Diseases during the Medieval Times and How They Were Cured

The Medieval Era was the time of great innovations in architecture, warfare, commerce, and the arts. Yet, despite all the developments, one important aspect that could have been most beneficial, yet overlooked, was that of medicine. This was the time before the discovery of penicillin, antisepsis and the like. Thus, life expectancy in this period was much lower than it is today.

During the Medieval times, antibiotics were unheard of. And although there were herbal remedies, they were either ineffective or could make matters worse, as some practises include the use of poison, urine, and excrement. To top it all up, there were only a few trained doctors and even fewer hospitals. As a result of the explosion of the population during these times, diet and hygienic practises generally became much poorer and the result were numerous illnesses, especially the Black Death, which was the worst kind of epidemic that claimed the lives of almost half of the total populace in Europe.

Medieval medicine was generally based on the theory of "humours," which states that there are four principal fluids that every human being has inside his body. The fluids were black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood, which had to be kept in balance for a person to stay healthy. This was used to explain why phlegm comes out when a person had a cough and was believed to be the body's way of keeping itself balance. On the other hand, an unnatural way of balancing the humours was through bloodletting using leeches. This was how ordinary folks were treated during these times. Luckily today, there are numerous facilities and highly-skilled professionals to help save lives.

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