Hippocrates: Ancient Greek Medicine

Hippocrates
Born: c.460 BC at Kos, Ancient Greece
Died: c.370 BC at Larissa, Ancient Greece
Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician who was born around 460 BC on Cos, an Aegean island. Many consider him to be the “father of medicine” because he transformed the path of Greek medicine. He believed that diseases were caused by some type of natural action instead of being caused by the spirits or gods.
His Early Life: Hippocrates was the son of Praxithea and Heracleides. His family’s wealth allowed him to receive a very good education when he was child. After studying nine years of reading, spelling, writing, physical education, poetry, singing, and music, he attended two years of secondary school. Hippocrates likely studied medicine under
The outstanding individual brought a new form into the field of ancient Greek medicine. Hippocrates ' most relevant and historical contribution is the Hippocratic School of medicine. This school changed the traditional means and modes of medicine in Greece. His tremendous achievements and efforts in systematic study of clinical medicine made him a great historical figure. Hippocrates is an exemplary name in the list of ancient physicians. The very commonly known 'Hippocratic Oath ' has been derived from and credited to the first physician of human history - Hippocrates. Other achievements and noteworthy feats of the great physician include 'The Hippocratic Corpus ' which is a collection of ancient Greek medical works strongly related and associated with Hippocrates and his teachings. Hippocrates was revered for being the first individual ever to have mixed philosophy with medicine. The gentle, meditative and prognosis ways of medicinal treatments were founded by Hippocrates making him much loved and criticised by common men and individuals of other fields of treatment
Hippocratic medicine is known for its very professional approach. Hippocrates had written in his ‘On the Physician’ that physicians should follow certain norms like honesty, calmness, seriousness, thorough understanding and well-kempt appearances. A Hippocratic physician was always found to follow and maintain right techniques in bandaging, lighting, proper usage of instruments, positioning a patient properly and several other specifications.

Hippocrates mentioned and described clubbing of fingers as a very significant diagnostic sign of chronic suppurative lung disease, lung cancer and cyanotic heart disease. ‘Clubbed Fingers’ are symptoms widely and commonly known as ‘Hippocratic fingers’.

Other diseases described (and successfully treated on prognosis) by Hippocrates are suppuration or formation of pus in the lining of the chest cavity, rectal ailments and Hemorrhoids. The Hippocratic School of medicine treated illnesses by categorizing them as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. Hippocrates had used the terms exacerbation, relapse, resolution, crisis, paroxysm, peak, and convalescence to categorize illnesses in his own terms. Hemorrhoids was treated by Hippocratic physicians in advanced ways if