Renaissance (1500-1700)
This period saw some changes in ideas about disease, though methods for treatment and prevention largely remained the same.
Attitudes
- Humanism: A belief system that emphasized science and experimentation over religious explanations. It involved rejecting religious dogma in favor of scientific inquiry.
- Secularism: The notion that religion should be separate from other aspects of life. This led to a gradual reduction in the church's control over education and medicine.
Technology
- New Technologies: Innovations such as clocks, microscopes, and thermometers made experiments easier and more effective.
Education
- Accessibility: More people could afford education, and new universities like Padua in Italy and Cambridge in England encouraged experimentation among students.
Communication
- The Printing Press: Invented in 1440, it revolutionized book production by making books cheaper and more accessible. This diminished the church's control over information and allowed scientists and doctors to share ideas through journals, such as the Royal Society's journal.
The Royal Society
- Establishment: Founded in 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II, which provided credibility and support. This led to increased funding and the establishment of a laboratory with advanced equipment.
- Scientific Journal: In 1665, they published the world’s first scientific journal, which included letters, book reviews, and experiment summaries. The journal was written in plain English to make research accessible to scientists across Europe.
- Reference Library: Members were required to contribute copies of their work to a reference library, which made research available to everyone.
Ideas, Treatments, and Prevention
God and Sin
- Church teachings still attributed disease to divine punishment, though by the end of this period, many began to reject this notion. During epidemics, fear sometimes led people to believe in divine retribution.
- Treatments included prayers, fasting, and repentance, but Catholic practices like mass and pilgrimages were no longer used in Protestant England. The belief in the king's touch for healing persisted for some.
- Prevention methods involved prayer and repentance, with no use of flagellants, a Catholic practice.
Four Humours
- By 1700, the theory of unbalanced humours was disproved, but ordinary people still expected physicians to use it. Treatments like purging continued, though new chemical treatments were introduced, such as antimony for sweating and vomiting.
- Preventive measures focused on maintaining a balanced lifestyle, avoiding cold, strong alcohol, and rich foods.
Miasma
- Belief in miasma, the idea that disease was caused by bad air, persisted throughout this period, especially during epidemics like the Great Plague.
- Prevention included maintaining cleanliness, avoiding public baths, using scented herbs, and keeping streets clean.
Contagion - New!
- Contagion theory suggested that diseases were spread by "seeds" in the air. This rational idea used evidence and was linked to weather conditions. Thermometers were used to record weather.
- Prevention involved moving away from infected areas.
Ideas No Longer Used
- Astrology: Became less popular after 1500.
- Digestion: The belief that diet caused disease fell out of favor.
New Treatments
- Herbal Remedies: Some doctors matched the color of a disease with that of a herbal remedy, such as saffron for jaundice.
- Transference: The practice of transferring illness to an object, like rubbing a wart with an onion.
- New World Remedies: Medicines from the Americas, like cinchona bark from Peru, were used by Thomas Sydenham to treat malaria.
Thomas Sydenham
- Sydenham rejected Galen and Hippocrates, believing diseases came from outside the body. He focused on observing symptoms rather than relying on medical books.
- He treated diseases holistically, classifying them, and advocated for using herbal remedies. His approach laid the foundation for a more scientific approach to medicine.
Healers and Medical Care
Physicians
- University-educated and expensive. Training was often book-based, though some universities offered dissections, which were now legal but difficult to arrange.
Apothecaries
- Mixed remedies using herbal manuals. Cheaper than physicians and required a license. They also used new chemicals from the Americas.
Surgeons
- Performed simple operations like bloodletting. They were cheaper than physicians and used new techniques from wartime. They required a license.
Hospitals
- Funded by charities and no longer run by the church. They admitted more infectious patients and provided medication and physicians. Special hospitals, called pest houses, were designated for contagious diseases like plague and pox.
Home
- Most people received medical care at home, often from women who prepared and mixed their own herbal remedies. Women also acted as midwives, and poor women sold remedies in towns.
The Plague (1665)
- Impact: London experienced severe outbreaks with 100,000 deaths (20% of the population). New treatments were introduced but did not stop the plague.
- Ideas: Theories included miasma, divine punishment, planetary positions, and contagion.
- Treatments: Included transference (e.g., attaching live chickens to buboes), herbal remedies, inducing sweating, and various quack remedies.
- Preventions: Included prayers, carrying posies, smoking tobacco to purify the air, quarantines, banning public gatherings, street cleaning, and attempting to catch syphilis to be protected.