Focus Questions: How far/why did methods of preventing disease
change?
KEY THINGS TO MENTION:
- What was the cause of change/continuity in methods? (government action, technology
etc.)
- What were the methods of prevention? (cleaning, vaccinations etc.)
- What were the diseases/illnesses being prevented? (cancer, smallpox, cholera etc.)
- Give specific examples/dates/facts linked to the treatments (e.g. 1875 Public Health
Act)
MEDIEVAL PERIOD – little change
1) The Church was the centre of formal learning and controlled medicine → people
were too afraid to suggest new methods of prevention as they were told they
would go to Hell.
With there being a priest in every village and bishop in every region, people
were taught that all events were controlled by God – forced to believe only
he could cause disease and it was out of their control, which led to fasting
and prayer being popular methods of prevention
Roger Bacon was imprisoned for suggesting physicians do their own research
– Church only allowed Galen’s ideas about prevention as they fitted with
Christian beliefs (Four Humours as part of a body made by one God)
2) The public held a generally conservative attitude → methods remained traditional
and centred on preventing miasma.
Galen’s ideas had been taught for over 1500 years so he was respected as
the authority on medicine – new ideas were met with scepticism and there
was little experimentation
The rich didn’t care about new methods of prevention – able to ignore 40p
fine for throwing waste onto the street
3) There was no knowledge about the real causes of disease, so there weren’t
accurate methods of prevention.
Ideas were based around miasma and superstition, leading to prevention
methods such as purifying the air and cleaning as well as self-punishment,
bleeding and purging
RENAISSANCE PERIOD – little change
1) The discoveries of this period focussed mainly on anatomy rather than linking to
disease and its prevention → ideas were turning away from tradition but couldn’t
be applied
Vesalius taught the importance of dissection and made discoveries such as
the jawbone having one bone, not two as Galen had suggested – inspired
others to dissect but there was no focus on the cause or prevention of
disease
Ideas were spread to a wide audience using the Printing Press e.g. ‘On the
Fabric of the Human Body’ (1543) – concentrated on anatomy and it wasn’t
until the industrial period that technology was advanced enough to research
effective methods of prevention
2) The public held a generally conservative attitude (much like the Medieval Period).
change?
KEY THINGS TO MENTION:
- What was the cause of change/continuity in methods? (government action, technology
etc.)
- What were the methods of prevention? (cleaning, vaccinations etc.)
- What were the diseases/illnesses being prevented? (cancer, smallpox, cholera etc.)
- Give specific examples/dates/facts linked to the treatments (e.g. 1875 Public Health
Act)
MEDIEVAL PERIOD – little change
1) The Church was the centre of formal learning and controlled medicine → people
were too afraid to suggest new methods of prevention as they were told they
would go to Hell.
With there being a priest in every village and bishop in every region, people
were taught that all events were controlled by God – forced to believe only
he could cause disease and it was out of their control, which led to fasting
and prayer being popular methods of prevention
Roger Bacon was imprisoned for suggesting physicians do their own research
– Church only allowed Galen’s ideas about prevention as they fitted with
Christian beliefs (Four Humours as part of a body made by one God)
2) The public held a generally conservative attitude → methods remained traditional
and centred on preventing miasma.
Galen’s ideas had been taught for over 1500 years so he was respected as
the authority on medicine – new ideas were met with scepticism and there
was little experimentation
The rich didn’t care about new methods of prevention – able to ignore 40p
fine for throwing waste onto the street
3) There was no knowledge about the real causes of disease, so there weren’t
accurate methods of prevention.
Ideas were based around miasma and superstition, leading to prevention
methods such as purifying the air and cleaning as well as self-punishment,
bleeding and purging
RENAISSANCE PERIOD – little change
1) The discoveries of this period focussed mainly on anatomy rather than linking to
disease and its prevention → ideas were turning away from tradition but couldn’t
be applied
Vesalius taught the importance of dissection and made discoveries such as
the jawbone having one bone, not two as Galen had suggested – inspired
others to dissect but there was no focus on the cause or prevention of
disease
Ideas were spread to a wide audience using the Printing Press e.g. ‘On the
Fabric of the Human Body’ (1543) – concentrated on anatomy and it wasn’t
until the industrial period that technology was advanced enough to research
effective methods of prevention
2) The public held a generally conservative attitude (much like the Medieval Period).
