Editing Hippocrates (section)

==Direct contributions to medicine==
[[Image:ClubbingFingers1.jpg|thumb|Clubbing of fingers in a patient with [[Eisenmenger's syndrome]]; first described by Hippocrates, clubbing is also known as "Hippocratic fingers".]]
[[Image:GreekReduction.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|A [[woodcut]] of the reduction of a [[joint dislocation|dislocated]] shoulder with a Hippocratic device]]

Hippocrates and his followers were the first to describe many diseases and medical conditions.<ref>{{harvnb|Starr|2017}}</ref> He is given credit for the first description of [[Nail clubbing|clubbing]] of the fingers, an important diagnostic sign in chronic lung disease, [[lung cancer]] and [[Cyanotic heart defect|cyanotic heart disease]]. For this reason, clubbed fingers are sometimes referred to as "Hippocratic fingers".<ref name="schwartz">{{Harvnb|Schwartz|Richards|Goyal|2006}}</ref> Hippocrates was also the first physician to describe [[Hippocratic face]] in ''Prognosis''. [[Shakespeare]] famously alludes to this description when writing of [[Falstaff]]'s death in Act II, Scene iii. of ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]''.<ref name="sing40">{{Harvnb|Singer|Underwood|1962|p=40}}</ref><ref name="margotta70">{{Harvnb|Margotta|1968|p=70}}</ref>

Hippocrates began to categorize illnesses as [[Acute (medicine)|acute]], [[Chronic (medicine)|chronic]], [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] and [[epidemic]], and use terms such as, "exacerbation, [[relapse]], resolution, crisis, [[paroxysm]], peak, and [[convalescence]]."<ref name="garrison97"/><ref name="mart90">{{Harvnb|Martí-Ibáñez|1961|p=90}}</ref> Another of Hippocrates's major contributions may be found in his descriptions of the symptomatology, physical findings, surgical treatment and prognosis of [[Empyema|thoracic empyema]], i.e. [[suppuration]] of the lining of the chest cavity. His teachings remain relevant to present-day students of [[Pulmonology|pulmonary medicine]] and surgery.<ref name="major">{{Harvnb|Major|1965}}</ref> Hippocrates was the first documented [[Cardiothoracic Surgery|chest surgeon]] and his findings and techniques, while crude, such as the use of lead pipes to drain chest wall abscess, are still valid.<ref name="major" />

The Hippocratic school of medicine described well the ailments of the human [[rectum]] and the treatment thereof, despite the school's poor theory of medicine. [[Hemorrhoids]], for instance, though believed to be caused by an excess of bile and phlegm, were treated by Hippocratic physicians in relatively advanced ways.<ref name="johann11">{{Harvnb|Jóhannsson|2005|p=11}}</ref><ref name="jani">{{Harvnb|Jani|2005|pp=24–25}}</ref> [[Cautery]] and [[surgery|excision]] are described in the Hippocratic Corpus, in addition to the preferred methods: [[Ligature (medicine)|ligating]] the hemorrhoids and drying them with a hot iron. Other treatments such as applying various salves are suggested as well.<ref name="johann12">{{Harvnb|Jóhannsson|2005|p=12}}</ref><ref name="book">{{Harvnb|Mann|2002|pp=1, 173}}</ref> Today, "treatment [for hemorrhoids] still includes burning, strangling, and excising."<ref name="johann11"/> Also, some of the fundamental concepts of [[proctoscopy]] outlined in the Corpus are still in use.<ref name="johann11"/><ref name="jani"/> For example, the uses of the rectal [[speculum (medical)|speculum]], a common medical device, are discussed in the Hippocratic Corpus.<ref name="jani"/> This constitutes the earliest recorded reference to [[endoscopy]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Shah|2002|p=645}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|NCEPOD|2004|p=4}}</ref> Hippocrates often used lifestyle modifications such as [[Diet (nutrition)|diet]] and [[exercise]] to treat diseases such as [[diabetes]], what is today called [[lifestyle medicine]].

Hippocrates helped establish several areas that would become specialized, contributing to them with his studies, those including surgery, [[urology]], [[neurology]], [[acute medicine]] and [[Orthopedic surgery|orthopedics]]. In neurology, he analyzed conditions such as [[Hemiparesis|hemiplegia]], [[paraplegia]], [[apoplexy]], and [[epilepsy]], the latter of which his studies contributed to the diminishing of its origin as a divine, and rather a common brain disorder. He laid the foundation of surgery with his studies, as his works described differing surgical techniques of general surgery, urology, orthopedics, and [[neurosurgery]]. He also used antiseptic techniques such as cleaning the surgical field with boiled water, salt, seawater, and natural perfumes. He also noted that a surgeon should have an organized medical bag of instruments. In urology, in studied urine in relation to acute and chronic diseases, and noted that stone formation is due to the quality of drinking water and to inflammation of the bladder neck, which is still true in modern urology.<ref name=":0" />

Two popular but likely misquoted attributions to Hippocrates are "Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food" and "Walking is man's best medicine".<ref>{{harvnb|Chishti|1988|p=11}}</ref> Both appear to be misquotations, and their exact origins remain unknown.<ref>{{harvnb|Cardenas|2013}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|King|2020|pp=105–110}}</ref>

In 2017, researchers claimed that, while conducting restorations on the [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]] in [[South Sinai]], they found a manuscript which contains a medical recipe of Hippocrates. The manuscript also contains three recipes with pictures of herbs that were created by an anonymous scribe.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibbens|2017}}</ref>