Topic Summaries

Industrial era explanations for illness

GCSE > History > AQA > GCSE History: Medicine and Health in Britain (1000-Present) Topic Summaries > Industrial medicine > Industrial era explanations for illness
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Summary table
  • Miasma theory was still widely accepted by doctors, the government, and the public because: 
    • It fit what people could see and smell (filthy streets, bad odours). 
    • It explained why disease was associated with poverty and overcrowded areas.
    • It did not challenge religious beliefs.
  • Another common belief was spontaneous generation – the theory that illness appeared randomly when something rotted. People initially believed disease was caused by microbes, rather than the other way around.
  • Some continuity from earlier periods remained in religious explanations, especially among the poor, who believed disease was a punishment from God. 
  • Towards the 19th century, people began to question these theories and the idea of specificity (i.e. not all microbes were the same and each caused a specific illness).
  • This gave rise to germ theory which states that microscopic pathogens (‘germs’) cause disease.
  • There was gradual change in understandings of medicine throughout this period due to:
    • Advances in science and technology
    • Improvements in microscopes
    • Increased use of experimentation
  • However, some revolutionary ideas were slow to catch on because they challenged long-standing beliefs, and because some early forms of technology made proof difficult

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