Health+and+Medicine

__Death of the Renaissance__
During the Renaissance in the 15th Century, The Balck Death, Influenza and many other illnesses killed one in three Europeans. To collect the dead bodies, two grave diggers would walk though the streets of town. One would ring a bell, like a sign of death and another would push a wooden cart. They would pick up all the dead bodies and add them to the heaping pile on the cart. Later, the corpses were brought to a large open feild where a community grave was dug and all the bodies were dumped. This burial place was then marked by a few small stones.

__Black Death/ Sickness__
When a serious sickness struck a community, that area became isolated. The sick were mainly seperated from the healthy and the healthy sat in their homes keeping lookout for any signs of the specific disease. These almost irreversable signs of death would include swelling or boils on the armpit or groin. The infected awaited death which was believed to be Gods punishment for sins.

__Dealing with A Disease__
People who were hit by a sickness began to go mad. Some threw themselves down wells or into rivers. It has been said that others would beat their head against the wall untill their brains came out. Even though hospitals tried to help the patients, lots of people did not go there becuase they knew doctors and nurses had little medical knowledge and could not give much help. Some chose to go to the hospital because if they died there they had the hope of being burried in a real coffin.





__Medication__
The Renaissance was the beggining of a great transformation in medicine. Previously, people did not have very much knowledge in the medical world. During the Renaissance, people studied medicine by reading old books. Leonardo Da Vinci and William Harvey experimented on bodies, dead or alive. If the subjects were alive, experiments were considered punishment for their sins. Da Vinci and Harvey would study the body and make detailed diagrams as incisions were made.

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The doctors and surgeons in the Renaissance believed the body was made up of four humors. The four constituent humors of the body were identified as blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. These humors functioned around the heart, brain, liver, and spleen. The humors determined the health of the body and the personality of the person as well. To be in good health the humors should be in harmony with each other. Doctors believed that if a body was infected or had a problem the solution was to increase by adding more fluid or decrease by draining fluid. Wounds were healed by applying heat; however, this remedy often resulted in bad infections or death. Although cauterizing was risky, it was the cheapest way to heal gun shot wounds. This remedy was used for a long period of time before Broise Pare discovered a new method. He discovered a safer remedy using ligaturs, which sealed wounds by sewing the viens together with silk thread. He also experimented with using a mixture of rose oil, egg yolks, and turpentine to soothe and heal flesh wounds.=====

__Diseases__
During the Rennaissance there were many different diseases. Diseases came to the Renaissance when new lands were found. Along with diseases came new medication. For example some of the medication that was brought such as the bark of the Quina tree, this contained an ingrediant called Quinine witch is still used today to treat malaria. The leaves of the tobacco plant were thought to have medical properties but we know now that it is responsible for many deaths. Latudanum, an opium based pain killer, was recommended for many disorders and was used until the Victorian time. As new medication came along trade began to increase. The major increase in trade started the global spead of diseases. The trade routes of China brought the Bubonic Plague and the Spanish brought Smallpox. The diseases spread rapidly and killed a large amount of the European population,

In conclusion, health in the Renaissance was a major problem. The Black Death alone killed one in three Europeans in the 14th Century. Years after, Europe's population was 25-50 percent lower then it had been before great sicknesses arrived.

__Bibliography__
//Great Ideas Of The Renaissance// by Trudee Romanek (Page 12-13) //The Renaissance Events of yesteryear// by Silver Burdett Press (page 53-53) Renaissance Medicine research paper by Laura melton [] -more information on Renaissance Medicine [] - more information on illnesses []