GCSE History

 Yellow = factors

Blue = Possibly an exam question on this topic/individual

Green=Other things that are important

Factors affecting medicine:

Sometimes these factors helped the development of medicine and sometimes they hindered it

• Religion                                                                           

• Chance

• Individuals

• Government
• War
• Communications

• Education

• Technology

Roman medicine:

Public health facilities in Roman Britain

Aqueducts

Carries fresh water many miles to towns

Water pipes

Carries the water around towns and the pipes were made from lead/timber this would have lead to some people developing lead poisoning but at the time the Romans did not know about this.

Reservoirs

Held the water supply and distributed it to the piping system

Public latrines

Often flushed by water from the public baths and then drained into the sewers. Often they seated twenty people in one room

Forts

Had their own bath house, water supply, latrines and hospitals for the soldiers.

Private homes

(Only the rich) Supplied with water but the water still had to be carried upstairs by slaves and if there was a drought then the water would be cut off to save water.

Bath houses

Places for washing, exercising and socialising, it wasn't very healthy cause the bath water was changed once a week and usually was a place for diseases and infection.

Sewers

Carried away waste from houses, latrines and baths. They were built on stone and needed water to flush them out. It spread disease rather than preventing because of the build up of waste if there was a lack of rain.

They were strengths of the public health system and it improved many normal people's lives and hygiene.

  However they were many weaknesses of the public health system as they spread diseases as they didn't know the true cause of disease and although there was public health systems, not in the homes they were no toilets so they still polluted the river.

Who could you get medical help from?

During the Roman times they were four types of ways to get better:

Home remedies specialised in herbal remedies such as garlic and honey, many people would consult their mothers because with home remedies usually the information gets passed down and they were quite effective because some of the ingredients actually fight infection.

 Gods and priests would offer people charms to ward off evil spirits and they would pray to the household Gods and Asclepius. This method of treatment wasn't very effective but some did offer remedies and support.

 Trained doctors weren't really trained doctors because anyone could become a doctor and they weren't really available to poor people because the trained doctors usually charged any prices that they wanted to. They weren't very effective because they weren't trained but they sometimes used herbal remedies.

 Childbirth were from women who had a lot of experience having children and they offered the basics needed which was very effective but they couldn't help with complications.

Why was Galen so important?

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