History Of Hippocrates: 460 BC Greek Medicine

Hippocrates and his followers were first to describe many diseases and medical conditions. He is given credit for the first description of clubbing of the fingers, an important diagnostic sign in chronic supportive lung disease, lung cancer and cyanotic heart disease. Herophilus of Chalcedon, working at the medical school of Alexandria placed intelligence in the brain, and connected the nervous system to motion and sensation. Herophilus also distinguished between veins and arteries, noting that the latter pulse while the former do not. He and his

Dissection of human bodies became popular during the Renaissance time as people started to redraw and disprove previous beliefs about human anatomy. Interest in anatomy grew for artistic and medical purposes. Artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo began

We find that the “oldest written sources of western medicine are The Hippocratic writings from the 5th and 4th centuries BC; which covers all aspects of medicine at that time and contain numerous medical terms.”(Wulff) This was the beginning of the Greek era of the language of medicine, which lasted even after the Roman

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

The word autopsy derives from the Greek word autopsia, which means “the act of seeing for oneself” (Autopsy 1). An autopsy purpose is to “determine the cause of death, observe the effects of disease” (Autopsy 1). Human dissection was frowned upon until after the Middle Ages. The first human dissection was performed in 300 BCE by Herophilus and Erasistratus, two physicians who were studying disease (Autopsy 2). In the late 2nd century CE a Greek physician Galen of Pergamum was the first

Hippocrates known as the Greek physician of the age of pericles. He was referred as the father of western medicine and consider one of the most outstanding figures of the history of medicine and also founder of hippocrates school of medicine. Hippocrates establish the discipline distinct of other fields and also established the medicine as a profession. He was born C.460 BC , island of cos. Greece and died C. 375

- Dissection led to performing autopsies on dead bodies to see what each disease did within the body, and also better understand human anatomy.

It was Hippocrates’ teachings and revolutionary techniques that were the driving force behind the shift from irrational to rational medicine in ancient Greece.

He grew up in a family of physicians and pharmacists. He attended the Catholic University of Leuven, and studied medicine at the University of Paris, where he learned to dissect animals. He studied at more universities and received his M.D. degree. While later studying in the University of Padua he was appointed a lecturer in surgery, with that he had the responsibility of giving anatomical demonstrations. He taught the same material he was taught which was based on the research of Galen, who was a physician whose study of the anatomy was almost all of the understanding of the anatomy we had at the time. Galen based most of his ideas of the human anatomy on that of the anatomy of animals which he had dissected. He believed that they were relatively the same, which could not be more incorrect. Vesalius discovered one mistake while working on a human body, and quickly became interested and realized that there could be many more

Hippocrates of Cos, a physician in ancient Greece, is considered to be the father of medicine due to his many contributions to the field in his life. Through research and different experiments he was able to conclude many different principles, including on of the most important: the four humors. By observing reactions to different illnesses, sometimes leading the patient to die, he was able to develop the theory. His theory of the four humors was that the human body was filled with four basic substances, or humors, that when in balance indicate the person is healthy. If there was too little or too much of one of the four, a disease or disability would result. The four humors of Hippocratic medicine are black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. Before the humors were introduced, many people believed that the source of illness was punishment from the Gods. It wasn’t until after Hippocrates’ introduction to medicine that the field stepped away from religion and into science.

Animal experimentation can be used to gain further understanding of the biology and anatomy of that creature or even humans. The notion of animals being able to serve as a model for humans was supported by Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory in 1859 (Hawkins). Even prior to this theory, however, surgery on animals became popular in ancient

Hippocrates is most commonly known as “the father of western medicine.” Because he lived so long ago, it is not exactly clear when he was born and when he died. The best estimates are that he was born around 460 BCE and died around 370 BCE. He lived during the Greek Golden Age, which had influence on his prosperity in medicine. It is believed that he was born on the Island of Cos, where he later taught medicine. During Hippocrates’ life, Cos was particularly famous for its medical school. He studied under his father, Heraclides, who was also a physician. It is believed that his Grandfather was a physician as well. Giving that both his father and grandfather were

Anatomy is to physiology, as geography is to history; it describes the theatre of events. Medical culture that emphasized the study of anatomy through human vivisection peaked in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC, with Herophilus and Erasistratus- the two primary anatomists of the 3rd century- spearheading this movement. Alexandria was the ideal place to study anatomy and physiology during the Hellenistic period since the research was not tied down by civil laws, taboos, or moralism that prevailed on the Greek mainland. Although the practice of human vivisection was decreed by the priesthood throughout the rest of Egypt and Athens, it was not so in this well-insulated center of learning.

The use of a human cadaver dates back to 300 B.C. with the Greek physician and father of anatomy, Herophilos, who is noted as being the first person to dissect a human cadaver (Korf & Wicht, 2004). Herophilos’ anatomical discoveries were no small matter. Because of his dissections, we know that the brain is center of the nervous system and where its ventricles lie. We also know where the route taken by sinuses of the

As The Greek empire declined, Rome inherited its medical traditions and knowledge. During the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D health standards dropped considerably and outbreaks occurred of life threatening diseases. Galen of Pergamon, a follower of Hippocrates, gathered much of the medical knowledge of the time and added to it his studies of anatomy and physiology (mostly of animals). In Spite of his errors in describing certain anatomical and physiology phenomena, his writing created the foundation for medicine over 1500 years later in Europe. Though Galen created a historical event, he indeed followed and admired one of the