Strongly believed that evil sprits were responsible for causing diseases. However, there was no writing system so symptoms of diseases were not recorded so it was difficult to pass on knowledge. ?Archaeological evidence such as left over bones, cave paintings or preserved bones gives us evidence of lifestyles of prehistoric people. ?
The prehistoric people believed trepanning was a way to cure mental disorders, migraines and epileptic seizures as they believed if you put a hole through the skull you would be releasing the evil spirit. ?Roberto Margotta, Italian historian “In one cave in France, The Three Brothers, a rock engraving has been found which dates back 17,000-20,000 years’.
‘Shows a doctor wearing a monstrous deer-mask over his face’ ?Even though people thought it was a solution, people continued having health problems such as infection, poor wound healing, pain and sometimes loss of brain functions. ?Shamans were thought to be able to contact the spirit world and seek guidance when entering mysterious trances. People who were sick came upon them to be treated. Women would also have gathered herbal remedies as they were in charge of treating the sick and keeping families healthy.?
Shamans would perform ceremonies such as dancing, chanting to get in touch with spirits to receive help for the sick. Shamans also used herbal remedies such as Rosemary, Birch Polypore and Mallow. ?Diseases that were common in prehistoric times included osteoarthritis, disease of the joints. This may be because prehistoric men had to lift and carry large and heavy objects frequently. Infections were also common as hunter were likely to suffer bruisers, cuts and bone fractures.
This caused infections to become serious and life threatening while contagious diseases used to spread rapidly and turn into epidemics easily. Ancient Egyptians ?Development of writing system enabled them to record symptoms and cures for diseases. ?“There are two vessels in the arm. If he is ill in his arm then let him vomit by means of fish and beer and bandage his fingers with watermelon until he is healed. If he is ill in the bowel the blockage must be cleared. Colocynth, senna, fruit of sycamore are ground together into a paste and shaped into four cakes for him to eat. ” Treatment from Papyrus Ebers about 1500BC?
Cure for cataracts-mix brain of tortoise with honey. Place on the eye and say ‘There is a shouting in the southern sky in darkness. There is an uproar in the northern sky. The crew of the Sun God, Ra bend their oars. Ra will drive away the God of Fevers. ?Still had religious beliefs, associating illness with spiritual rather than physical ?Had specialist doctors who citizens went to be treated. ?Believed in Gods and goddesses e. g Sekhmet ?Prevented illness using herbal remedies, magic or charms. ?Bathed in sanctified water, sick people would stay the night in the sanatorium.?
Centred around luxurious, green and fertile Nile River Ancient Greeks ? Hippocratic method founded by Hippocrates “The Four Humors” to explain causes of illness. ? “Four Humors” are Blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm. ? The Four humors had to be balanced, if one is more than the other, you will get ill causing disease. E. g If you had too much blood, then you will be cut to let blood out. ? Writing system of Greek allowed work to be documented. ? Allowed Claudius Galen to continue his work ?
Galen was an astute clinician who carefully observe signs and symptoms of disease by experimenting on pigs and apes. Human dissection was forbidden and as a result he drew many erroneous conclusions when extrapolating animal findings to man. Although his understanding of human anatomy was low, he learnt by studying wounds of gladiators and old skeletons at Alexandria. ?The Greeks didn’t really execute any surgery, with the exceptions of amputations and the draining of the lungs (which was one of few internal surgical operations).
This suggests that the main treatments that the Greeks used were herbal remedies whereas the Romans had many more surgical procedures for different medical problems in comparison. Another key idea that both, Romans and Greeks, believed strongly in, was that gods and goddesses could cure and cause illnesses. This shows that religion played a really big part in their lives and outlines the theme of superstition in both empires. ?The Greeks had built Ascelepions as refuge to the sick; it was a peaceful temple where the ill could go in order to get cured.
The Ascelepions were devoted to the Greek god Asclepius, the god of healing, and they firmly believed that at night, their god and his daughters would visit them and leave them cured ? “The body of man has in itself blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile; these make up the nature of the body, and through these he feels pain or enjoys health. ” ?For chest diseases – barley soup, plus vinegar and honey, which would bring up phlegm. Ancient Romans ?
The first Roman scientists and doctors came from Greece and most of them are from Greece til now. ? This let them continue their research of Greek theories of diseases and physical and mental disorders. ? Roman Empire relied heavily of their basis of power-the army.
It was by observing the soldier’s health that Roman leaders began to realise the importance of public health. ? Roman wealth went into practical projects, building aqueducts to pipe water to cities, sewers to cities and public baths. ?Important system that was installed were the sewers, this meant that the dirty and unclean could be flushed away and keep the streets clear and hygienic.
The Romans also built the first ever real hospitals in order to look after their soldiers and keep them healthy, the Roman government had maintained the first most hygienic public health systems ever seen through the Greek empire. ? Romans were more practical cutting up animals while Greeks didn’t execute many surgeries. ? Surgical procedures were performed using opium and scopolamine as painkillers. Acid Vinegar (acetum) were used to clean up wounds. ?
A visitor could use a cold bath (the frigidarium), a warm bath (the tepidarium) and a hot bath (thecaldarium). A visitor would spend some of his time in each one before leaving. A large complex would also contain an exercise area (the palaestra), a swimming pool and a gymnasium.