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The contributions of hippocrates to medical science
The contributions of hippocrates to medical science
The contributions of hippocrates to medical science
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Hippocratic medicine is one of Greece’s most ancient and lasting contributions to science and medicine, unlike today physicians depend more on equipment’s when diagnosing patients. Physicians in the Hippocratic era had nothing to depend on but where forced to create a journal system which explained the steps to curing based upon their common scientific theories of their time. Hippocrates is seen as the father of medicine even in our modern era, even though he lived before the birth of Christ. He worked on the assumption that all diseases and illnesses had a natural cause as well as a natural cure rather than supernatural one. It was Hippocrates who finally freed medicine from the shackles of magic, superstition, and the supernatural. (Greek Medicine: Hippocrates 2014)
Hippocrates believed the human body was made up of four liquid categories (humours) which were; blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, and if either one of these liquids were out of balance then you became ill and attention would be needed by a doctor to balance out the liquids to make you better. Priests as well...
Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BC) was born on the Aegean island of Cos, Greece. He learned his medical practices from his father, Heracleides, and Ancient Greek physician Herodicos of Selymbria. Like many big Greek names of the time, Hippocrates was thought to have come from the Gods. He was considered a descendent of Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Two major creations of Hippocrates have upheld the biggest influence on medical history. The peak of his career was during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C), where his healing tactics helped Athenian warriors (“Hippocrates”, 1998).
Furthermore, the basic knowledge all these doctors knew were: There are only four elements in the world,each element represented a humour, and all four humours are balanced in the human body. Humours are “natural bodily fluids. They correspond to the elements and have various qualities: cold, dry, hot, and moist.” (Ross) The four elements are: earth, air, water, and fire. The Humour for earth was black bile meaning melancholic or sad - black bile really is the foam off the top of blood. Air’s humour is blood meaning sanguine or lusty. Water’s humour may gross people out… it’s phlegm meaning phlegmatic or sluggish. Lastly fire’s humour is yellow bile meaning temperamental or angry - yellow bile is also choler (Ross). All four humours are supposed to be balance the cause of diseases were if one was out of balance (Alchin).
Although he lived four centuries before the birth of Christ, a man named Hippocrates recorded the symptoms of diseases we still see to this day. Known as the “Father of Medicine” (Hippocrates), Hippocrates was an ancient physician who studied and recorded his observances of the body’s infections and physiology. He set forth the foundation for future physicians, and in doing so, is accredited for our knowledge of infectious diseases in earlier centuries. During this time however, many believed the earth and its inhabitants were composed of four general elements: air, water, fire, and dirt. They also believed that any one person who fell ill was being punished by the gods. As a foresighted thinker though, Hippocrates encouraged the idea that humans became ill due to natural causes. In that wisdom, he recorded all his observances of his patients and their illnesses, taking careful note of the bodily symptoms and their progression.
The Romans used both scientific and mythological methods in their medicine. By adopting the methods of Greek medicine; the Romans obtained a solid foundation. They copied Hippocrates, who separated the study of medicine from philosophy and had an overall approach to the health of humans. Hippocrates also observed the habits and environment of humans to accurately determine illnesses and discover treatments. The Romans adapted the Hippocratic method and combined it with mythical and religious views. The Romans used Greek methods, and also included prayers and offerings to the gods. Although all gods had healing powers, Aesculapius, the god of healing, was the most important.
Hippocrates believed that macrocosms, often designated the universe and environment, could influence and effect microcosms, like that of the human body. The Hippocratics reasoned this was because all things in the macrocosms and microcosms derived from the same materials. Empedocles, a Greek philosopher, communicated the first four-element theory of matter which delineated the four essential building block to be air, water, fire, earth. All of these elements corresponded with the four humors that, in conjunction with the theories of the contraries (hot, cold, wet, dry), formed Hippocrates’s practice and concept of humoralism (Lecture 3, [FIND DATE]). Hippocrates asserted that each human being contained unique combinations of the four distinctive humors, being yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood, which shaped individuals’ temperaments. Patients fell ill when the balance between these humors was compelled to shift out of equilibrium. Thus, Hippocrates, and his students like Galen, understood that physicians had to have a full understanding of the patient and must subsequently tailor their treatments to achieve the highest form of care (Airs, Waters, Places, 90-91). Consequently, physicians practiced healing with a counterbalance therapy which returned the individual
In modern medicine when an ailment arises it can be quickly diagnosed, attributed to a precise bacteria, virus, or body system, and treated with medication, surgery or therapy. During the time before rational medical thought, this streamlined system of treatment was unheard of, and all complaints were attributed to the will of the multitude of commonly worshiped Greek gods (Greek Medicine 1). It was during the period of Greek rationalism that a perceptible change in thought was manifested in the attitudes towards treating disease. Ancient Greece is often associated with its many brilliant philosophers, and these great thinkers were some of the first innovators to make major developments in astrology, physics, math and even medicine. Among these academics was Hippocrates, one of the first e...
Doctors believed the human body was part of the universe, so they used elements for each humour, “Yellow bile was the equivalent of fire. Phlegm was the equivalent of water. Black bile was the equivalent of earth and blood was the equivalent of air”(“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”). Also, because of their beliefs and lack of knowledge on serious medical conditions, most severe cases were not treated accurately. Some doctors believed if a person broke a bone, then it was never supposed to be used again because the accident was based from many sins of the soul (“Shakespearean and Elizabethan Medicine”).
Wrong theories of the anatomy have been assumed to be correct for thousands of years. Theories of using a scientific base were not used by the Europeans until the Renaissance period (“Medicine”). These theories, made by a Greek Physician named Galen, were supported by the Catholic Church. The Middle Ages were a difficult time to achieve medical advances because Galen’s theories were not to be questioned or tested(“The Impact of the Renaissance on Medicine”).Even after these theories appeared to be inaccurate, the support from such a high authority made it extremely difficult to change the medical practices and training(“Rennaissance medicine”).
Hippocrates used his knowledge of natural healing to help many people recover from what ails them in an attempt to; also, learn more of people’s sicknesses. Hippocrates once thoroughly examined the king of Macedonia, who was very sick at the time, and aided him in “recovering from tuberculosis”- which he did recover from (World Biography, 4).
Professor comments: In this paper, the student synthesizes several sources about nineteenth-century medicine and medical education into a focused and coherent essay that provides information about aspects of this topic especially relevant to understanding Lydgate's position in Middlemarch: the differences among physicians, apothecaries, and surgeons, both in terms of training and duties on the one hand, social status on the other; the processes by which someone obtained a medical education and became a licensed practitioner; and the differences in English, Scottish, and French training. In doing so, the student displays an awareness of the importance of the contextual material for more than merely factual purposes, and she employs a principle of selection, concentrating on material that will facilitate her interpretation of Lydgate's role in the novel--especially in the connection between medical and political reform--in a separate essay.
The Hippocratic Corpus is a collection of works based off Hippocrates’s teachings. The writings include case histories, lecture notes, diet recommendations, and more (Week One Lecture). Adherents to the Hippocratic school, approach the diagnosis and treatment of illness with an individualized approach (Week One Lecture). The Hippocratic Corpus taught physicians to be interested in what people were like when they were healthy. (Week One Lecture).
Although it is not apparent whether or not Ancient Egyptian physicians had formal training or not, their methods for diagnosing and handling illnesses were very efficient at times. As a matter of fact, we still use some of their remedies today when we make medicines. Examples of the diagnosis and remedies for diseases in Ancient Egypt can be found in the Ebers Papyrus. This is one of the oldest known documentations of ancient medical practices, dating as far back as fifteen hundred BC. Steven Gilbert, the author of A Small Dose of Toxicology: The Health Effects of Common Chemicals, defines the text as “approximately one hundred and ten pages on anatomy and physiology, toxicology, spells, and treatment recorded on papyrus. The papyrus also has many prescriptions showing the treatment of many disorders by animal, plant, and mineral toxins that still occur today.” Modern-day examples of medical ailments mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus include Asthma, Cancer, and Belly Aches. Oddly enough, the heart, rather than the brain, was regarded as the headquarters of human knowledge in the body because this was where the abundance of emotion was said to be drawn forth from. The heart was also thought to be a means of communication between the people and the gods because people were given insight and instruction pertaining to the gods will through this organ of the body. The Egyptians did not understand how important the heart was in terms of blood circulation, as we understand it today. Their belief was that the heart was connected to all the other parts of the body, via canals, which were used to transport bodily fluids and waste to their appropriate locations. The brain’s only purpose was to transport mucus to the nose, and therefore it wa...
The 20th-century was a time period where Western Medicine underwent many triumphs and tragedies. Along with the development of life saving technologies and vaccines, came violation of people’s trust and abuse of professional power. One event that stands out significantly occurred in the mid 20th-century, not only changed Western medicine forever, but affected many other parts of the world, as well. An immortal line of cells was discovered. This meant that these specific cells would never die, could be studied in great detail, and used in various experiments that couldn’t be done with living human beings. These cells were called HeLa and are still referred to as such today, and have been involved in the development of the polio vaccine and other
As the centuries unrolled and new civilizations appeared, cultural, artistic, and medical developments shifted toward the new centers of power. A reversal of the traditional search for botanical drugs occurred in Greece in the fourth century BC, when Hippocrates (estimated dates, 460-377 BC), the "Father of Medicine," became interested in inorganic salts as medications.
Hippocrates was a Greek physician that left a legacy that existed during his lifetime in Classical Greece and continues today. His moral and ethical standards were the foundation of his teachings, along with his meticulous writings concerning the study of the human body. He firmly believed that poor health and disease were the result of a natural process that could be discovered and cured through careful clinical reasoning and observations. Hippocrates travelled throughout Greece teaching and describing disease symptoms, and taught doctors how to analyze and treat specific illnesses or diseases. Hippocrates’s accomplishments give him the respect from doctors and medical professionals around the world that continues even today.