Greek Medicine & Hippocrates & A Bit More

Greek Medicine & Hippocrates & A Bit More By Keelan Hinds

Ancient Greek Medicine • •

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Medicine was very important to the Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek Culture was such that a high priority was placed upon healthy lifestyles, this despite Ancient Greece being much different to the Greece of the modern World. Ancient Greece was much different to the Greece of today. In Ancient Times Greece was a collection of City States. Each of these was independent from the others but shared a similar culture and religious beliefs. Despite the lack of a coherent government the Greeks developed a society that matched, if not bettered, that of the Ancient Egyptians. Medical practice in Ancient Greece, like Egypt, was based largely upon religious beliefs. The Cult of Asclepios grew in popularity and was a major provider of medical care. This cult developed old theories and introduced several treatments not too dissimilar from modern 'alternative medicines'. The Ancient Greeks though made major strides in medical knowledge. The works of Hippocrates and his followers led to several scientific facts being recorded for the first time: and perhaps more significantly the work of these philosophers began a tradition of studying the cause of disease rather than looking solely at the symptoms when prescribing a cure. The legacy of the Ancient Greek world on medical practice has been great. Hippocrates theory of the Four Humours was, for a long time, the basis upon which to develop medical reasoning. Likewise the methodology employed by the Greeks has, to a large extent, been retained and modified to form what we now consider to be conventional medicine.

Hippocrates Theory •

Greek physician, often called the founder of medicine. Important Hippocratic ideas include cleanliness (for patients and physicians), moderation in eating and drinking, letting nature take its course, and living where the air is good. He believed that health was the result of the ‘humours’ of the body being in balance; imbalance caused disease. These ideas were later adopted by Galen. • He was born and practised on the island of Kos, where he founded a medical school. He travelled throughout Greece and Asia Minor, and died in Larisa, Thessaly. He is known to have discovered aspirin in willow bark. The Corpus Hippocratic/Hippocratic Collection, a group of some 70 works, is attributed to him but was probably not written by him, although the works outline his approach to medicine. They include Aphorisms and the Hippocratic Oath, which embodies the essence of medical ethics.

The Hippocratic Oath •

This is basically a oath sworn and taken by doctors saying they will treat patients fairly and do no take advantage of the medical equipment. The oath is on the lines of this; I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement: To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art. I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion. But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts. I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art. In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves. All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal. If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.

The Four Humours Four humours matched the four seasons; • Autumn: Black Bile (Sign for Earth) Basically Causes Tiredness • Spring: Blood (Sing for Air) Basically Causes Nose Bleeds And Headaches • Winter: Phlegm (Sing for Water) Basically Causes' Sneezes and runny noses • Summer: Yellow Bile (Sing for Fire) Basically Causes Dizziness, Vomiting and Headaches To basically stop this from happening you must balance your four humours because, basically to much of one humour causes the illness, so to stop this you must balance them out by eating healthy and exercising more, If you don’t do this you have worse consequences of like getting blood drained out of your body for example if you got to much blood in your body they will drain blood out your body through a tube ?? Painful !!! and for winter to get rid of the phlegm you open up the body, so basically you die when your cured, so you may as well stick to balancing them out rather than getting cut up.