Medicine and Public Health from Roman Britain to c1350

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Medicine and Public Health from Roman Britain to c1350

Provision of clean water and removal of sewage

Rivers often contaminated by sewage

Piped water and conduits

Public latrines

Ideas about the treatment of disease

No hospital care for the very ill

Bloodletting, purging, diet, exercise

Purify the air

Herbal remedies

Herbal remedies based on knowledge of plants

Leechbooks

Folk remedies, often based on beliefs about magical qualities of animals or actions

Prayer, religious pilgrimage

Ideas about the causes of disease

Imbalance of the Four Humours

Link between hygiene and health recognised even if not understood

Miasma (poisonous air) caused by volcanoes, decaying matter left outside, swampy water

Sent by God

Astrology (the result of the movement of planets and stars)

The result of a curse or witchcraft

Factors affecting the development of medicine

Pandemics

Black Death

War

Disruption in times of war and loss of knowledge after Roman withdrawal from Britain

Government

Some local authorities issued orders to keep towns clean

Education, training and communication

Little formal training and qualifications for physicians until the 13th century

Apothecary

Trained physician

Some knowledge gained from Muslim doctors

Medical training based on Galen's works

Science and technology

Dissection discouraged

Religion

Monks and nuns cared for the sick

Ideas about the prevention of disease

Physical (linked to the body)

Hygiene

Public stewes

Roman public baths

Practical (linked to external events)

Isolation of sick people

Supernatural

Amulet or lucky charm