Black Plague: Doctors In The Medieval Ages
Black Plague Did you know that doctors in the medieval ages turned to astrology to explain the black plague? Or that people made conspiracy theories such as, “Jews are harming the Christians by poisoning wells.” When in reality, 14th century medicine was not advanced enough to prevent the disease. To summarize, the black plague (or bubonic plague) was; a deadly disease, so toxic that doctors could not prevent it, and killed many, especially those in poor health already. To first understand the plague, one must know what a plague is. Plagues come in three forms, bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. The black plague is a combination of bubonic and pneumonic. This grouping causes the disease to attack the lungs and is fatal in 3 days if untreated. Victims also get black spots on their hands and chest caused by tissue bleeding, also originating the name “Black Plague.” The sickness spreads by rodents infected by plague-causing bacteria, then humans get it through bites from bugs who have eaten an infected animal. Humans can also spread it to each other by coughing in the air. As a result, doctors had to find cures to help prevent fatalities. However, their middle-age remedies were far too outdated
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to deal with anything like this plague. Doctors then started to wear bird masks, which has a bird-like beak, to prevent getting sick as they believed it was airborne. Witchcraft was another reason they used for the plague, as witch investigators and civilians needed a scapegoat to better explain mass hysteria. But when burning the “witches’ did not affect the plague’s causalities, doctors turned to the astrological zodiac signs for guidance, as they were believed to be associated with several humours, which is another word for cures, in the middle ages. In general, people assume the plague killed people indifferently.
However, the plague was found to have killed more people of old age and poor sickness than those young and healthy. This is because of their poor nutrition that weakened the already feeble immune system, making them even more susceptible to the plague. Scientist Sharon DeWitte conducted a research of the plague’s victims by going to a cemetery and inspecting the bones. “It makes sense that the Black Death would kill people who are already weak,” DeWitte told LiveScience. “What’s important is that we’ve provided quantitative evidence to counter the assumption it killed indiscriminately.” This also gave researchers the idea that plague survivors’ kin would have stronger genetics in the post-plague
era.
to deal with anything like this plague. Doctors then started to wear bird masks, which has a bird-like beak, to prevent getting sick as they believed it was airborne. Witchcraft was another reason they used for the plague, as witch investigators and civilians needed a scapegoat to better explain mass hysteria. But when burning the “witches’ did not affect the plague’s causalities, doctors turned to the astrological zodiac signs for guidance, as they were believed to be associated with several humours, which is another word for cures, in the middle ages. In general, people assume the plague killed people indifferently.
However, the plague was found to have killed more people of old age and poor sickness than those young and healthy. This is because of their poor nutrition that weakened the already feeble immune system, making them even more susceptible to the plague. Scientist Sharon DeWitte conducted a research of the plague’s victims by going to a cemetery and inspecting the bones. “It makes sense that the Black Death would kill people who are already weak,” DeWitte told LiveScience. “What’s important is that we’ve provided quantitative evidence to counter the assumption it killed indiscriminately.” This also gave researchers the idea that plague survivors’ kin would have stronger genetics in the post-plague
era.