Week 2: Arrival of Rational Medicine Flashcards
Who were the natural philosophers?
Look for natural explanations for phenomena using reason, assuming humans were made of the same material as nature.
a) Thales of Miletus
b) Anaximander of Miletus
c) Anaximenes of Miletus
d) Empedocles
Description of Thales of Miletus idea
Water is the principle of all things
Description of Anaximander of Miletus Idea
Mind arranges the world into an orderly cosmos
Description of Anaximenes of Miletus idea
Air is arché (the principle of all things)
Description of Empedocles’ ideas
World built up from 4 stable elements brought by love and torn apart by strife
a) Different proportions explain differences between substances (eye)
b) The four elements are simple, eternal, and unalterable
What made Miletus and other Ionian city-states so special in Ancient Greece?
Cosmopolitan centers hosting many languages, religions, ethnicities, and cultures
What is the consequence of encouraging a tolerant. secular spirit?
Scientific inquiry
a) Abandoning long-held assumptions
b) Asking questions about the natural world
What happened in the early 5th century? (2)
a) Expanding powers of Persia (East) and Carthage (West) encouraged many intellectuals to move toward Greece
b) Athens had just established democracy and was growing in terms of power and wealth
What caused the uprisal of scientific inquiry in Greece?
Democracy
Greek Medical Literature
a) Hippocratic Corpus
b) Anatomical studies of Herophilos and Erasistratos
c) Manuals of Rufus of Ephesus and Aretaios
d) Gynaecology of Aspasia
e) Soranus work
f) Corpus of Galen
Hippocratic Corpus
a) Collection of 76 studies from the 5th and 4th century compiled in Alexandria into a single corpus
b) It is not the work of a single man
Anatomical studies of Herophilos and Erasistratos
Went to Egypt and dissected bodies from momification
When did the creative period of Greek medicine end? How long did it dominate medical science?
a) Corpus of Galen
b) 1700 years
Modern health discoveries
A) Microscope/Vaccine|Discovery of bacteria/virus by Pasteur
B) Antibiotics|Alexander Fleming
C) Anesthetics (Chloroform / Morfine)
What travels faster: scientific advancements or ideology/culture?
Scientific development
a) Acquisition of Chinese inventions (gunpowder/silk) by Chinese
b) Usage of glass from the Phoenicians without knowing about it
c) Usage of MS and Apple devices by countries hostile to American ideology
What knowledge is certain that the Greeks borrowed from the Egyptians?
Pharmacology
To what extent did Greek medicine had contact with Ancient Indian / Chinese medicine?
Present similarities with ancient Greek medicine (theory of the elements), but it is difficult to determine whether because of direct influence or parallel developments.
Ayurvedic Medicine
a) Elements: Fire/Water/Earth/Air/Ether
b) Doshas (Life forces): Pitta / Kapha / Vata
Chinese Medicine
a) Elements: Fire/Earth/Metal/Water/Wood
b) Acupuncture / Tai Chi / Herbal Products
Four Humours
a) Blood
b) Yellow bile
c) Black bile
d) Phlegm
Blood
a) Season
b) Element
c) Organ
d) Qualities
e) Temperament
a) Spring
b) Air
c) Liver
d) Warm/Wet
e) Sanguine
Yellow bile
a) Season
b) Element
c) Organ
d) Qualities
e) Temperament
a) Summer
b) Fire
c) Gallbladder
d) Warm/Dry
e) Choleric
Black bile
a) Season
b) Element
c) Organ
d) Qualities
e) Temperament
a) Autumn
b) Earth
c) Spleen
d) Dry / Cold
e) Melancholic
Phlegm
a) Season
b) Element
c) Organ
d) Qualities
e) Temperament
a) Winter
b) Water
c) Brain/Lungs
d) Wet / Cold
e) Phlegmatic
Impact of humors in personality
a) BB + YB
b) BB + Blood
c) Blood + Phlegm
d) BB + Phlegm
a) Emotionally unstable
b) Extroverted
c) Emotionally stable
d) Introverted
When is the body healthy according to the Theory of the 4 humours?
When in balance and evenly mixed in the body
How do you address disease based on the Theory of the 4 humours? (3)
When there is excess of a humor, the body is diseased, so the imbalance should be addressed
a) Surgical means (e.g. Bloodletting)
b) Adjustments in diet
c) Medications / Exercise
What is the difference between Egyptian/Indian/Chinese medicine and Greek Medicine?
Greek medicine was rational
What was the attitude of the Greek physician towards prayers, incantations, or meditation?
a) Not banned and used by desperate patients
b) Not considered necessary (i.e. optional) for medical treatment
Did the Greek physician need the gods to heal a patient?
No, but the patient was free to enlist their help
What was the role the ancient physician in healing the sick?
To assist physis (nature) in fighting the disease and not doing harm to the patient
How did the doctor gain knowledge to assist nature in her work?
Rational / Natural means
a) Apprenticeship
b) Animal observations and experimentation
c) Analogy and comparisons between animal and human physiology
d) Logical extrapolation and rational argument
Was the dissection of human bodies allowed in Ancient Greece?
No
What is the view of the Hippocratic Corpus in the approach of theory and practice?
a) Neither would be self-sufficient without the other
b) Theoretical explanations and models work hand by hand with clinical practice and observation to advance knowledge
How did rational medicine come about in Greece?
There was no mighty social order defending its own power and inhibiting innovation, allowing the disccusion of nature and morality.
a) Direct democracies
b) Representative democracies
c) Dictators with no strong allegiance to a particular tradition or faith
How were the mysteries of the universe unfolded?
a) Investigation
b) Exchange of ideas
Topics discussed On the Sacred Disease
a) Against those who believed that epilepsy, mania, and a range of other diseases were caused by the gods and needed to be treated by religious means
b) Natural explanation for disease: Excess of bile and phlegm
Topics discussed On the Nature of Man
It emphasizes disease not being of divine origin, but rather an imbalance of the four humors
