Before the humoral theory was developed, it was believed that angry gods or evil spirits were the causing factors of disease. In order to cure themselves, people had to beg the gods for forgiveness or rid the evil spirits from their body. In turn, the priests who performed the healing became the first known physicians (Francko 372). This theory of magic being the cause of disease was believed for many years throughout the people. It was not until a Greek physician proposed a different theory being the cause of disease that people changed their view of illness forever.
Hippocrates of Cos lived from 460 B.C to 377 B.C, and he was often named the father of Western Medicine for coming up with the humoral theory (Pickover 40). According to David Francko, Hippocrates was “the first know physician to consider medicine a science separate from the practice of religion” (Francko 373). In the humoral theory, Hippocrates also dismisses primeval beliefs that disease had supernatural causes and associates it with physical causes (New Standard Encyclopedia 244). In Hippocrates’s humoral theory, diseases were understood as entities in the body, not separate like it is comprehended today (Darnton). In the humoral theory Hippocrates also defines disease and pain as the bodily imbalance of four humors or liquids (“Humors”). The four humors, according to Hippocrates, were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile (New Standard Encyclopedia 244). Robert Darnton says “The human body was thought to contain a mix of the four humors” (Darnton). Hippocrates also believed that the four humors derived from four glandular secretions the heart and liver for blood, the brain for phlegm, the spleen for black bile, and the gall bladder for yellow bile.
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...on’s humoral imbalance (Darnton). Whenever a person was on a treatment for humoral imbalance it was always important to record the patients’ medical histories (Pickover 40). The humoral theory and these practices were used by doctors and was one of the central principles in Western Medicine from antiquity through the nineteenth century until it was discredited in the early nineteenth century (Darnton).
Works Cited
Darnton, Robet. "Humoral Theory." n.d. http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/humoral theory. web. 18 February 2014.
Francko, David. The World Book Millenium. World Book Encyclopedia, n.d. print.
“Humors”. World of Health. Gale, 2007. Student Resources in Context. Web. 17 February. 2014.
New Standard Encyclopedia. Chicago: Ferguson Publication. , 2000. Print
Pickover, Clifford. The Medical Book. Sterling Publishing Company, 2012. Print.
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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...
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).
The Ancient Greeks began to believe that illnesses had a natural cause – in about 400 BCE, a doctor named Hippocrates suggested that theories on supernatural causes were wrong, he came up with the idea of the Four Humours, saying that humans became ill when these humours became unbalanced. The Four Humours consisted of black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. He believed that an imbalance in the humours should be corrected – for example, if he thought that a patient had too much blood, he would carry out a blood-letting to balance out the humours.
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The Four Humours was one of the biggest Scientific belief in the Elizabethan era. Many didn’t know what to say about it. The theory of the humours is based on four elemental body fluids. The amounts of blood, yellow bile, phlegm, and black bile determined a person’s physical or mental health. The
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.
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The knowledge of mental illness was very small. Doctors did not understand how to diagnosis or treat mental disorders. They did not understand how the brain functioned and what to expect from people in certain situations. Many symptoms of physical illness today were considered mental illness in the eighteenth century. The constant shaking due to Parkinson’s disease was misinterpreted as a mental condition and treated as such4. These patients were placed into...
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Throughout history, explanations for mental illness have been described as supernatural, psychological, and biological. Prior to the early Greek physicians, the supernatural model of mental illness prevailed. Early humans did not have science to explain natural events so magic, mysticism, and superstition were used as a substitution. They believed in animism, the idea that all of nature is alive, and anthropomorphism, the tendency to project human features onto nature. Reification was also a popular belief that assumed if you can think of something, it exists. Sympathetic magic was the idea that one can heal and individual by influencing an object that is similar or closely associated to them (Frazer, 1890/1963). Primitive healers would often imitate the patient's ailments and then model the recovery. Reification also lead to the bel...
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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.