Editing Hippocrates (section)

==Hippocratic theory==
{{rquote|right|It is thus with regard to [[epilepsy|the disease called Sacred]]: it appears to me to be nowise more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but has a natural cause from the originates like other affections. Men regard its nature and cause as divine from ignorance and wonder...|Hippocrates, ''[[On the Sacred Disease]]'' (epilepsy)}}

Hippocrates is credited as the first person to believe that diseases were caused naturally, not because of superstition and gods.<ref name="philosophy">{{Harvnb|Adams|1891|p=4}}</ref><ref name="jones11"/><ref name="nuland8"/><ref name="garrison9394"/> He was acknowledged by the disciples of [[Pythagoras]] for allying philosophy and medicine.<ref name="philosophy"/> He separated the discipline of medicine from religion, believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the [[Greek gods|gods]] but rather the product of [[environmental factors]], diet, and living habits. There is not a single mention of a mystical illness in the entirety of the Hippocratic Corpus. However, Hippocrates did hold many convictions that were based on  incorrect [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]], such as [[Humorism]].<ref name="jones11">{{Harvnb|Jones|1868|p=11}}</ref><ref name="nuland8">{{Harvnb|Nuland|1988|pp=8–9}}</ref><ref name="garrison9394">{{Harvnb|Garrison|1966|pp=93–94}}</ref>

Ancient Greek schools of medicine were split into the [[Knidos|Knidian]] and [[Kos|Koan]] on how to deal with disease. The Knidian school of medicine focused on diagnosis.  Medicine at the time of Hippocrates knew almost nothing of human anatomy and physiology because of the Greek [[taboo]] forbidding the dissection of humans. The Knidian school consequently failed to distinguish when one disease caused many possible series of symptoms.<ref name="adams15">{{Harvnb|Adams|1891|p=15}}</ref> The Hippocratic school or Koan school achieved greater success by applying general [[medical diagnosis|diagnoses]] and passive treatments. Its focus was on patient care and [[prognosis]], not diagnosis. It could effectively treat diseases and allowed for a great development in clinical practice.<ref name="margotta67">{{Harvnb|Margotta|1968|p=67}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Leff|Leff|1956|p=51}}</ref>

Hippocratic medicine and its philosophy are far removed from modern medicine, in which the physician focuses on specific diagnosis and specialized treatment, both of which were espoused by the Knidian school. This shift in medical thought since Hippocrates's day has generated serious criticism of their denunciations;<!--It seems to me that something is missing here. Hippocrates used methods that succeeded at his time, when medical knowledge was insufficiently advanced to allow for diagnoses or specialized treatments; at that time, attending to the general wellness of the patient was often the best way to allow their own immune system to fight off a disease. I'm almost certain I've seen this opinion in writing somewhere, and if it can be found it should be included.--> for example, the [[French people|French]] doctor M. S. Houdart called the Hippocratic treatment a "meditation upon death".<ref name="jones1213">{{Harvnb|Jones|1868|pp=12–13}}</ref>
{{rquote|right|If you want to learn about the health of a population, look at the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the places where they live.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/topics/environment-health | title=Environment & Health - Kids Environment Kids Health |publisher=National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/geoscience-topics/environmental-health/Pages/default.aspx | title= Environmental Health |publisher=Geological Survey Ireland}}</ref>|Hippocrates, 5th century BC}}

Analogies have been drawn between Thucydides' historical method and the Hippocratic method, in particular the notion of "human nature" as a way of explaining foreseeable repetitions for future usefulness, for other times or for other cases.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/34779296|title=L'influence de la médecine hippocratique sur la Guerre du Péloponnèse de Thucydide |first=Marie |last=Durnerin|website=www.academia.edu|language=fr|access-date=2019-04-18}}</ref>{{bsn|reason=inaccessible, [[WP:V|unverifiable]]|date=November 2024}}

===Crisis===
[[Image:Kos Asklepeion.jpg|thumb|[[Asklepieion]] on [[Kos]]]]
An important concept in Hippocratic medicine was that of a ''crisis'', a point in the progression of disease at which either the illness would begin to triumph and the patient would succumb to death, or the opposite would occur and natural processes would make the patient recover. After a crisis, a relapse might follow, and then another deciding crisis. According to this doctrine, crises tend to occur on ''critical days'', which were supposed to be a fixed time after the contraction of a disease. If a crisis occurred on a day far from a ''critical day'', a relapse might be expected. Galen believed that this idea originated with Hippocrates, though it is possible that it predated him.<ref name="jones464859">{{Harvnb|Jones|1868|pp=46,48,59}}</ref>

[[Image:HippocraticBench.png|thumb|Illustration of a [[Hippocratic bench]], date unknown]]

Hippocratic medicine was humble and passive. The therapeutic approach was based on "the healing power of nature" ({{langx|la|[[vis medicatrix naturae]]}}). According to this doctrine, the body contains within itself the power to re-balance the [[four humours]] and heal itself ({{lang|grc-Latn|physis}}).<ref name="garrison99">{{Harvnb|Garrison|1966|p=99}}</ref> Hippocratic therapy focused on simply easing this natural process. To this end, Hippocrates believed "rest and immobilization [were] of capital importance".<ref name="margotta73">{{Harvnb|Margotta|1968|p=73}}</ref> In general, the Hippocratic medicine was very kind to the patient; treatment was gentle, and emphasized keeping the patient clean and sterile. For example, only clean water or wine were ever used on wounds, though "dry" treatment was preferable. Soothing [[Liniment|balms]] were sometimes employed.<ref name="garrison98">{{Harvnb|Garrison|1966|p=98}}</ref>

Hippocrates was reluctant to administer drugs and engage in specialized treatment that might prove to be wrongly chosen; generalized therapy followed a generalized diagnosis.<ref name="garrison98"/><ref name="sing35">{{Harvnb|Singer|Underwood|1962|p=35}}</ref> Some of the generalized treatments he prescribed are fasting and the consumption of a mix of honey and vinegar. Hippocrates once said that "to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness". However, potent drugs were used on certain occasions.<ref name="britannica">{{Harvnb|Tuke|1911}}</ref> This passive approach was very successful in treating relatively simple ailments such as broken bones, which required [[Traction (orthopedics)|traction]] to stretch the skeletal system and relieve pressure on the injured area. The [[Hippocratic bench]] and other devices were used to this end.<ref>{{cite book
| last1 = Kazantzidis
| first1 = George
| last2 = Gerolemou
| first2 = Maria
| editor-last = Kazantzidis
| editor-first = George
| editor2-last = Gerolemou
| editor2-first = Maria
| title = Body and Machine in Classical Antiquity
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| year = 2023
| isbn = 9781316514665
| page = 120
| format = hardcover|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvnAEAAAQBAJ&dq=hippocratic+bench&pg=PA120}}</ref>

In Hippocrates's time it was thought that [[fever]] was a disease in and of itself.<ref name="LaFrance">{{cite magazine |last1=LaFrance |first1=Adrienne |title=A Cultural History of the Fever |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/running-hot-a-cultural-history-of-the-fever/405643/ |access-date=2 March 2023 |magazine=The Atlantic |date=16 September 2015}}</ref> Hippocrates treated patients with fever by [[Starvation|starving]] them out,<ref name="Currie">{{cite book |last1=Currie |first1=Margaret |title=Fever hospitals and fever nurses: a British social history of fever nursing: a national service |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1134265268 |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkbgnoSEexsC&q=starve%20a%20fever |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> believing that 'starving' the fever was a way to neutralize the disease.<ref name="Paulian">{{cite book |last1=Paulian |first1=Gunther B. |title=Divine Prescription: and science of health and healing |date=2017 |publisher=Teach Services |location=<!-- not identified --> |isbn=978-1479608294 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hj0yDwAAQBAJ&dq=hippocrates+starve+a+disease&pg=PT166 |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> He may therefore have been the originator of the idea "[[Feed a cold, starve a fever]]".<ref name="Horne">{{cite book |last1=Horne |first1=Steven |title=Strategies For Health A Comprehensive Guide to Healing Yourself Naturally |date=2022 |publisher=Fulton Books |location=La Vergne |isbn=978-1637102541 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xypaEAAAQBAJ&dq=hippocrates+starve+a+fever&pg=PT184 |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>

One of the strengths of Hippocratic medicine was its emphasis on [[prognosis]]. At Hippocrates's time, medicinal therapy was quite immature, and often the best thing that physicians could do was to evaluate an illness and predict its likely progression based upon data collected in detailed case histories.<ref name="garrison9394"/><ref name="garrison97">{{Harvnb|Garrison|1966|p=97}}</ref>

===Professionalism===
[[Image:Ancientgreek surgical.jpg|thumb|A number of ancient Greek surgical tools. On the left is a [[trephine]]; on the right, a set of [[scalpel]]s. Hippocratic medicine made good use of these tools.<ref name="adams17">{{Harvnb|Adams|1891|p=17}}</ref>]]

Hippocratic medicine was notable for its strict professionalism, discipline, and rigorous practice.<ref name="garrison">{{Harvnb|Garrison|1966}}</ref> The Hippocratic work ''On the Physician'' recommends that physicians always be well-kempt, honest, calm, understanding, and serious. The Hippocratic physician paid careful attention to all aspects of his practice: he followed detailed specifications for "lighting, personnel, instruments, positioning of the patient, and techniques of bandaging and splinting" in the ancient [[operating room]].<ref name="margotta64">{{Harvnb|Margotta|1968|p=64}}</ref> He even kept his [[fingernail]]s to a precise length.<ref name="rutkow24">{{Harvnb|Rutkow|1993|pp=24–25}}</ref>

The Hippocratic school gave importance to the clinical doctrines of observation and documentation. These doctrines dictate that physicians record their findings and their medicinal methods in a very clear and objective manner, so that these records may be passed down and employed by other physicians.<ref name="margotta66"/> Hippocrates made careful, regular note of many symptoms including complexion, pulse, fever, pains, movement, and excretions.<ref name="garrison97"/> He is said to have measured a patient's pulse when taking a case history to discover whether the patient was lying.<ref name="marti88">{{Harvnb|Martí-Ibáñez|1961|p=88}}</ref> Hippocrates extended clinical observations into family history and environment.<ref name="margotta68">{{Harvnb|Margotta|1968|p=68}}</ref> "To him medicine owes the art of clinical inspection and observation."<ref name="garrison9394"/>