On The Sacred Diseases Hippocrates Summary

Diagnosing patients was very different during the Classical Age. Before Hippocrates, there was not an established system to diagnose a disease. In his work On the Sacred Diseases, Hippocrates contributes to the idea that the reason greeks believed the creation of disease by a divine power was their simplicity and therefore they lacked the scientific comprehension needed for more advanced medical applications, hence claims that “Men believe only that it is a divine disease because of their ignorance and amazement.” Since diseases were believed to be caused by the almighty gods as a punishment, there was really no set diagnosis system to follow. Medicine at this time was simple; the cause of disease were the gods and treatment to such diseases were in the power of the gods with the help of priests. On the

The Hippocratic diagnostic system was based on logical reasoning rather than supernatural explanations; observations rather than religious beliefs; and focused on the natural approach of disease treatment rather than supernatural or magical healing. Hippocrates and later physicians based their diagnosis of a disease and illness primarily on scientific observations. As mentioned earlier, a stable bodily fluid equilibrium manifested good health. On the contrary, a disruption in that equilibrium implied disease. Since the four humors were associated with nature’s four elements and qualities, observations were focused on how the body reacted due to a break of equilibrium. Sarton contributes that if a patient showed symptoms of extreme body heat and dryness based on these observations Hippocratic physicians would make the diagnosis that the illness was caused due to an excess of yellow bile, of which is associated with the hot and dry elements; this illness was known to be a fever. Hippocrates theory of the four humors provided a specific constitution of health that physicians were able to follow and make logical observations for an appropriate diagnosis and