The treating and preventing of disease Flashcards

Medieval belief that health was maintained by balancing blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

A common treatment to balance the humours by removing blood, often using leeches or cutting veins.

Treatment involving vomiting or using laxatives to remove excess humours from the body.

Plant-based treatments used to cure illnesses, often passed down through generations.

Prayers, fasting, and pilgrimages were used to seek divine intervention for healing.

Groups who whipped themselves to show repentance and prevent disease, especially during the Black Death.

Separating the sick from the healthy to prevent the spread of disease, used during outbreaks like the Black Death.

Efforts to clean streets and remove waste to prevent disease, though understanding of germs was limited.

Trained professionals who diagnosed and treated patients, often using texts like Galen's and Hippocrates' works.

Performed minor surgeries and bloodletting, often with little formal training.

Run by monasteries, focused on care rather than cure, often for the poor and elderly.

A devastating plague that led to widespread death and changes in attitudes towards health and prevention.

Belief that the alignment of planets and stars influenced health, leading to astrological charts for diagnosis.

Prepared and sold herbal remedies, often cheaper than physicians and accessible to ordinary people.

Ancient medical texts shaped medieval understanding of health and disease, focusing on observation and balance.