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Fighting disease through the
ages
‘Did you know that
people have been
trying to cure
infectious illnesses
for thousands of
years?’
‘Some of the
things they tried
were really
revolting –
crocodile dung
plaster, anyone?!’
Fighting disease through the ages
Human bodies which are thousands of years old
show signs of diseases just like the ones we get
today.
In the Stone Age people made holes in the skulls of people
who were very ill to try and make them better. This was
called trepanning.
We have found skulls with the holes healed over, so at least
some of the patients survived!
Trepanning was used
regularly until the 18th
century. Even today a
similar method is
sometimes used if the
brain swells after a head
injury.
In Ancient Egypt five thousand years ago people made
sacrifices to their gods to ask for healing.
They also used things like mouldy bread, poppy seeds, honey
and crocodile dung to try and cure people!
Some of the treatments
may actually have
worked. This is because
they contained chemicals
which we now know can
kill bacteria!
The Ancient Greeks thought
illness was due to things
called humours (different
fluids) of the body being out
of balance.
They treated lots of illnesses using
leeches to suck the blood out of
people, which they thought would
balance their humours! We don’t
believe in humours any more – but
leeches are still used in medicine.
In the Middle Ages people thought diseases showed that God
was angry, so they prayed for a cure.
But people wanted to help themselves as well. They tried
bathing in human urine (wee), smearing themselves with
excrement (poo), placing dead animals in their homes,
using leeches (like the Greeks) and drinking molten gold
and powdered emeralds!
Only very rich people could use the last two ‘cures’ – and most
of us would rather be ill than try the others!
‘So when did people
start to invent medicines
that really worked well?’
‘And how many
people died of
infections before
there were medicines
to treat them? I want
to know more about
this!’
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