Was Medicine in Medieval Times Really Worse Than In Ancient Times

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Was Medicine in Medieval Times Really Worse Than In Ancient Times

        Before we can decide whether or not the medicine in medieval times was worse or better than in Ancient times we must see what medicine was like in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greek, Ancient Rome and Medieval times. After this we can see what time had the better medicine and general health. All of

        Ancient Egypt was the first place to really take a serious logical look at medicine. They were the first true civilization; this meant that they had to look after their population. They started with similar ideas to the basic Ancient tribes; that Gods and Evil Spirits caused disease and that certain herbs, used in the right way can cure diseases but they soon developed these ideas with their own, inspired by things around them like the Nile and irrigation led to ideas about channels in the body being blocked or food rotting in the bowel spreading poisoned gas through the channels. Their leaders, and pharaohs provided no public health but the Egyptians had impeccable hygiene, they washed every day and anointed themselves with oils, they drunk from clean cups and wore clean clothes daily, practiced circumcision and the priests shaved their entire bodies to prevent lice. One problem was that their religion, which requires the body intact preserved so surgery and dissections could not be performed. Physicians used to be trained in schools this was the first time people were trained as oppose to the knowledge simply being passed down but not “taught,” these schools trained both men and women.

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        Ancient Greece was another of the Ancient civilizations to have sprung up around the Mediterranean. Its knowledge of disease was only small the still believed that Gods and Evil Spirits caused disease but they also looked for logical explanations. The explanation they came up was that the human body was full of the four humours, which was similar to the Greek ideas of the four elements this was when the idea of looking for a logical answer came about. They still believed that God could cure disease but they believed that God did it with Herbs rather than just Magic. ...

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