Greek Medicine Flashcards
Who treated illness in Greek times?
Natural - Doctors treated illness.
Supernatural - Priests of Asclepius.
How was illness treated in the Greek period?
Mainly natural - Used clinical observation (observation, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment). Hippocrates developed the theory of the four humours so people tried to rebalance their humours.
Some supernatural - People visited temples of Asclepius, they were ‘visited’ by Asclepius and his daughters Hygeia and Panacea, some people were cured (the placebo effect/temples were quiet and had baths & gyms).
What did the Greeks think caused illness?
Imbalance of the four humours - Black bile, Blood, Yellow bile, Phlegm. When these are in balance people are healthy, when you have too much of one you become unhealthy.
What surgery could the Greeks do?
Mainly external surgery but they could successfully drain the lungs (re-balancing the excess phlegm). They had steel instruments which were more accurate.
Could the Greeks control pain, bleeding and infection?
Pain - Used wine.
Bleeding - Could not control bleeding.
Infection - Used wine as an antiseptic.
What anatomical knowledge did the Greeks have?
Some Greek doctors were able to increase their anatomical knowledge through studying at Alexandria as dissection was legal there (vivisection was legal for a time too). Erasistratus created the theory that the heart was a pump.
What factors affected Medicine in the Greek period?
Religion - People began to believe in the Gods less and look for more natural ideas which led to theories like the Theory of the 4 humours.
Individuals - Hippocrates created the first widely accepted natural theory, the Hippocratic Oath and wrote the Hippocratic Collection.
Government - There was a loose government on different islands so the Greeks had freedom to create new ideas.
What was Public Health like in the Greek period?
The Greeks followed a programme for health - Doctors recommended healthy diets and exercise.
The Greeks believed in ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ and took part in Olympics so were generally healthy.
