesappearedforpeoplesufferingfromPlague,Pox,Leprosyetc

• ThiswasimportantasalthoughhospitalswerenowTREATINGmore,theystillwerenotadmittingcontagiouspatients.

PestHousesAKA:PlagueHouses,Poxhouses

St.PaulsCathedralconvertedintoaPestHouse

This19th CenturyEnglishengravingofSt.Paul’sCathedralshowsitbeingusedasapesthouseduringtheGreatPlagueofLondon.

St.Paul’sbecameaPestHouseduringmanyoutbreaksofdiseaseintheCityofLondon

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RenaissanceTreatment,Healing&Prevention

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