"and religious healers were among the ‘doctors’ that patients sought out when they became ill. Sacrifices, exorcisms, spells and prayers were then carried out in order to reconcile with the gods and restore health to the patient. It was not until the time of Hippocrates, between 450 and 350 BC, that rational, observation and the humoral theory of medicine began to become highly influential. The theory of the humours or “Humorism” understood the human body to be composed of fluid (humours) and regarded disease as a result of an imbalance of the four humors: yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and"
"Ancient Egyptian medicine or Mesopotamia, though it was not systemized until ancient Greek thinkers around 400 BC directly linked it with the popular theory of the four elements: earth, fire, water and air (Empedocles). Robin Fåhræus (1921), a Swedish physician who devised the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, suggested that the four humours were based upon the observation of blood clotting in a transparent container. When blood is drawn in a glass container and left undisturbed for about an hour, four different layers can be seen. A dark clot forms at the bottom (the ""black bile""). Above the clot is a layer"
"more of the four basic bodily liquids, or humours. Personality types were similarly determined by the dominant humor in a particular person. According to Hippocrates and subsequent tradition, melancholia was caused by an excess of black bile, hence the name, which means ""black bile"", from Ancient Greek μέλας (""melas""), ""dark, black"", and χολή (""kholé""), ""bile""; a person whose constitution tended to have a preponderance of black bile had a ""melancholic"" disposition. In the complex elaboration of humorist theory, it was associated with the earth from the Four Elements, the season of autumn, the spleen as the originating organ and cold"
"imbalance of the humors. One of the most well-known and reported examples was the belief that an excess amount of black bile was the cause of melancholia, which would now be classified as schizophrenia or depression. Medieval physicians used various forms of treatment to try to fix any physical problems that were causing mental disorders in their patients. When the cause of the disorder being examined was believed to be caused by an imbalance of the four humors, doctors attempted to rebalance the body. They did so through a combination of emetics, laxatives and different methods of bloodletting, in order"
"was the predominant theory of disease transmission before the germ theory took hold towards the end of the 19th century, and it is no longer accepted as a scientific theory of disease. It held that diseases such as cholera, chlamydia infection, or the Black Death were caused by a ""miasma"" (μίασμα, Ancient Greek: ""pollution""), a noxious form of ""bad air"" emanating from rotting organic matter. Miasma was considered to be a poisonous vapor or mist filled with particles from decomposed matter (miasmata) that was identifiable by its foul smell. The theory posited that diseases were the product of environmental factors"
"bile, respectively. Hippocrates also noted some emotional connections to the four humours, which Claudius Galenus would later expand on. The critical thinking of Aristotle and his emphasis on the relationship between structure and function marked the beginning of physiology in Ancient Greece. Like Hippocrates, Aristotle took to the humoral theory of disease, which also consisted of four primary qualities in life: hot, cold, wet and dry. Claudius Galenus (c. ~130–200 AD), known as Galen of Pergamum, was the first to use experiments to probe the functions of the body. Unlike Hippocrates, Galen argued that humoral imbalances can be located in"
"on what was considered healthy and nutritious among the upper classes. One's lifestyle—including diet, exercise, appropriate social behavior, and approved medical remedies—was the way to good health, and all types of food were assigned certain properties that affected a person's health. All foodstuffs were also classified on scales ranging from hot to cold and moist to dry, according to the four bodily humours theory proposed by Galen that dominated Western medical science from late Antiquity until the 17th century. Medieval scholars considered human digestion to be a process similar to cooking. The processing of food in the stomach was seen"
"in ""History of Animals"") and then going on to study the causes (in ""Parts of Animals"" and ""Generation of Animals"", his three main biological works). The four elements make up the uniform materials such as blood, flesh and bone, which are themselves the matter out of which are created the non-uniform organs of the body (e.g. the heart, liver and hands) ""which in turn, as parts, are matter for the functioning body as a whole (""PA"" II. 1 646a 13—24)"". According to Aristotle, perception and thought are similar, though not exactly alike in that perception is concerned only with the"
"conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time. The theory of diseases was highly influenced by ideas of an imbalance of the basic ""four humours"" in the body, a theory known as dyscrasia, for which the main treatment was bloodlettings. Medical texts at the time emphasized that each case of disease was unique, the result of a personal imbalance, and the main difficulty of the medical profession was to establish precisely each patient's unique situation, case by case. The findings from autopsies of deceased women also showed a confusing multitude of physical signs, which emphasized the belief"
"principle and not identical with the normal solids, liquids and combustion phenomena we experience: According to Aristotle, the four elements rise or fall toward their natural place in concentric layers surrounding the center of the earth and form the terrestrial or sublunary spheres. In ancient Greek medicine, each of the four humours became associated with an element. Yellow bile was the humor identified with fire, since both were hot and dry. Other things associated with fire and yellow bile in ancient and medieval medicine included the season of summer, since it increased the qualities of heat and aridity; the choleric"
"the digestive processes in the body. Furthermore, while iatrophysicists rejected acid-base theory as an explanation for bodily processes, iatrochemists embraced the theory. In the Middle Ages, Galenic anatomo-physiology prevailed as the leading medical thought. Furthermore, Aristotelian natural philosophy had dominated for centuries, including the humoral system as a primary method of medical thought. However, the philosophies of Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen began to wane in popularity, replaced by anatomical and philosophical schools of thought based on mechanics and chemical naturalism. Ideologies such as iatrophysics and iatrochemistry began to prevail. The decline of Galenic philosophy-based medicine coupled with the rise of"
"it was first seriously challenged by Andreas Vesalius. Its place was cast into the underside of science in 1628 by the findings of William Harvey, and it was definitively demolished in 1858. The concept has not been used in medicine since then. The theory holds that the human body is filled with four basic substances, called humors, which are in balance when a person is healthy. Diseases and disabilities supposedly resulted from an excess or deficit of one of these four humors. Disease could also be the result of the ""corruption"" of one or more of the humors, which could"
"carrying all the body's fluids to or from every member of the body. Ancient Greek anatomy and physiology underwent great changes and advances throughout the early medieval world. Over time, this medical practice expanded by a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body. Phenomenal anatomical observations of the human body were made, which have contributed towards the understanding of the brain, eye, liver, reproductive organs and the nervous system. The Hellenistic Egyptian city of Alexandria was the stepping-stone for Greek anatomy and physiology. Alexandria not only housed the biggest library for medical records and"
"body and the causes of diseases proposed by different professors, who competed for students' teaching fees. Thus, having an underlying system of medical knowledge was a practical way to organize the knowledge coherently for the students. Like many prominent medical figures in the 18th century, William Cullen took a great interest in the nervous system. He defined the nervous system as an ""animated machine"" whose main function is to ""perform a variety of motions,"" communicate and interact with ""external bodies."" Cullen believed that the nervous system was composed of four elements: the medullary substance, consisting of the brain and the"
"physician to gladiators in Pergamon, and in Rome, physician to Marcus Aurelius and the three emperors who succeeded him. Most of Galen's teachings were gathered and enhanced in the late 11th century by Benedictine monks at the School of Salerno in ""Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum"", which still had users in the 17th century. Galen believed in the bodily ""humours"" of Hippocrates, and he taught that ""pneuma"" is the source of life. Four elements (earth, air, fire and water) combine into ""complexion"", which combines into states (the four temperaments: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic). The states are made up of pairs of"
"the heart. It notes that the heart is the center of blood supply, and attached to it are vessels for every member of the body. The Egyptians seem to have known little about the function of the kidneys and made the heart the meeting point of a number of vessels which carried all the fluids of the body – blood, tears, urine and semen. However, they did not have a theory as to where saliva and sweat came from. Nomenclature, methods and applications for the study of anatomy all date back to the Greeks. The early scientist Alcmaeon began to"
"(hair, nails, flesh, etc.) were generated from foods that contained those same substances. Hippocrates (460 BC – 377 BC) was a physician known as the “father of medicine”, his nutritional advice was based on the presence of the four humors in the body. Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher and mathematician; his idea of a healthy diet consisted of balance and moderation of cereals, fruits, vegetables, dairy, with a strong emphasis on the moderation of meat and wine. His belief is that excess food from one source would lead to future ailments. Galen (129 AD –"
"The ancient Greeks conception of ""biochemistry"" was linked with their ideas on matter and disease, where good health was thought to come from a balance of the four elements and four humors in the human body. As in the majority of early sciences, the Islamic world contributed significantly to early biological advancements as well as alchemical advancements; especially with the introduction of clinical trials and clinical pharmacology presented in Avicenna's ""The Canon of Medicine"". On the side of chemistry, early advancements were heavily attributed to exploration of alchemical interests but also included: metallurgy, the scientific method, and early theories of"
"century BCE), an ancient Egyptian medical papyrus containing over 700 prescriptions and remedies, both physical and spiritual. In the papyrus, it acknowledges the connection of the heart to the arteries. The Egyptians thought air came in through the mouth and into the lungs and heart. From the heart, the air travelled to every member through the arteries. Although this concept of the circulatory system is only partially correct, it represents one of the earliest accounts of scientific thought. In the 6th century BCE, the knowledge of circulation of vital fluids through the body was known to the Ayurvedic physician Sushruta"
"medicine, it was believed that the four humors were to be in balanced proportions with regard to amount and strength of each humor for a body to be healthy. The humoralist system of medicine was highly individualistic, for all patients were said to have their own unique humoral composition. Moreover, it resembled a holistic approach to medicine as the link between mental and physical processes were emphasized by this framework. From Hippocrates onward, the humoral theory was adopted by Greek, Roman and Islamic physicians, and dominated the view of the human body among European physicians until at least 1543 when"
"and illness as a combination of three humors: wind, bile and phlegm. A healthy life was the result of a balance among these humors. In Ayurvedic thought, the body consisted of five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and empty space. Ayurvedic surgeons performed complex surgeries and developed a detailed understanding of human anatomy. Pre-Socratic philosophers in Ancient Greek culture brought natural philosophy a step closer to direct inquiry about cause and effect in nature between 600 and 400 BC, although an element of magic and mythology remained. Natural phenomena such as earthquakes and eclipses were explained increasingly in the context"
"open system, a branching tree of flows of material through the body. The system worked as follows. The incoming material, food, enters the body and is concocted into blood; waste is excreted as urine, bile, and faeces, and the element fire is released as heat. Blood is made into flesh, the rest forming other earthy tissues such as bones, teeth, cartilages and sinews. Leftover blood is made into fat, whether soft suet or hard lard. Some fat from all around the body is made into semen. All the tissues are in Aristotle's view completely uniform parts with no internal structure"
"to Hippocrates, and the writings of Galen. Galen of Pergamon, a Greek, was one of the most influential ancient physicians. Galen described the four classic symptoms of inflammation (redness, pain, heat, and swelling) and added much to the knowledge of infectious disease and pharmacology. His anatomic knowledge of humans was defective because it was based on dissection of animals, mainly apes, sheep, goats and pigs. Some of Galen's teachings held back medical progress. His theory, for example, that the blood carried the pneuma, or life spirit, which gave it its red colour, coupled with the erroneous notion that the blood"
"by spirits which the holes would allow to escape. However, more recent research on the historical practice of trepanning supports the hypothesis that this procedure was medical in nature and intended as means of treating cranial trauma. The Greeks appeared to share something of today's secular and holistic view, believing that afflictions of the mind did not differ from diseases of the body. Moreover, they saw mental and physical illness as a result of natural causes and an imbalance in bodily humors. Hippocrates frequently wrote that an excess of black bile resulted in irrational thinking and behavior. Romans made other"
"the body and what effects it made on the body. System consisted of arteries, veins, and vasculature verified through experiment and microscope by Marcello Malpighi's observations of capillaries in animal lung tissue. Albrecht von Haller, as did Borelli, postulated that friction from the blood on vessel walls lead to body heat and even fever. A hydraulic model for motion by René Descartes implied the body had a system that maintained flow between the brain and muscles in equilibrium state through nerves and blood vessels. Starting in the 17th century, quantitative fields such as physics and mathematics began gaining legitimacy as"
"procedure"" and ""On the uses of the parts of the body of man"". The information in these tracts became the foundation of authority for all medical writers and physicians for the next 1300 years until they were challenged by Vesalius and Harvey in the 16th century. It was through his experiments that Galen was able to overturn many long-held beliefs, such as the theory that the arteries contained air which carried it to all parts of the body from the heart and the lungs. This belief was based originally on the arteries of dead animals, which appeared to be empty."
"fever and the development of pus. The Ancient Greeks adopted and expanded the idea, applying their belief in the four humours. In the 19th century, studies in biochemistry and microbiology seemed to support the autointoxication hypothesis, and mainstream physicians promoted the idea. Daly notes that, historically, ""purging was one of the few procedures that a physician could perform with visible, often impressive results and without immediate or obvious dangers"". Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845-1916) became the strongest supporter of the idea of colon cleansing; he thought that toxins could shorten the lifespan. Over time, the concept broadened to ""auto-intoxication"", which supposes"
"the seat of Mind in some physiological theories of ancient medicine, and the brain. The disciples of Hippocrates explained the maintenance of vital heat to be the function of the breath within the organism. Around 300 BC, Praxagoras discovered the distinction between the arteries and the veins. In the corpse arteries are empty; hence, in the light of these preconceptions they were declared to be vessels for conveying ""pneuma"" to the different parts of the body. A generation afterwards, Erasistratus made this the basis of a new theory of diseases and their treatment. The ""pneuma"", inhaled from the outside air,"
"Miasma theory The miasma theory (also called the miasmatic theory) is an obsolete medical theory that held that diseases—such as cholera, chlamydia, or the Black Death—were caused by a ""miasma"" (μίασμα, ancient Greek: ""pollution""), a noxious form of ""bad air"", also known as night air. The theory held that the origin of epidemics was due to a miasma, emanating from rotting organic matter. Though miasma theory is typically associated with the spread of disease, some academics in the early nineteenth century suggested that the theory extended to other conditions as well, e.g. one could become obese by inhaling the odor"
"Miasma theory The miasma theory (also called the miasmatic theory) is an obsolete medical theory that held that diseases—such as cholera, chlamydia, or the Black Death—were caused by a ""miasma"" (μίασμα, ancient Greek: ""pollution""), a noxious form of ""bad air"", also known as night air. The theory held that the origin of epidemics was due to a miasma, emanating from rotting organic matter. Though miasma theory is typically associated with the spread of disease, some academics in the early nineteenth century suggested that the theory extended to other conditions as well, e.g. one could become obese by inhaling the odor"
"Complexion Complexion in humans is the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially on the face. The word ""complexion"" is derived from the Late Latin ""complexi"", which initially referred in general terms to a combination of things, and later in physiological terms, to the balance of humors. The four humours were four fluids that were thought to permeate the body and influence its health. The concept was developed by ancient Greek thinkers around 400 BC and developed further by Galen. People were thought to be either of the four temperaments: choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, or sanguine. During the Middle"
"in combustion reactions, is also needed for human breathing. Despite this, Boyle's works on the mechanical origin of qualities were generally rather remote from Helmontian chemistry; however, Boyle's philosophy and Helmontian iatrochemistry were not mutually exclusive. Like van Helmont, Boyle claimed that spirit of human blood, like other ingredients obtained by the chemical analysis of blood, was no simple substance. Iatrochemistry was a new practice in the 17th century, a time when traditional medicines were based on a legacy from the 4th and 5th centuries B.C. Much of this tradition was derived from Galen and Avicenna. The iatrochemists rejected the"
"medical foundation comes from a collection of writings known today as the Hippocratic Corpus. Remnants of the Hippocratic Corpus survive in modern medicine in forms like the “Hippocratic Oath” as in to “Do No Harm.” The Hippocratic Corpus, popularly attributed to an ancient Greek medical practitioner known as Hippocrates, lays out the basic approach to health care. Greek philosophers viewed the human body as a system that reflects the workings of nature and Hippocrates applied this belief to medicine. The body, as a reflection of natural forces, contained four elemental properties expressed to the Greeks as the four humors. The"