The article deals with the examples of the influence of scientific ideas, social attitudes, fashion trends reflected in the historical sources of the XIX century on women’s health. The analyzed sources are the works by famous Russian and foreign doctors, literary works by F.M. Dostoevsky, M.A. Bulgakov, Maupassant. The article substantiates the possibility of regarding literary texts as the sources for historical and cultural reconstruction of the sociocultural reality.

The article represents the evidence of contemporaries - ancient, medieval west European and eastern authors concerning various aspects of everyday life of the Lower Volga Region nations regarding the medical culture. The authors trace the influence of the nomadic lifestyle on the medical culture, find out the traditions of the regional medical culture with the intercultural nature.