Medicina En La Edad Media

Medicine in the Middle Ages

Medical knowledge in the Middle Ages must have appeared to have stood still. While the Ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians had pushed forward medical knowledge, after the demise of these civilizations, the momentum started by these people tended to stagnate and it did not develop at the same pace until the Seventeenth/Eighteenth Centuries. In Britain, as anexample, most things linked to the Romans was destroyed – villas were covered up as the Ancient Britons believed that they contained ghosts and evil spirits. With this approach, it is not surprising that anything medical linked to the Romans fell into disuse in Britain.
By the 14th Century, universities had developed in Western Europe that could be classed as medical schools where students could studyunder a master physician. The University of Montpelier was one such university. Dissections of human bodies were carried out in these universities so anyone wanting to study medicine in the Middle Ages was not totally ignorant of facts about the human body. Public debates were also encouraged about medical issues and it is known that some medical schools encouraged students to actually challengethe ideas of Galen and Hippocrates. As a result of this refusal to take what Galen and Hippocrates had stated at face value some progress was made in the medical world during this time.
However, medicine became steeped in superstition and the Roman Catholic Church effectively dominated what direction the medical world took. Any views different from the established Roman Catholic Church view couldveer towards heresy with the punishments that entailed. Therefore, when the Roman Catholic Church stated that illnesses were punishments from God and that those who were ill were so because they were sinners, few argued otherwise.
Medical practitioners were also still heavily influenced by Galen 1000 years after his death. Mondino’s book on the anatomy, "Anathomia", still relied on observationsmade by Galen and other Greek writers of medicine.
The diagnosis of disease

No-one knew what really caused diseases. For the Roman Catholic Church they were a punishment from God for sinful behavior. However, some progress was made in certain areas.
The first authentic descriptions of the symptoms of smallpox were recorded by Rhazes who lived from 860 to 932 AD. However, society was manycenturies away from a cure.
Urine charts were also used to help physicians diagnose illnesses. Certain coloured urine indicated certain illnesses. Combined with a table of the planets, these gave physicians enough information to diagnose a disease. Once the disease had been diagnosed, a treatment was decided on.
Physicians still believed that an imbalance of humors played a major part in illnesses.When this happened:

"Several kinds of medicine may be good such as diet, drink, hot bath (whence sweat is growing), with purging, vomiting and letting blood. These taken in due time, not overflowing each malady and infection is withstood." From a poem from the 11th Century. |

Blood letting was a popular treatment for many diseases. Many diseases were thought to be caused by an excess of bloodin the body and blood letting was seen as the obvious cure. When a large quantity of blood was required, the appropriate vein was cut. If only a small amount was needed, a leech would be used.
Diagnosis was also influenced by astrology. Medical charts informed physicians what not to do for people born under a certain start sign.

Aries | Avoid incisions in the head and face and cut no vein inthe head. |
Taurus | Avoid incisions in the neck and throat and cut no veins there. |
Gemini | Avoid incisions in the shoulders, arms or hands and cut no vein. |
Cancer | Avoid incisions in the breasts, sides, stomach and lungs and cut no vein that goes to the spleen. |
Leo | Avoid incisions of the nerves, lesions of the sides and bones, and do not cut the back either by opening and...