Ancient Diseases

Ancient doctors tried to cure everyone who was sick, but
they did better with some diseases than with others. Let's look at some
common diseases and see what Egyptian, Roman, or Islamic doctors were able
to do about them:

1) the common cold virus: fortunately, it doesn't matter
much what the doctor does here, because you will probably get better on
your own. Still if you get a fever and then the doctor bleeds you to reduce
your blood humors, that will make you sicker not better. You were probably
better off not going to the doctor. An herbalist, on the other hand, might
have been able to give you willow bark (aspirin) for your fever, which would
at least have made you more comfy, and maybe a cough syrup like slippery
elm tea too. But in the form of willow bark, aspirin gives you terrible
stomach aches. And if you had gone to a healing shrine, the extra rest and
healthy food and hot baths might help you feel better quicker.

2) ear infections, or bronchitis : what you really need
is antibiotics, and those were not invented until about the 1930s. So you
would have to get better on your own if you were going to get better. Again,
good food and plenty of rest, not being bled, and maybe some
cough syrup would be your best bet. But people died of these diseases in
antiquity, or they went deaf from earaches.

3) a broken leg : doctors were probably better at treating
broken bones than other people were, because they understood anatomy (the
inside of the human body) better. Hippocrates gives a pretty good description
of how to set bones. Without a doctor, if the bone wasn't set right, you
could end up not ever being able to use that leg again. But the greatest
danger was probably from infection.

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4) malaria : nobody had any idea what to do about malaria,
which was much more common in ancient Greece or Rome than it is today. Healthy
adults usually do not die of malaria, but children and old people and sick
people often do. Even today malaria is difficult to cure completely. Healing
shrines, where you could get rest and good food, may have helped some people
recover.

5) depression : ancient doctors did not have antidepressants
like Prozac, but all different kinds of healers would try to talk you through
your depression. Often you would go to a healing shrine where the change
of scenery and a chance to rest might help you to pull out of your depression.
Talk and rest are not always enough to cure a depression though.

6) cancer : even today, doctors cannot cure all cancer, and often all a doctor
can do is to give you painkillers. Ancient doctors did
not have any medicines that cured cancer, and did not have as good painkillers as modern doctors have. Opium was known, but
it is not clear how widely doctors used it. Most patients probably relied
on wine to help them with their pain.

7) smallpox, measles, and plague: Today, smallpox has been wiped out by vaccinations, and many people are vaccinated against measles. Doctors can cure plague with antibiotics. But in antiquity, there was no medicine for anyone who had these diseases. People were more likely to live if they got good nursing care - plenty of good food, rest, and clean water.

To learn more about ancient and medieval diseases, check out these books from
Amazon.com or from your local library: