Renaissance Medicine the Good the Bad and the Just Plain Scary
Throughout the Renaissance, medical practices were extremely advanced for the time period, yet these same practices seem atrocious when compared to modern medicine. ... Almost no one during this time lived to be over the age of sixty because doctors used strange methods to cure their patients, diseases were commonplace, and the public’s everyday habits did not contribute to good health. When people were cured and able to stay healthy, it was usually due to a lot of rest, warmth, cleanliness, a good diet, and a daily exercise routine. ... According to Maggie Kryzwicka, wrote on her medieval medicine website that “the chosen few who had the cash to spend could use the services of the monasteries or the few hospitals in the more urban areas. ... Although leprosy was horrible, the most dangerous disease of all was the plague, which struck various parts of Europe throughout the Renaissance. ... “Typhus fever is another disease born of bad sanitation,” and was transmitted through feces (“The Plumber”). ... Medics thought that getting rid of “bad” blood would balance the humors. ... The medieval and renaissance period was a time when medicine was extremely cruel. ... Some techniques that seem somewhat primitive now, were quite popular during the Renaissance, and the people followed them religiously.