Chapter 4 'She sleeps well and eats an egg': convalescent care in early modern England

"Very little is known about early modern approaches to convalescence and the author investigates the measures were taken by physicians and laypeople to restore health after illness. Drawing on medical texts, regimens, letters, and diaries, this chapter shows that the treatment of the convalesce...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Newton, Hannah (auth)
Format: eBook
Published: Manchester University Press 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:Get fulltext
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024 7 |a 10.7765/9781526113498  |c doi 
041 0 |h English 
042 |a dc 
100 1 |a Newton, Hannah  |e auth 
245 1 0 |a Chapter 4 'She sleeps well and eats an egg': convalescent care in early modern England 
260 |b Manchester University Press  |c 2017 
300 |a 1 electronic resource (29 p.) 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31265 
506 0 |a Open Access  |2 star  |f Unrestricted online access 
520 |a "Very little is known about early modern approaches to convalescence and the author investigates the measures were taken by physicians and laypeople to restore health after illness. Drawing on medical texts, regimens, letters, and diaries, this chapter shows that the treatment of the convalescent differed both from the care of the sick and the healthy. It shows the vital place of the non-naturals in early modern medicine, and the role played by 'Nature', understood as the body's principal agent and governor in physiological processes. The author finds that the 'six non-natural things' were on the one hand used as a way of gauging the extent of recovery, and on the other, were manipulated in a therapeutic role to ensure that both strength and flesh were restored. Thus, any remaining humours which might cause a relapse must be evacuated: good sleep, improved appetite and an ability to exercise were all signs of improvement but each, managed appropriately, also helped to restore strength, whilst negative emotions could endanger recovery and in its place cheerfulness -which was a restorative-must be encouraged." 
536 |a Wellcome Trust 
540 |a Creative Commons 
546 |a English 
650 7 |a Italy  |2 bicssc 
650 7 |a Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700  |2 bicssc 
650 7 |a Social & cultural history  |2 bicssc 
650 7 |a History of medicine  |2 bicssc 
653 |a convalescence 
653 |a recovery 
653 |a non-naturals 
653 |a diet 
653 |a passions of the soul 
653 |a excretion 
653 |a exercise 
653 |a nature 
653 |a early-modern england 
653 |a medical advice 
653 |a Digestion 
653 |a Early modern period 
653 |a Humorism 
653 |a Physician 
653 |a Relapse 
653 |a Sanatorium 
773 1 0 |0 OAPEN Library ID: 633232  |t Conserving health in early modern culture: Bodies and environments in Italy and England  |7 nnaa