During the Classical Age of Greece, which lasted from 500 to 336 BC, many fundamentals of medicine were established. Such as numerous medical phrases and names as well as names for illnesses and diseases. These were instituted by the Greek Physician Hippocrates.
Hippocrates of Kos is widely regarded as the father of medicine due to his impact on the medical field. Hippocrates is said to have lived from 460 BC to 375 BC. Throughout this time period, religion played a large role in Greek society. Due to this, most people believed that illnesses and ailments were the results of the wrath of the gods. However, Hippocrates did not accept this concept. He thought that there must be a natural cause for all diseases. Because of this, he devoted his life to studying and practicing medicine.
One notable theory that Hippocrates is credited with is the theory of the four humors. In this theory, Hippocrates as well as the significant Greek philosophers Aristotle and Galen, claim that the body is made up of four primary humors, or fluids that have major impacts on a person’s health. The four humors were yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm. The theory claimed that each of the fluids was correlated with a particular element, two qualities, one or more certain organs, and a certain age. The elements being earth, water, air, or fire, and the qualities being cold, hot, moist, and dry. All these components, as well as the effect of the planets and seasons, were said to control a person's health status. According to the theory, good health was meant to be maintained by keeping the four humors in balance, and that disease was linked to having too much or too little of one or more humors. As a remedy for illness, or imbalanced humor levels, it was said doctors were told to cut a person's vein to let blood drain out in order to balance humor levels. Another remedy was said to be prescribing patients emetics, or medicine to make them throw up. While the methods used to cure disease based on the theory of the four humors may seem a bit unorthodox, they actually played an important part in learning about sickness. This is because they helped move people away from the idea that supernatural forces caused diseases, and that they may be more about what is happening inside a person’s body.
Another notable invention of the physician, Hippocrates is his creation of the Hippocratic Oath, A code of ethics for doctors. In the oath, doctors must swear to the gods of health that they will follow the oath as best as possible and treat patients to the best of their ability. It also claimed that medical students should receive free tuition. While the Hippocratic Oath is ancient and many things incorporated in it may not pertain to modern medicine, modern versions of the oath have been created and new doctors are required to take it.
Another thing that Hippocrates is credited with is the invention of numerous medical terms. He also began the classification of diseases and illnesses as acute or chronic, and outbreaks as endemic or epidemic. On top of this, he is credited with creating medical terminologies such as symptom, diagnosis, therapy, and trauma. He also was one of the first to coin disease names such as arthritis, cancer, coma, paralysis, and mania, among others.
In conclusion, Hippocrates was an extremely significant figure in the history of medicine. This is shown through the papers he wrote regarding medicine and the numerous terms he invented because many of those terms are still in use to this day.
Sources:
Pedersen, Traci. “Who Was Hippocrates?” LiveScience, Purch, 24 Feb. 2021, https://www.livescience.com/62515-hippocrates.html.
Kleisiaris, Christos F, et al. “Health Care Practices in Ancient Greece: The Hippocratic Ideal.” Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 Mar. 2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4263393/#:~:text=Therefore%2C%20Hippocrates%20established%20the%20basics,number%20of%20diseases%20without%20superstition.
“Hippocrates.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hippocrates.
Tsiompanou, Eleni, and Spyros G Marketos. “Hippocrates: Timeless Still.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3704070/.
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