Medical Treatments
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Medical Treatments used in the 1340's
Vinegar and Water Treatment- A person diagnosed with the Black Plague would be put into a bathtub and washed with rose water and vinegar.
Lancing Buboes- The swelling buboes were to be cut open and allow the disease to leave the body. A mixture of tree resin, roots of white lilies and dried human fecal matter should be applied where the body had been cut.
Bleeding- Doctors believed that the disease was carried through blood so the patient's veins leading to the heart were to be cut until all the disease had left the body. A mixture of violets and clay would have placed on the cuts.
Diet- Food that smelled badly and rotted easily were not to be eaten because they allowed bad odors the enter the body. Only bread, fruit, and vegetables were to be eaten.
Sanitation- Human and animal fecal matter was to be collected off of streets and put into barrels and then the barrels were to be buried. This was done so the contaminated fecal matter could not infect any more people.
Body disposal- All dead bodies should be buried in deep pits and their clothes should be burnt so people could not get sick from the dead bodies.
Pestilence Medicine- You would take the roast shells of newly laid eggs and grind them into a powder, then you add the leaves and petals of marigold flowers to the powder. Next you you would add that to a pot of golden ale and cook it over a fire. The patient would drink this every night and morning to draw bad miasmas out of your body.
Witchcraft- A live hen would be placed next to the swelling to draw out the pestilence from the body. To aid recovery you would drink to glasses of your own urine a day. This was used because the witch doctors believed the hen would soak up the miasmas and clean your body.
Flowers- To ward off miasmas when the patients walked outside, doctors recommended carrying bouquets of sweet-smelling herbs and flowers and holding then up to the nose.
Hygiene- Hands and feet were to be washed regularly, but doctors warned against bathing the body because it opened the pores. This, they thought, made the body more vulnerable to attack by disease-bearing miasmas. Exercise was to be avoided for the same reason.
Sleep- Sleep after eating in the middle of the day was bad because the body was warmer then. And doctors cautioned their patients not to sleep on their backs at any time, because that made it easier for foul air to flow down their nostrils and get into their lungs.
Boarding- . As soon as soon as the first cases were reported to Milan, the authorities sent the city militia to wall up the houses where the victims lived. All those inside, weather sick or well, were cut off from their friends and neighbors and left to die.
Galen- Galen recommended certain treatments to keep the humors in balance. For example, if a patient was too hot, various foods were prescribed to make him or her cooler. If this treatment failed, the physician might preform bloodletting to reduce the amount of hot blood in the patient’s system.
Bed Rest- Bed rest, drinking lots of liquids, and the application of salves made from herbs to the affected areas of the body.
Faith- Patients would invite Flagellants into their homes, provided with food, and cared for their rights---all in the hope that the Flagellants’ self-punishing behavior would persuade God to halt the plague.
Medical Treatment of the Bubonic Plague Today
Antibiotics such as Streptomycin and Gentamycin, are used to treat bubonic plague. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support usually are also needed. Patients with Bubonic Plague should be strictly isolated from caregivers and other patients.
Vinegar and Water Treatment- A person diagnosed with the Black Plague would be put into a bathtub and washed with rose water and vinegar.
Lancing Buboes- The swelling buboes were to be cut open and allow the disease to leave the body. A mixture of tree resin, roots of white lilies and dried human fecal matter should be applied where the body had been cut.
Bleeding- Doctors believed that the disease was carried through blood so the patient's veins leading to the heart were to be cut until all the disease had left the body. A mixture of violets and clay would have placed on the cuts.
Diet- Food that smelled badly and rotted easily were not to be eaten because they allowed bad odors the enter the body. Only bread, fruit, and vegetables were to be eaten.
Sanitation- Human and animal fecal matter was to be collected off of streets and put into barrels and then the barrels were to be buried. This was done so the contaminated fecal matter could not infect any more people.
Body disposal- All dead bodies should be buried in deep pits and their clothes should be burnt so people could not get sick from the dead bodies.
Pestilence Medicine- You would take the roast shells of newly laid eggs and grind them into a powder, then you add the leaves and petals of marigold flowers to the powder. Next you you would add that to a pot of golden ale and cook it over a fire. The patient would drink this every night and morning to draw bad miasmas out of your body.
Witchcraft- A live hen would be placed next to the swelling to draw out the pestilence from the body. To aid recovery you would drink to glasses of your own urine a day. This was used because the witch doctors believed the hen would soak up the miasmas and clean your body.
Flowers- To ward off miasmas when the patients walked outside, doctors recommended carrying bouquets of sweet-smelling herbs and flowers and holding then up to the nose.
Hygiene- Hands and feet were to be washed regularly, but doctors warned against bathing the body because it opened the pores. This, they thought, made the body more vulnerable to attack by disease-bearing miasmas. Exercise was to be avoided for the same reason.
Sleep- Sleep after eating in the middle of the day was bad because the body was warmer then. And doctors cautioned their patients not to sleep on their backs at any time, because that made it easier for foul air to flow down their nostrils and get into their lungs.
Boarding- . As soon as soon as the first cases were reported to Milan, the authorities sent the city militia to wall up the houses where the victims lived. All those inside, weather sick or well, were cut off from their friends and neighbors and left to die.
Galen- Galen recommended certain treatments to keep the humors in balance. For example, if a patient was too hot, various foods were prescribed to make him or her cooler. If this treatment failed, the physician might preform bloodletting to reduce the amount of hot blood in the patient’s system.
Bed Rest- Bed rest, drinking lots of liquids, and the application of salves made from herbs to the affected areas of the body.
Faith- Patients would invite Flagellants into their homes, provided with food, and cared for their rights---all in the hope that the Flagellants’ self-punishing behavior would persuade God to halt the plague.
Medical Treatment of the Bubonic Plague Today
Antibiotics such as Streptomycin and Gentamycin, are used to treat bubonic plague. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support usually are also needed. Patients with Bubonic Plague should be strictly isolated from caregivers and other patients.