Cupping: the skin was pierced until it bled, a heated cup was then placed over the cut to draw out the blood. Some patients died from blood loss but physicians were not held responsible. The Four Humours Purging It was believed that the humours were created from the foods eaten, a common treatment was therefore to remove any leftover food. This was done by giving the patients an emetic (to make them vomit) or a laxative to clear out anything left in the body. These were usually strong and bitter herbs, often they contained poisons such as hellebore. Laxatives were very common and included things like mallow leaves and linseed. If more help was required an enema was given – a mixture of herbs and oils were squirted into a patient’s anus using a greased pipe fixed to a pig’s bladder. Who would you visit for treatment? Physicians New universities were set up across Europe making medicine more professional. degree took between 7 and ten years to complete. Medieval doctors were known as physicians and their main role was to diagnose and recommend treatment. They rarely actually treated the patients themselves and often did not examine the patient in person The physician would take a sample of urine, faeces and blood. He would then consult the astrological charts and humoural charts. Many doctors were also priests so were forbidden to bleed a patient. They were expensive as there weren’t many of them because training rook so long Apothecaries They mainly mixed herbal remedies and had a good amount of knowledge, usually passed down through family. They were not as skilled or knowledgeable as physicians – they just mixed the prescribed medicines. Lots of people would see an apothecary as they were cheaper than a doctor. They could also prescribe poisons which went against the Hippocratic Oath that doctors should do no harm. They did not have to have a formal education and could not be trusted to do no harm. Some also provided amulets and charms.
He was also important for developing techniques in growing bacteria using agar jelly. He also developed methods of staining them to make them easier to see. He inspired other scientists to find microbes for other diseases. What was his impact? Only once the specific disease causing microbes had been found could work begin to find cures and vaccines. Even the British government rejected the Germ Theory – even when Koch proved that Cholera was spread in the water supply he was ignored and the British government clung onto the idea of miasma. However, bacteriology and the germ theory had an enormous understanding on the cause of disease and illness. The mystery had been solved, even if it took the medical profession a while to accept this, and new treatments could now be researched. What factors affected the understanding of the cause of illness and disease? Individuals Without Pasteur and Koch it would have taken a lot longer for the Germ Theory to be developed Government The government did not help improve understanding in the cause of disease. After 1867 more people in Britain had the right to vote so the government had to listen to them but were only interested in practical solutions; the Germ Theory actually offered no practical solutions. Technology The microscope was a very important piece of technology – it allowed scientists to spot most micro-organisms. Koch also developed new techniques of growing and staining bacteria. Science Improved communications allowed scientists to share their work with each other and there was a desire to prove new theories and find practical solutions Changes in Society People were more interested in finding the reasons behind disease than they had been in previous centuries. They were looking for rationale explanations and links were made between unhealthy living conditions and disease. However, people were reluctant to change their minds and it took a long time to accept the germ theory. Until the 1880s, when it could be proved
Marie Curie Marie Curie was a Polish-born physicist and chemist and one of the most famous scientists of her time. Together with her husband Pierre, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903, and she went on to win another in 1911. Marie Sklodowska was born in Warsaw on 7 November 1867, the daughter of a teacher. In 1891, she went to Paris to study physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne where she met Pierre Curie, professor of the School of Physics. They were married in 1895. The Curies worked together investigating radioactivity, building on the work of the German physicist Roentgen and the French physicist Becquerel. In July 1898, the Curies announced the discovery of a new chemical element, polonium. At the end of the year, they announced the discovery of another, radium. The Curies, along with Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903. Pierre's life was cut short in 1906 when he was knocked down and killed by a carriage. Marie took over his teaching post, becoming the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne, and devoted herself to continuing the work that they had begun together. She received a second Nobel Prize, for Chemistry, in 1911. The Curie's research was crucial in the development of x-rays in surgery. During World War One Curie helped to equip ambulances with x-ray equipment, which she herself drove to the front lines. The International Red Cross made her head of its radiological service and she held training courses for medical orderlies and doctors in the new techniques. Despite her success, Marie continued to face great opposition from male scientists in France, and she never received significant financial benefits from her work. By the late 1920s her health was beginning to deteriorate. She died on July 1934 from leukaemia, caused by exposure to high-energy radiation from her research. How did the workhouse system lead to an improvement in medical care? A large number of old, sick, blind, deaf or disabled people, or those with mental illness were sent to the workhouse. There was increasing pressure to improve the condition of hospital care The government ordered that separate infirmaries were built with a full time doctor. New asylums for the mentally ill and fever houses for those with infectious diseases were built. These infirmaries went on to become major general hospitals with specialist doctors