Hippocrates Anthony Rushton The Father Of Western Medicine

Hippocrates Anthony Rushton

The father of western medicine

Greek Medicine

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. 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.

Hippocrates 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. The Hippocratic Oath is an oath traditionally taken by doctors swearing to ethically practice medicine. It is widely believed to have been written by Hippocrates, the father of western medicine. Historians accept that Hippocrates was born around the year 460 BC on the Greek island of Kos (Cos), and became a famous physician and teacher of medicine.

Anthony Rushton

The Four Humours • • • •

Yellow Bile Black Bile Phlegm Blood

Four humours matched the four seasons • • • •

Autumn: black bile Spring: blood Winter: phlegm Summer: yellow bile.

• • • •

Earth: black bile Air: blood Fire: yellow bile Water: phlegm.

Too much earth made one melancholic; too much air, sanguine; too much fire, choleric; and too much water, phlegmatic. • • • •

Too Too Too Too

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Earth: Melancholic Air: Sanguine Fire: Choleric Water: Phlegmatic.

Finally, each element/humour/season was associated with certain qualities. Thus yellow bile was thought of as hot and dry. Its opposite, phlegm (the mucus of colds), was cold and moist. Black Bile was cold and dry, while its opposite, blood was hot and moist. • • • •

Black Bile: Cold and Dry Blood: Hot and Moist Phlegm: Cold and Moist Yellow Bile: Hot and Dry.

As a first step, the prudent Hippocratic physician would prescribe a regimen of diet, activity, and exercise, designed to "void the body of the imbalanced humour." According to Gary Lindquester's "History of Human Disease," if it was a fever -- a hot, dry disease -the culprit was yellow bile. So, the doctor would try to increase its opposite, phlegm, by prescribing cold baths. If the opposite situation prevailed (as in a cold), where there were obvious symptoms of excess phlegm production, the regimen would be to bundle up in bed and drink wine.