Pre-history to the Middle Ages

Question	Answer
What can archaeologists conclude about the prehistoric people?	They were fairly healthy, and used many cures to do with spirits.
What did prehistoric people believe caused disease and infection?	A bad spirit could enter the body and cause an illness.
How did prehistoric people cure illnesses?	A herbal remedy by someone in their family or the patient could also go and see a medicine man . He would use herbal remedies, and chant spells and prayers to get the bad spirits to leave the body.
What did Egyptians have to heal people?	They had temples of healing and several gods and goddesses to whom people prayed to get better
Name some other supernatural ideas the Egyptians had to prevent or cure disease and infection	Wearing magic charms to ward off evil spirits. Making ointments out of the fat of animals which they believed had healing powers,
What were the Egyptians natural approach to disease and infection?	They observed the River Nile and how the channels from the river brought life to their fields. They developed the theory that the body has channels through which blood, air and water flow. They believed that you became ill when these channels were blocked.
Were there any other natural ideas that Egyptians used to prevent and cure disease and infection?	Herbal remedies, keeping the body clean and washing regularly,
What did the Greeks believe caused illnesses?	They believed that illness was caused by the gods and that the only way to get better was to pray at an Asclepion which was a temple built to worship Asclepius, the god of healing.
What were the Greeks natural approaches?	Theory of the Four Humours, herbal...
Explain the four humour theory.	- The body is made up of four liquids (humours) – blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. - If the humours are in balance then you are healthy, however, if there is too much of one humour then you are ill.
Why did people believe the four humour theory?	It explained the symptoms of many illnesses, for example in the winter when you get runny noses the theory said that you had too much phlegm. It also fitted in with the Greeks’ belief in leading a balanced lifestyle
What were the Romans belief?	The Romans had strong supernatural beliefs in the gods. As a result they also had temples of healing and prayed to different gods to cure illnesses
What natural approaches did the Romans have?	They used herbal remedies and because their Empire stretched so far they were able to get hold of a wider range of natural ingredients for their medicines
Why is Galen important?	He was trained at Alexandria. He introduced the Theory of the Four Humours to ancient Rome He added his own Theory of Opposites it explained more treatments that could be offered based on the theory of the four humours
What happened during the dark ages?	During the Dark Ages the standard of medical care and knowledge declined. People relied more heavily on supernatural approaches to medicine and did not continue the Greek and Roman interest in finding out more about the human body.
Why was there a decline in medicine in the Dark Ages?	The rulers spent more money on soldiers and weapons than on medical progress. War disrupted the channels of communication which meant that medical ideas could not be shared easily. Many books were destroyed or hidden during the Dark Ages, for example the books of Hippocrates and Galen.
Was there anything that hadn't disappeared in the Dark Ages?	They would still have used herbal remedies passed down through families but not a lot of other natural treatments
How was the Middle ages 'dominated' by the church?	The Church controlled all of the universities and therefore the training of doctors. The Church helped medical progress in some ways but hindered its development in others.
How did churches help in the Middle Ages?	They set up universities where doctors could train, also ran and payed for hospitals
How did the church not help in the Middle Ages?	Banning dissections Encouraging people to believe that God caused diseases and to pray or go on pilgrimages to cure illnesses Insisting that Galen was right about everything
How were doctors in the Middle Ages?	Doctors in the Middle Ages had both natural and supernatural approaches to disease and infection
What was a new development for doctors in the Middle Ages?	They would consult Zodiac charts to find out what was wrong with their patients

Next up

Pre-history to the Middle Ages

Description

Resource summary

Similar

	Created by Lara Jackson about 10 years ago