Disease and Medical Practices by Amber Spudowski

Thesis Statement

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This project will reflect the information I have discovered and organized pertaining to 16th and 17th century diseases

Works Cited

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Works Cited

Bryson, Sarah. "Childbirth in Medieval and Tudor Times ." The Tudor Society https://www.tudorsociety.com/childbirth-in-medieval-and-tudor-times-by-sarah-bryson/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

Cohen, Jennie. "A Brief History of Bloodletting." History.com , A&E Television Networks, 2012, www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bloodletting. Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

"Disease." Disease and Medicine Elizabethan Times, https://sites.google.com/a/pvlearners.net/disease-and-medicine-elizabethan-times/disiease. Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

"Elizabethan Medicine", edited by Wesley S. Williams, poster.4teachers.org/view/poster.php?poster_id=365047. Accessed 12 Feb. 2018.

Mabillard, Amanda. Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/londondisease.html >. Accessed 13 Feb. 2018

"Shakespearean & Elizabethan Medicine and Doctors." Schoolwork Helper, St. Rosemary Institution 2010-2018. Accessed 12 Feb. 2018.

I used Google Images to see pictures of the medical tools.

Why is This Era Named After William Shakespeare?

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This period is often referred to "The Shakespearean Era" due to his popularity at this time. The reigning Queen Elizabeth I was a huge fan of Shakespeare's work.

Rampant Diseases and the Effects on the Human Body

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The Plague was a horrendous disease, spread through both bacteria and viruses. This disease was also called the "Black Plague". Victims who contracted the bacterial version of the Plague had a chance of survival, while people who had the viral infection, had no chance of making it.
The Plague came with symptoms such as convulsions, high fever, delirium, swollen lymph nodes, and large black patches on the skin.

Syphilis was also referred to as "The Spanish Sickness" or simply "Pox". Symptoms included blindness, very high fever, body aches and temporary insanity.

Smallpox results in chills, fever, patches of rashes and body aches.

Malaria comes with fever, chills, uncontrollable sweating, nausea, vomiting, fast heart-rate, mental confusion.

Typhus is caused by the Rickettsial bacteria that caused a high fever, large sores and delirium. This disease wasn't necessarily deadly, but difficult to live with.

What Caused These Diseases? What Contributed to the Spread?

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According to "Disease," the Plague was spread by rats infested with infected fleas, and from person to person. Though it is believed that airborne pathogens could also be to blame.

Syphilis is caused by a bacteria called Treponema Pallidum, a spiral shaped bacteria, spread through sexual contact. But, a child may contract Syphilis during birth.

Smallpox is caused by the Variola virus and was distributed among people through open mouth kissing or being in direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

Malaria was spread by mosquitoes who had taken infected blood from a person and injected it into the bloodstream of someone else.

Typhus was spread by body lice and fleas. These pests thrived on humans and carried Typhus and lived on people. When the pest would burst, due to scratching, the infection would enter a cut or scrape in the skin and enter the bloodstream.

Cures and Treatments

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There were no treatments for The Plague, for the chance of survival was very low. The best the doctors could do, was make the sick comfortable until death came for them.
Doctors treated Syphilis by giving vaporized mercury salts to the victims to inhale. Doctors would prescribe herbal supplements, placed leaches on the skin of an infected person, blood letting (the draining of blood to release the toxins that were believed to be the cause of the sickness) and physiology was often used as treatments to popular ailments at the time.

Medical Personnel

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Priests and volunteers were the most common doctors, but Physicians went to colleges and universities to learn their trade.
Physicians were recruited by the wealthy.
Surgeons performed the major operations and belonged to the Company of Barber Surgeons.
"Barbers could only pull teeth and do work with blood." (Elizabethan Medicine) They were like today's nurses.
Housewives mixed potions or herbs and spices to be used as medicines. Members of the church comforted and performed religious rituals for the patients.
Wise Women were doctors for the poor and those that couldn't be treated due to the sheer numbers of those succumbing to the sickness.

Home Remedies

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Herbal supplements were used to dull the pain of these sicknesses among other conditions. People often drank Mercury because they thought it had great healing powers and could cure anything. (We now know that this was, and still is deadly and dangerous!)

How Did These Diseases Affect the Population?

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The Plague broke out a number of times, and with each epidemic a quarter of London's population was wiped out with each breakout.

How Did the Different Social Classes Deal With Sickness?

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The upper classes and royals lived in less crowded areas with less people, thus reducing the speed of the spread of disease.
The lower classes lived in crowded areas, with a high population density, and very little sanitation.

The richer classes could often afford personal doctors and often received medical care before the lower classes. The poor filled up hospitals and churches waiting for medical attention.

Did Genetics Play a Part in One's Susceptibility? Were Certain Classes or Areas More Vulnerable?

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Infectious diseases tore through crowded areas. Sickness spread fast, and with no mercy. Everyone was at risk, although people could grow immune to certain ailments. In some cases, once someone had already contracted the disease, they wouldn’t get it again. Since sanitation wasn't a widely practiced routine, towns and cities were breeding grounds for germs.
The lower classes were generally more at risk, due to the fact that they were closer to filth. They lived in poverty, while the upper classes lived in lavish housing. But again, no one was truly safe from the sickness that brought death to so many.
The Plague had no boundaries and wasn't contained to one area, but instead was everywhere. Malaria on the other hand was common in swampy areas, this is where disease infested mosquitoes bred, but it was spread to other regions by the flying pests. Syphilis was prominent in all classes, not just a certain group. Typhus contaminated many in crowded areas, due to the large number of residents. The lice and fleas could easily travel among victims in the crowds. Smallpox was brought by traveling Spaniards and tore through all of England. These diseases were anything but picky.

What Was Known About the Diseases at the Time? How Was Medical Knowledge Gathered?

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During this period of history, there wasn't much medical knowledge known to man. The practices carried out by doctors were based on religious ideas and philosophies. Among the most popular philosophers were Aristotle and Hippocrates.
The beliefs that the doctors operated by, were widely known by commoners and royals alike.

Medical Instruments

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Dental Forceps were used for extracting troublesome teeth.
A Dental Gag held open patients mouths.
Dental Pelican is the name of another dentistry tool used for extracting teeth and was called this due to its resemblance to the beak of a Pelican.
(Google Images)

The Doctoral Uniform

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Elizabethan Era doctors wore a uniform that today would give give off a macabre aura, but to Shakespearean people, this meant hope.
The doctors wore a leather hat, a large gown to cover the leather suit, knee length boots. No skin was exposed to protect the doctors who were around death all the time. They also wore a mask with a long beak that extended out and was filled with herbs and spices to filter the air that the doctor would be breathing. These doctors even carried a wooden stick to ward away large crowds.

Childbirth

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Physicians were expensive and in high demand, therefore expectant women enlisted the help of experienced mothers and midwives. Pregnancy and childbirth wasn't talked about publicly, but instead kept in the private relationships of that person.
A women wouldn't know that she was pregnant for about 5 months, or until the baby's first movement. The lack of monthly menstruation was also a possible indicator. Tests could be done, but they were anything but reliable.
Childbirth was dangerous for both the mother and the child, as complications were very prominent. A baby, mother, or both could be lost during childbirth.
Men were not allowed in the room while the women were delivering.
The "midwives were allowed to baptize a child after birth if the baby was close to death." (Bryson)
Children were not to be born outside of wedlock, or the child was deemed a "bastard" or "illegitimate" and punished throughout their life for this.

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