History of Pre-Modern Medicine Midterm Review

Cupping

placing a heated cup on the skin to create a slight suction

Religious Orthodoxy

pressure to conform to traditional religious beliefs

The Hippocratic Oath

religious theme, professionalism in ethics and treatment. focus on the art of medicine

Early Medieval Barbarian Kingdoms

responded to the collapse of Rome; new synthesis between pagan medicine and Christianity

Ancient Rome

roman medicine; more family oriented and herbal before shift to Greek physicians

Pulse

simultaneous movement of the heart and arteries; contractions expels superfluities

Pneuma

spirit

The Rule of St. Benedict

spread by Pope Gregory I; include the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience

Islamic Hospital

started in the late 8th century; Baghdad; Caliphe were the elite. Sanitation/baths, separation of men and women, pharmacy, library, etc. professional and specialized

Couching Cataracts

the earliest documented form of cataract surgery. As a cataract is a clouding in the lens of the eye, couching is a technique whereby the lens is dislodged, thus removing the opacity.

Greek Philosophy

the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics

Pharmacology

the study of drugs and their interactions with living systems

Germ Theory

the theory that infectious diseases are caused by certain microbes

Rationalist Medicine

uses logic

Arab Conquests

wars which, in the century after the death of Muhammed in 632, created an empire stretching from Spain to the Indus Valley.

Four qualities

wet, dry, hot, cold

Lorsch Monastery

where Hildegard of Lorsch created her manuscripts

Arabic Translation Movement/Great Translation Movement

widely supported movement under Islamic ruling that resulted in the translation of materials from various different languages to Arabic

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

wrote Canon on Medicine, diagnosis and treatment for diseases

Dioscorides

wrote De Materia Medica; father of pharmatology

Hippocrates

"Founder of Medicine" During the Golden Age in Greece he was a scientist that believed all diseases came from natural causes. He also had high ideals for physicians & an oath was made that is still used today.

Abbasid Caliphate

(750-1258 CE) Medicine emerges as neutral ground among Christians, Jews, Muslims and as a means to demonstrate the superiority of Arabs; center of medical study shifts East to Baghdad where Galenism emerges

Alexandrian Teaching Canon

16 books by Galen in order; guide to medicine and Galen; the pulse is important; production in Alexandria

Temperaments/Mixtures

9 Temperaments/Mixtures; Disease exists on a spectrum; change in mixtures/changes in consistency of humors

Al-Razi

A Persian Philosopher who made fundamental and lasting contributions to the fields of medicine, chemistry (alchemy) and philosophy. (865-925); the "Greatest Muslim physician"

Mediterranean Sea

A large, almost landlocked arm of the Atlantic Ocean touching Europe, Asia, and Africa - good for trade of goods and knowledge

Regimen

A regulated program, especially one designed to improve or maintain health

Crisis

A sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event in a disease that either results in recovery or death

Paganism

Any of the polytheistic religions of the Greco-Roman world, an umbrella term for ancient Mediterranean religions other than Judaism and Christianity.

Hunayn ibn Ishaq

Arabian scholar and physician. He translated much of Galen's work into Arabic, which was then translated into Latin in the 11th C and eventually acquired by European scholars.

Monotheism

Belief in one God

Relics

Bones or other objects connected with saint; considered worthy of worship by the faithful.

Constantine the African

Brought Arabic medical treatises to Italy - Montessimo

Bukhitshu' Family

Bukhtishu family of Assyrian Nestorian physicians

Synopses

Byzantine empire; of Galenic medicine

Ravenna

Capital in Western Roman Empire, more strategic than Rome, easily accessible by sea from Constantinople for trade of medicinal knowledge

Baghdad

Capital of Abbasid dynasty located in Iraq; major hub during the Islamic Golden Age in medicine

Constantinople

Capital of the Byzantine Empire

Acupuncture

Chinese medical practice of inserting needles into certain areas of the body

Alexandria

City on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt founded by Alexander. It became the capital of the Hellenistic kingdom of Ptolemy. It contained the famous Library and the Museum and was a center for leading scientific and literary figures in the classical and postclassical eras.

Byzantine Empire

Eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived the fall of the Western half.

Roman Empire

Existed from 27 BCE to about 400 CE. Conquiered entire Mediterranean coast and most of Europe. Estate-based medicine, family care using herbs charms and prayers. Did not believe in Greek medicine initially because it came from Greek slaves.

Hippocratic Corpus

Extensive medical writings produced by the followers of Hippocrates, in which diseases are regarded as natural phenomena

Herophilus

First scientist to publicly dissect human bodies, "father of anatomy"

That the Soul Follows the Mixtures of the Body

Galen

Galen

Greek anatomist whose theories formed the basis of European medicine until the Renaissance (circa 130-200)

Soranus of Ephesus

Greek gynecologist, obstetrician, and pediatrician, chief representative of the methodist school of medicine (emphasizing simple rules of practice, based on a theory that attributed all disease to an adverse state of "internal pores"). His writings set medical opinion concerning women's diseases, pregnancy, and infant care for nearly 1,500 years.

Erasistratus

Hellenistic scientist known for his work on the heart, circulatory system and the brain. founder of physiology

Airs, Waters, Places

Hippocrates Treastie, 1500-1700 Key point: Causal relationship Change in environment (behavior, travel, climate) → humors of the body interact with new environment in particular ways → leads to disease

On the Sacred Disease

Hippocrates work claiming that epilepsy was not caused by visitation of the Gods but by an imbalance of phlegm. Served as the first link of emotions with the brain

Tunisia (area around ancient Carthage)

Home of the ancient city of Carthage, Tunisia was once an important player in the Mediterranean, thanks to its location in the centre of North Africa, close to vital shipping routes. The Romans, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and French realised its strategic significance, making it a hub for control over the region

Antiquity/Middle Ages/Early Modern Period

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages (or medieval period) lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.

Tripartite Powers

Liver = natural pneuma/spirit Heart = vital pneuma/spirit Brain = psychic pneuma/animal spirit

Humoral Medicine

Medical understandings of the body as a set of humors that need to be in balance for health to be maintained

Ibn al-Nafis

Muslim physician, first described pulmonary circuit of blood, and corrected many of Galen's errors

Madrasah

Qur'anic school attached to the mosque

Retrospective Diagnosis

Retrospective diagnosis refers to the practice of seeking to identify the particular ailment that a past person or community suffered from in terms of present medical knowledge using historical sources. Since understandings of disease are culturally-constructed and ever-changing, and we often lack the information that modern-day physicians use to diagnose ailments, retrospective diagnosis is a challenging albeit necessary activity for the historian of disease.

Macrocosm/Microcosm

Schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale (macrocosm or universe-level) all the way down to the smallest scale (microcosm or sub-sub-atomic or even metaphysical-level)

Galenism

The belief that Galen had discovered all that one needed to learn about medicine and healing

Montecassino

The first Benedictine monastery (est. by Benedict) located in Italy

Qi (Chinese Medicine)

The medical system developed in China and other Asian countries that views health as the balancing of opposite forces and views illness as a consequence of imbalance

Pliny the Elder

This ancient Roman historian wrote Natural History.

Island of Cos in 5th century B.C.

Where Hippocrates Lived (greek islands)

Prognosis

a forecast of the probable course and outcome of a disease or situation

Bury St. Edmunds

a region that contained 6 hospitals in the 1st century in suffolk, england

Ayurveda

a science of life that delineates the diet, medicines, and behaviors that are beneficial or harmful for life and considers that balance among people, the environment, and the larger cosmos is integral to human health

Vital Heat

a term in Ancient Greek medicine and philosophy that has generally referred to the heat produced within the body, usually the heat produced by the heart and the circulatory system

Pergamum

an ancient Greek city located in the western part of what is now modern Turkey during the Hellenistic Era

Medicine as Science vs Medicine as Craft

an art vs a science

Prophetic Medicine

anti-philisophical movement; opposed to Greek medicine. No natural causes, only God is cause; no prognosis; food and simple medicines

Methodist Medicine

atoms/pores too close/compact

Bloodletting

belief or practice of draining a quantity of blood to cure illness or disease

Four Humors

blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile

Epidemics (Case Studies)

case studies of diseases

Aelius Aristides

decades-long series of illnesses for which he sought relief by divine communion with the god Asclepius, effected by interpreting and obeying the dreams that came to him while sleeping in the god's sacred precinct; he later recorded this experience in a series of discourses titled Sacred Tales (Hieroi Logoi).

Cautery

destruction of tissue by burning

Environmentalism

environment in medicine

Uroscopy

examination of urine

Four Elements

fire, earth, air, and water

Oribasius

fl. 360 CE; 26 of 50 book collection of excerpts from previous authors in Greek

Empiricist Medicine

focus on the cure

Asclepius

god of medicine

Amulets

good luck charms used by ancient Egyptians to keep away evil spirits and prevent injury.

Hildegard of Bingen

had visions and made 2 important writings; causes and cures (theories of disease), physica were natural substances; read constantines new translations; viriditas is life force ; black bile is sin

"Naturals" & "Non-naturals"

he six non-naturals were categories in Ancient Greek medicine which you had to keep in balance in order to be healthy. They included: air; motion and rest (exercise); sleeping and waking; food and drink; excretion and passions/ emotions. An imbalance in any of these- too much/little exercise, too much/little sleep, too much/little etc. was thought to cause illness.

Monastic Infirmaries

hospices in the 3rd and 4th century for the poor; infirmities for the sick; shelters for pilgrims; inpatient care; professional staff

Temple Incubation

inquirer slept in a holy precinct; Epidauros