Title : Revisiting the Medicine of Hippocrates
Abstract:
The recognition of Hippocrates as the “Father of Medicine” is the result on his impact on medicine over two thousand five hundred years and even as we know it today. Although some healthcare professionals are aware that Hippocrates hypothesised the theory of humours and the importance of recognizing the body’s self-healing ability, known as vis medicatrix naturae, it needs to be noted that Hippocrates also conceptualised the importance of the uniqueness of an individual, in relation to the environment, in the maintenance of health and treatment. More significantly Hippocrates is known for transforming the practice of medicine which included superstition and magic, to a scientific system based on the principle of cause and effect, with professionalism and medical ethics, which is recognised even today, with the Hippocratic oath being committed to by qualifying doctors. This presentation includes the contribution of physicians and philosophers up to the 13th century including Galen, Ibn Sina etc. who elaborated on the uniqueness of an individual, known as temperament as well as the relationship between the individual and the environment described as essential/lifestyle factors encompassed within the philosophical principles of the medicine of Hippocrates including physis (vis medicatrix naturae), humours, temperament, essential/lifestyle factors within the context of aetiology, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment. The presentation concludes with the Institute’s contribution to the medicine of Hippocrates in researching and validating the temperamental and humoral theories as well as highlighting the relationship between physis, temperament, humours and essential/lifestyle factors.
