What generation was Hippocrates in? Hippocrates: a brief biography and important discoveries made for mankind

What contribution to human development was made by Hippocrates, the ancient Greek philosopher and father of medicine, you will learn from this article.

Hippocrates: contribution to science

Hippocrates was the first healer in history who laid the foundations for a scientific approach to treating a person.

The main achievement of Hippocrates is the selection of human temperaments. He believed that behavior directly depends on the level of black bile, blood, mucus and bile in the body. He also introduced the term staging into medicine.

It is believed that Hippocrates was simply a brilliant, outstanding surgeon of the Ancient World. He used innovative methods to treat fistulas, fractures, wounds and dislocations. In addition, he owns the writing of the rules for how a surgeon should behave during an operation. Particular emphasis was placed on lighting, instrument placement and hand lighting. Thus, the father of medicine for the first time formulated ethical and moral standards for doctors. The doctor, according to his opinion, is simply obliged to be hardworking and responsible, inspire confidence and keep medical secrets.

Hippocrates contribution to biology and medicine

The most famous ancient work on medicine is the Hippocratic Corpus. Several healers had a hand in its creation at once, that is, it consists of 72 texts on various medical topics. The Hippocratic Corpus was compiled in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. Today, scientists have identified from it the works of Hippocrates in the medical industry - these are 4 works:

  • "Aphorisms";
  • "Epidemics";
  • "Prognostics";
  • "About air, waters, localities."

The first work consists of a collection of observations and advice, statements of a general philosophical nature, as well as medical reports. Perhaps the author borrowed and summarized information from other sources.

The work called "Prognostics" was the impetus for the emergence of diagnostics. Hippocrates' contribution to the science of man lies in the fact that he outlined the foundations of therapy in Ancient Greece. And he was also the first to describe the methods and sequence of examination of the patient, the specifics of monitoring him.

The father of medicine in the work "Epidemics" described how various ailments develop, focusing on their characteristic signs and methods of treatment. Hippocrates' contribution to the development of science, which is very important today, included 42 ailments in the treatise. Among them: colds, venereal and skin diseases, various kinds of paralysis, consumption.

In addition, the contribution of Hippocrates to medicine also lies in the fact that he was the first person in history who, in his treatise “On Air, Waters, and Places,” described how the environment affects human health and its predisposition to certain ailments. In his work, the healer laid out the doctrine of bodily juices - mucus, black bile, bile, blood. If any of them prevails in the body, then this causes a violation in its work.

Hippocrates is a historical figure. Mentions of the "great Asclepiad doctor" are found in the works of his contemporaries - Plato and Aristotle. Collected in the so-called. The Hippocratic Corpus of 60 medical treatises (of which modern researchers attribute from 8 to 18 to Hippocrates) had a significant impact on the development of medicine - both a science and a specialty.

The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and ethics of a doctor's behavior. The Hippocratic Oath contains the fundamental principles that a doctor should be guided by in his practice. Taking an oath (which has changed significantly over the centuries) upon receiving a medical diploma has become a tradition.

Origin and biography

Biographical information about Hippocrates is extremely scattered and contradictory. To date, there are several sources that describe the life and origin of Hippocrates. These include:

  • writings of the Roman physician Soranus of Ephesus, born more than 400 years after the death of Hippocrates
  • Byzantine Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Court of the 10th century
  • works of the Byzantine poet and grammarian of the 12th century, John Tsets.

Information about Hippocrates is also found in Plato, Aristotle and Galen.

According to legend, Hippocrates was a descendant of the ancient Greek god of medicine Asclepius on his father, and Hercules on his mother. John Zetz even gives a genealogical tree of Hippocrates:

  • Asclepius
  • Podalirium
  • Hippo
  • Sostratus
  • Dardan
  • Chrysamis
  • Cleomittad
  • Theodore
  • Sostratus II
  • Theodore II
  • Sostratus III
  • Gnosidik
  • Hippocrates I
  • Heraclid
  • Hippocrates II "father of medicine"

Although this information is hardly reliable, it indicates that Hippocrates belonged to the Asclepiad family. The Asklepiades were a dynasty of physicians who claimed descent from the god of medicine himself.

Hippocrates was born around 460 BC. e. on the island of Kos in the eastern Aegean.

From the works of Soranus of Ephesus, one can judge the family of Hippocrates. According to his writings, Hippocrates' father was the doctor Heraclid, and his mother was the midwife Fenaret. Hippocrates had two sons, Thesalles and Draco, and also a daughter, whose husband Polyb, according to the ancient Roman physician Galen, became his successor. Each of the sons named their child in honor of the famous grandfather Hippocrates.

In his writings, Soranus of Ephesus writes that initially Hippocrates' medicine was taught in the asclepion of Kos by his father Heraclid and grandfather Hippocrates, hereditary Asclepiad doctors. He was also trained by the famous philosopher Democritus and the sophist Gorgias. For the purpose of scientific improvement, Hippocrates also traveled a lot and studied medicine in different countries from the practice of local doctors and from the tables that were hung on the walls of the temples of Asclepius. Mentions of the legendary doctor from contemporaries are found in Plato's dialogues "Protagoras" and "Phaedrus", as well as in Aristotle's "Politics".

Hippocrates devoted his entire life to medicine. Among the places where he treated people are Thessaly, Thrace, Macedonia, as well as the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Marmara. He died at an advanced age (according to various sources, from 83 to 104 years) in the city of Larisa, where a monument was erected to him.

Hippocratic Corpus

The name of the famous physician Hippocrates, who laid the foundations of medicine as a science, is associated with a diverse collection of medical treatises known as the Hippocratic Corpus. The vast majority of the writings of the Corpus were composed between 430 and 330 BC. e. They were collected in Hellenistic times, in the middle of the 3rd century BC. e. in Alexandria.

Even in ancient times, commentators of this collection (in particular, Galen) noted the heterogeneity of style and the inconsistency of the content of the Hippocratic Corpus. Some suggested that Hippocrates lived for a very long time and, therefore, wrote some works at a young age, and others at an old age. Others believed that there were as many as seven people, members of the Hippocratic family, whose works were also included in the Hippocratic corpus (among them the sons of Thesallus and Draco, son-in-law Polybus).

Of these, researchers recognize from 8 to 18 works as belonging directly to Hippocrates. According to Trokhachev, there are many disagreements among medical historians and researchers of the Hippocratic Corpus about the belonging of this or that work directly to Hippocrates. Trokhachev analyzed the work of four specialists - E. Littre, K. Deichgreber, M. Polenz and V. Nestle. The letters L, D, P, and N, respectively, mark treatises that these authors consider "truly hippocratic."

The Hippocratic Corpus consists of the following works:

1. Oath (L)
2. Law (L)
3. About the doctor
4. About decency
5. Instruction

6. About art
7. About ancient medicine (L)

8. About anatomy
9. About the heart
10. About meat
11. About glands
12. On the nature of bones
13. On the nature of man (D)
14. About the seed
15. About the nature of the child
16. About diseases. Book. 4
17. About food
18. About juices (D)
19. About the winds
20. About crises
21. About critical days
22. About septenaries
23. About air, waters and localities (L, D, P, N)

24. About diet (N)
25. About diet, or about dreams

26. Prognostics (L, D, P, N) (other Greek ????????????, Russian analogue - Forecasting)
27. Kos forecasts
28. Predictions

29. Epidemics (L, D, P, N)
30. About diet in acute diseases. Book. 1 (L)
31. About the diet in acute diseases. Book. 2
32. About suffering
33. About diseases. Book. 1-3
34. About inner sufferings
35. About the sacred disease (Y, P, N)
36. About places in a person
37. About the use of liquids

38. About the doctor's office
39. About fractures (L, D, P, N)
40. About the reduction of the joints (L, D, P, N)
41. Lever Book (L, D, N)
42. About head wounds (L)
43. About wounds and ulcers
44. About hemorrhoids
45. About fistulas

46. ​​About vision

47. About the diseases of girls
48. About the nature of a woman
49. About women's diseases
50. About infertility
51. About superfertilization
52. About a seven-month-old fetus
53. About an eight-month-old fetus
54. About Embryotomy

55. Teething

56. Aphorisms (L, N)

57. Letters
58. Decree of the Athenians
59. Speech at the altar
60. Speech of Thesalles about the embassy to the Athenians

Doctrine

It should be noted that the teaching of the Hippocratic corpus in literature is inseparable from the name of Hippocrates. At the same time, it is certain that not all, but only some of the treatises of the Corpus belong directly to Hippocrates. Due to the impossibility of isolating the direct contribution of the "father of medicine" and the contradictions of researchers about the authorship of this or that treatise, in most modern medical literature, the entire legacy of the Corpus is attributed to Hippocrates.

Hippocrates is one of the first who taught that diseases arise due to natural causes, rejecting the existing superstitions about the intervention of the gods. He singled out medicine as a separate science, separating it from religion, for which he went down in history as the "father of medicine." In the works of the Corpus there are some of the first prototypes of "case histories" - descriptions of the course of diseases.

The teaching of Hippocrates was that the disease is not a punishment of the gods, but a consequence of natural factors, malnutrition, habits and the nature of human life. In the collection of Hippocrates there is not a single mention of a mystical character in the origin of diseases. At the same time, the teachings of Hippocrates in many cases were based on incorrect premises, erroneous anatomical and physiological data, and the doctrine of vital juices.

In ancient Greece, during the time of Hippocrates, there was a ban on opening the human body. In this regard, doctors had a very superficial knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. Also at that time there were two competing medical schools - Kos and Knidos. The Knidos school focused its attention on isolating one symptom or another, depending on which the treatment was prescribed. The Kos school, to which Hippocrates belonged, tried to find the cause of the disease. The treatment consisted in observing the patient, creating such a regime in which the body itself would cope with the disease. Hence one of the fundamental principles of the Do No Harm doctrine.

Temperaments

Medicine owes Hippocrates the emergence of the doctrine of human temperament. According to his teachings, the general behavior of a person depends on the ratio of the four juices (liquids) circulating in the body - blood, bile, black bile and mucus (phlegm, lymph).

  • The predominance of bile (Greek ????, chole, "bile, poison") makes a person impulsive, "hot" - choleric.
  • The predominance of mucus (Greek ??????, phlegm, “phlegm”) makes a person calm and slow - a phlegmatic person.
  • The predominance of blood (lat. sanguis, sanguis, sangua, “blood”) makes a person mobile and cheerful - a sanguine person.
  • The predominance of black bile (Greek ??????? ????, melana chole, "black bile") makes a person sad and fearful - a melancholic.

In the works of Hippocrates there are descriptions of the properties of sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and very fluent - melancholic. The selection of body types and mental make-up was of practical importance: the establishment of the type was associated with the diagnosis and choice of treatment methods for patients, since according to Hippocrates each type is predisposed to certain diseases.

The merit of Hippocrates lies in the allocation of the main types of temperament, in the fact that, according to I. P. Pavlov, he "caught the capital features in the mass of countless variants of human behavior."

The staging of the course of diseases

The merit of Hippocrates is also the definition of staging in the course of various diseases. Considering the disease as a developing phenomenon, he introduced the concept of the stage of the disease. The most dangerous moment, according to Hippocrates, was the "crisis". During a crisis, a person either died, or natural processes won, after which his condition improved. With various diseases, he singled out critical days - days from the onset of the disease, when the crisis was most likely and dangerous.

Examination of patients

The merit of Hippocrates is the description of the methods of examination of patients - auscultation and palpation. He studied in detail the nature of secretions (sputum, excrement, urine) in various diseases. When examining a patient, he already used such techniques as percussion, auscultation, palpation, of course, in the most primitive form.

Contribution to surgery

Hippocrates is also known as an outstanding surgeon of antiquity. His writings describe how to use dressings (simple, spiral, diamond-shaped, "Hippocratic cap", etc.), treat fractures and dislocations with traction and special devices ("Hippocratic bench"), treat wounds, fistulas, hemorrhoids, empyema.

In addition, Hippocrates described the rules for the position of the surgeon and his hands during the operation, placement of instruments, lighting during the operation.

Dietetics

Hippocrates laid out the principles of rational dietetics and pointed out the need to nourish the sick, even the febrile. To this end, he pointed out the necessary diets for various diseases.

Medical ethics and deontology

The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and ethics of a doctor's behavior. According to Hippocrates, diligence, a decent and tidy appearance, constant improvement in their profession, seriousness, sensitivity, the ability to win the patient's trust, the ability to keep a medical secret should be inherent in a doctor.

Hippocratic Oath

"Oath" (ancient Greek ?????, Latin Jusjurandum) is the first composition of the Hippocratic corpus. It contains several principles that a doctor must be guided by in his life and professional activities:

1. Commitment to teachers, colleagues and students

2. The principle of doing no harm

3. Denial of euthanasia and abortion

The doctors of the island of Kos, on which, according to legend, Asclepius lived, considered themselves to be of his family and were called Asklepiades. Among them was the great Greek physician Hippocrates, who was born on the island of Kos around 460 BC. There is very little reliable information about the life of Hippocrates, since his first biographies were written several centuries after his death and therefore bear the imprint of the legendary that surrounded his name.

The teachings of Hippocrates unite the medical concepts that had developed in Greece by the 4th century BC. BC. Here are the main provisions of the medical school he founded on the island of Kos:

Careful examination of the patient. Each organism has its own characteristics, it is not the disease that needs to be treated, but the patient. Great importance is attached to the healing forces of nature, the ability of a person to heal himself, who should be helped by a doctor.

The dependence of human health on the harmonious combination of four fluids in his body: blood, mucus, bile and black bile, as well as the amount of "innate warmth", which is supported by a special thin substance - pneumoma, constantly circulating in human vessels.

Diet, routine and gymnastics played an important role in disease prevention. Hippocrates is credited with the expression: “Just as clothiers clean cloth, knocking them out of dust, so gymnastics cleanses the body.”

The customs of the Greeks forbade the opening of the corpses of the dead, and the anatomical knowledge of doctors of the 5th-4th centuries. BC. were based on animal autopsies. As the best school for surgeons, Hippocrates recommended accompanying troops on military campaigns.

Barley decoction was often used to treat acute diseases, and water with honey, vinegar or wine was used as healing drinks. Periodic cleansing of the body with the help of emetics and laxatives was recommended. In accordance with the humoral theory, the cause of many diseases was an excess of blood in the human body, and therefore bloodletting was a common means of treating and preventing them. It was believed that the treatment of chronic diseases is very useful to combine with running, music and singing. A healthy lifestyle, moderation in everything - these are indispensable conditions for maintaining health. Famous expressions of Greek philosophers and doctors are known: “Everything in moderation”, “Nothing beyond measure”. Hippocrates wrote in Epidemics: "Work, food, sleep, love - everything should be moderate."

The first collection of writings of ancient Greek doctors, the Hippocratic Collection, was compiled many years after the death of Hippocrates, in the 3rd century BC. It is not known exactly what part of these works belongs to the disciples of Hippocrates, what part - to himself: according to the tradition of that time, doctors did not sign their writings. The works, which reflect the medical ideas of the Greeks, are united by the name of Hippocrates. According to ancient historians, "the books written by Hippocrates are known and valued by everyone who comes into contact with medical science as the voice of God, and not as coming from human lips."

Most researchers believe that the most outstanding works of the Hippocratic Collection belong to Hippocrates himself. Let's name some of them:

1. "Aphorisms" (from the Greek "aphorismos" - a complete thought). They contain instructions for the treatment of diseases. The “Aphorisms” begin with the well-known words: “Life is short, the path of art is long, opportunity is fleeting, experience is deceptive, judgment is difficult. Therefore, not only the doctor himself must use everything that is necessary, but also the patient, and those around him, and all external circumstances must contribute to the doctor in his activity.

2. "Prognostics" (from the Greek "prognosis" - foresight, prediction). This essay describes in detail the elements that make up the prognosis of the disease (observation, examination and questioning of the patient), outlines the basics of observation and treatment at the patient's bedside.

3. "Epidemics" (from the Greek "epidemia" - an epidemic disease). The word "epidemics" in ancient Greece was understood not as infectious, contagious diseases, but as those that were widespread and especially common in a particular area.

4. "About airs, waters and localities." This is the first medical work of the Greeks that has come down to us, in which the causes of diseases are considered depending on the specific properties of the surrounding nature. It was believed that a person's place of residence (south, east, highlands, fertile valley, marshland, etc.) determines his character and physique, as well as his tendency to certain diseases.

"Hippocratic Collection" contains essays on medical ethics: "Oath", "Law", "On the Doctor", "On Decent Behavior" and "Instructions". Pointing out, first of all, that it is not the disease that should be treated, but the patient, they speak of the need to remember the main thing: “first of all, do no harm.” Later, this thesis became widespread in the medical literature.

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Hippocrates' contribution to the development of medicine and pharmacy

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The most prominent physician of this era in ancient Greece was Hippocrates. The very first biographies of Hippocrates were written no earlier than several centuries after his death. Their authors were not contemporaries of Hippocrates, and therefore their narratives bear the imprint of the legendary that surrounded the name of the great physician.

The doctrine developed by Hippocrates on the treatment of fractures (the use of traction, splints), dislocations, wounds of various kinds makes it very likely that he participated in wars as a doctor. He advises a young doctor who wants to learn surgery to accompany the troops on a campaign. The heritage of Hippocrates and other doctors of Ancient Greece is summarized in the Hippocratic Collection, which is an encyclopedia of the classical period in the history of ancient Greek medicine. It was compiled in the 3rd century. BC e. in the famous Library of Alexandria, founded by the successors of Alexander the Great - the Ptolemies, the rulers of Hellenistic Egypt. The Hippocratic Collection brings together about 70 essays on a variety of medical topics. Hippocrates himself is the author of the most fundamentally important parts (“On the airs, waters and localities”, “Prognostics”, “Epidemics”, “On wounds of the head”, “On fractures”, etc.). Other works included in the Hippocratic Collection were written by students, followers of Hippocrates, in particular, the son and son-in-law of Hippocrates. Hippocrates had like-minded people, students and followers.

Hippocrates had real ideas about pharmacy of that time, its possibilities, difficulties and goals. He was a physician-philosopher who combined great medical experience with a great understanding of people and the surrounding nature. He tirelessly cared for the dignity of the doctor. He had a deep aversion to charlatans who denigrated high art.

Hippocrates created the theory of the storage of medicines and the classification of their action on the body. However, his system “nature heals, and the doctor exclusively helps” and the statement of how many medicinal substances have some kind of power, how much of it should be stored in the preparation of medicines, tightly closing the dishes, for about the effect of weathering, the dignity of the medicines did not exhale, which seemed to have fallen into a swoon. state, idealistic.

Of the medicines at the time of Hippocrates, mucus, sweet, oliist, fatty, viscous, pungent, aromatic, resinous, "balm and narcotic substances (for example, poppy, mandrake) were used. They almost did not use a mixture of substances. Herbal preparations were used in the form of decoctions or infusions or juices AND resins (balm).The teaching of Hippocrates tore medicine through religions and brought it out for the 'path of scientific research.

Hippocrates looked for an explanation of the disease in the material factors that cause it, and in the changes in these factors. He believed that every disease has its own natural cause, and nothing happens without a natural cause. The natural causes of the disease lie, first of all, in the external environment surrounding a person. Hippocrates considered the general causes of disease to be those that, by their action, cause disease in a number of people.

Here Hippocrates attributed the season, air temperature, climate, soil and water properties in the area, epidemics, miasms. Along with this, Hippocrates noted in many cases the individual causes of diseases of individual people, including here the lifestyle, diet, age of a person, his heredity and inclination to certain sufferings.

Much rationality is also contained in Hippocrates' instructions on wound care, bandaging, etc. An important merit of Hippocrates was that he successfully applied the achievements of contemporary ancient Greek philosophy to the analysis of medical phenomena - the materialism of Democritus and the dialectics of Heraclitus and gave them a materialistic interpretation at the level of knowledge of his time. For Hippocrates, illness is a manifestation of the life of an organism as a result of a change in the material substrate, and not a manifestation of the divine will, an evil spirit. By this he rejected the principles of priestly medicine. Hippocrates looked for an explanation of the disease in the material factors that cause it, and in the changes in these factors.

He believed that every disease has its own natural cause, and nothing happens without a natural cause. The natural causes of the disease lie, first of all, in the external environment surrounding a person. Many "Aphorisms" of Hippocrates testify to a number of conjectures that approached a true understanding of the essence and causes of some suffering. Along with this, in the "Aphorisms" and other works there are also judgments that reflect the general low level of anatomical, physiological and medical ideas of the ancient world. In the teachings of Hippocrates, attention was paid to both the patient's body and the external environment, living conditions, and the environment. Hippocrates demanded to take into account, first of all, the "nature" of the patient, his "physiology" and in every possible way to stimulate the "natural abilities" of the organism. He was wary of forcibly interfering in the "natural" course of pathological processes, calling, first of all, "do no harm."

Recognizing that the causes of diseases are always natural, Hippocrates saw the basis for curing the patient in the use by the doctor of the natural properties of the body. The task of the doctor, taking into account the characteristics of the patient's body, is to help the forces of nature. The basis of Hippocratic therapy is faith in the healing properties of nature. “Nature is the doctor of diseases”, therefore the doctor must adhere to the path outlined by nature. Hippocrates recommended to observe the patient at different times of the day, during sleep and wakefulness, in a variety of conditions. Hippocrates viewed illness as a changing phenomenon.

The disease has a beginning, middle and end, three stages:

a) dampness

b) welding,

c) eruptions. Hippocrates' powers of observation enabled him to accurately describe certain illnesses and symptoms; he described the face of a seriously ill patient, thickening of the terminal phalanges of the fingers (“fingers of Hippocrates”), “splashing noise. Along with the diseases of adults, Hippocrates dealt with the diseases of children. He gave a description of the pig. He paid special attention to diseases of newborns and infants.

The pediatric statements of Hippocrates had a great influence on the subsequent work of doctors of antiquity (Soran of Ephesus, Oribasia), European doctors of the Middle Ages (Salerno school), representatives of medicine of the peoples of the East (Ar-Razp, Ibn-Sina, etc.) and doctors of the Renaissance. A significant place in the treatment of Hippocrates was given to the diet, which he understood broadly in the sense of not only food, but also general hygienic regimen. He did not neglect medicinal treatment, he widely used the experience of traditional medicine. . The Hippocratic Collection lists more than 250 herbal and 50 animal remedies used as medicines: diaphoretics, laxatives, emetics, diuretics, etc.

Hippocrates - a short biography, his contribution to the development of medicine

P . In medicines for external use, metal salts were used. Hippocrates appointed banks, did bloodletting. He recommended to be careful, take into account the reaction of the body, take your time, do not quickly replace one medicine with another. Along with rational therapy, Hippocrates also had elements of the magical. He believed that acute diseases ended on the 7th day, and chronic diseases on the 21st day, and that diseases were more common in odd years and numbers. Hippocrates used the method of treating “opposites with opposites”: “Overflow heals emptying, emptying - overflow ... work heals rest and, conversely, peace - work.

Hippocrates paid much attention to surgical issues: to stop bleeding, it was recommended to give the limbs an elevated position, apply cold, pressure, hemostatic, cauterization, rest was recommended for wounds, and motionless bandages were recommended for dislocations and fractures. On a number of occasions, Hippocrates intervened vigorously in the course of an illness. “In severe illnesses, the strongest medicines are also needed.” Hippocrates attached great importance to the prognosis, prediction, foresight by the doctor of the further course of the disease. Hippocrates devoted a special essay to this issue, Prognostic. In the famous "Doctor's Oath" Hippocrates defined the relationship between the doctor and the patient, as well as doctors among themselves. The "oath" did not represent the original work of Hippocrates or his contemporaries: the professional obligations of doctors were found in very similar content in earlier sources in Egypt and India. Later, it entered the medical practice of a number of countries, including Russia. In a somewhat modified form, this obligation has been preserved to this day in many countries as an oath or a solemn obligation of doctors graduating from medical faculties.

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summary of the work, added 01.10.2008

Hippocrates (I o) (460 BC, Kos Island 377 BC (according to other sources 356 BC), near Larissa, Thessaly), ancient Greek physician, reformer of ancient medicine. He received his medical education under the guidance of his father Heraclides; Hippocrates' mother, Fenareta, was a midwife. It is believed that Hippocrates belonged to the 17th generation of the medical family, from which the Kos school of doctors emerged. Hippocrates led the life of a wandering physician (periodist) in Greece, Asia Minor, Libya; visited the shores of the Black Sea, was with the Scythians, which allowed him to get acquainted with the medicine of the peoples of Western Asia and Egypt. The works that have come down to us under the name of Hippocrates are a collection of 59 works by various authors, collected together by scientists from the Library of Alexandria. Hippocrates himself is most often credited with the following works: On Air, Water and Terrain, Prognosis, Diet in Acute Diseases, Books 1 and 3 of Epidemics, Aphorisms, Repositioning of Joints, Fractures, Wounds of the Head.

The merit of Hippocrates was the liberation of medicine from the influences of priestly, temple medicine and the determination of the path of its independent development. Hippocrates taught that the doctor should not treat the disease, but the patient, taking into account the individual characteristics of the organism and the environment. He proceeded from the idea of ​​the decisive influence on the formation of bodily (constitution) and mental (temperament) properties of a person of environmental factors. Hippocrates singled out these factors (climate, state of water, soil, lifestyle of people, laws of the country, etc.) from the point of view of their influence on a person. Hippocrates was the founder of medical geography.

Hippocrates: contribution to science

Distinguished by temperament 4 main types of people sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and melancholic. He developed questions of etiology, while denying the supernatural, divine origin of diseases. Established the main stages of the development of the disease, developed diagnostic issues. He put forward 4 principles of treatment: to benefit and not harm, to treat the opposite with the opposite, to help nature and, being careful, spare the patient.

Hippocrates is also known as an outstanding surgeon; developed ways to apply dressings, treatment of fractures and dislocations, wounds, fistulas, hemorrhoids, empyema. Hippocrates is credited with the text of the so-called medical oath (the Hippocratic oath), which succinctly formulates the moral norms of the doctor's behavior (although the original version of the oath existed in Egypt). Hippocrates is called the father of medicine.

Hippocrates(dr. Greek, lat. Hippocrates) (about 460 BC, the island of Kos - about 370 BC, Larissa) - the famous ancient Greek healer, doctor and philosopher. He went down in history as the "father of medicine".

Hippocrates is a historical figure. Mentions of the "great Asclepiad doctor" are found in the works of his contemporaries - Plato and Aristotle. Collected in the so-called. The Hippocratic Corpus of 60 medical treatises (of which modern researchers attribute from 8 to 18 to Hippocrates) had a significant impact on the development of medicine, both practice and science.

The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and ethics of a doctor's behavior. The Hippocratic Oath contains the fundamental principles that a doctor should be guided by in his practice. Taking an oath (which has changed significantly over the centuries) upon receiving a medical diploma has become a tradition.

Origin and biography

Biographical information about Hippocrates is extremely scattered and contradictory. To date, there are several sources that describe the life and origin of Hippocrates. These include:

  • writings of the Roman physician Soranus of Ephesus, born more than 400 years after the death of Hippocrates
  • Byzantine Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Court of the 10th century
  • works of the Byzantine poet and grammarian of the 12th century, John Tsets.

Information about Hippocrates is also found in Plato, Aristotle and Galen.

According to legend, Hippocrates was a descendant of the ancient Greek god of medicine Asclepius on his father, and Hercules on his mother. John Zetz even gives a genealogical tree of Hippocrates:

  • Asclepius
  • Podalirium
  • Hippo
  • Sostratus
  • Dardan
  • Chrysamis
  • Cleomittad
  • Theodore
  • Sostratus II
  • Theodore II
  • Sostratus III
  • Gnosidik
  • Hippocrates I
  • Heraclid
  • Hippocrates II "father of medicine"

Although this information is hardly reliable, it indicates that Hippocrates belonged to the Asclepiad family. The Asklepiades were a dynasty of physicians who claimed descent from the god of medicine himself.

Hippocrates was born around 460 BC. e. on the island of Kos in the eastern Aegean.

From the works of Soranus of Ephesus, one can judge the family of Hippocrates. According to his writings, Hippocrates' father was the physician Heraclid, and his mother was Fenareta. (According to another version, the name of Hippocrates' mother was Praxitea.) Hippocrates had two sons - Fesall and Draco, as well as a daughter, whose husband Polyb, according to the ancient Roman physician Galen, became his successor. Each of the sons named their child in honor of the famous grandfather Hippocrates.

In his writings, Soranus of Ephesus writes that initially Hippocrates' medicine was taught in the asclepion of Kos by his father Heraclid and grandfather Hippocrates, hereditary Asclepiad doctors. He was also trained by the famous philosopher Democritus and the sophist Gorgias. For the purpose of scientific improvement, Hippocrates also traveled a lot and studied medicine in different countries from the practice of local doctors and from the tables that were hung on the walls of the temples of Asclepius. Mentions of the legendary doctor from contemporaries are found in Plato's dialogues "Protagoras" and "Phaedrus", as well as in Aristotle's "Politics".

Hippocrates devoted his entire life to medicine. Among the places where he treated people are Thessaly, Thrace, Macedonia, as well as the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Marmara. He died at an advanced age in the city of Larisa, where a monument was erected to him.

Hippocratic Corpus

The name of the famous physician Hippocrates, who laid the foundations of medicine as a science, is associated with a diverse collection of medical treatises known as the Hippocratic Corpus.

Hippocrates: a brief biography and important discoveries made for mankind

The vast majority of the writings of the Corpus were composed between 430 and 330 BC. e. They were collected in Hellenistic times, in the middle of the 3rd century BC. e. in Alexandria.

Hippocrates short biography

Hippocrates (460 -377 BC) is a native of the island of Kos, which is located in the Aegean Sea and is an island of Greece.

Hippocrates' contribution to medicine.

Hippocrates went down in history as the "father of medicine". He is the son of a talented doctor. According to one version, Hippocrates belongs to the 17th generation of hereditary doctors. The first teacher of medicine for Hippocrates was his father Heraclid. It is known about the mother of Hippocrates Fenarete that she was a midwife.

Hippocrates, because of his professional activities, traveled around many countries. In each state, Hippocrates learned something new. So, for example, the Scythians gave him knowledge of the folk medicine of Asia Minor and Egypt.

Hippocrates was not only one of the good doctors and healers, he also belongs to the number of excellent philosophers and writers of Antiquity. His works on medical topics are very relevant today.

Hippocrates made a real revolution in ancient medicine. The talented doctor moved away from the priestly, temple treatment and showed medicine his own individual path of existence. The foundation of his teaching was that the patient should be treated, and not his illness. He said that each patient has his own unique properties and qualities, and the treatment must be selected for each patient individually.

Hippocrates is also considered the founder of medical geography. He distinguished among people according to the type of formation of physical and mental qualities the following basic types: choleric, melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic. He was against the supernatural, divine nature of diseases, and relied on the foundations of only etiology. Considering the stages of disease progression and diagnostic methods, he proposed four basic rules of treatment: do not harm the patient, eliminate like with like, do no harm to the environment, spare the patient.

Hippocrates was also famous as a wonderful surgeon. He easily succumbed to fractures, dislocations, various wounds. Hippocrates is considered the author of the well-known medical oath, which refers to the moral principles of the relationship between the doctor and the patient. However, a similar text of the oath was developed in ancient Egypt.

Hippocrates quotes

  • 00The doctor heals diseases, but nature heals.
  • 00Neither satiety, nor hunger, and nothing else is good if one transgresses the measure of nature.
  • Idleness and doing nothing entail depravity and ill health - on the contrary, the striving of the mind for something brings cheerfulness, eternally directed towards the strengthening of life.
  • 00The opposite is cured by the opposite.
  • 00Persons subjected to daily labor endure them, even if they are weak and old, more easily than strong and young people - without habit.
  • 00Medicine is truly the noblest of all arts.
  • 00Our food substances must be medicinal substances, and our medicinal substances must be food substances.
  • 00Do no harm (to the sick).
  • 00Marriage is an upside down fever: it starts hot and ends cold.
  • 00The doctor is a philosopher: after all, there is no big difference between wisdom and medicine.
  • 00Gymnastics, physical exercises, walking should firmly enter the daily life of everyone who wants to maintain working capacity, health, a full and joyful life.
  • The effects of dietary remedies are long lasting, but the effects of drugs are transient.
  • 00The human soul develops until death.
  • Life is short, the path of art is long, opportunity is fleeting, experience is deceptive, judgment is difficult. Therefore, not only the doctor himself should use everything that is necessary, but also the patient, and those around him, and all external circumstances should contribute to the doctor in his activity.
  • 00Just as clothiers clean cloth, knocking it out of dust, so gymnastics cleanses the body.
  • 00The drunkenness of fathers and mothers is the cause of the weakness and sickness of children.
  • 00How many stars are in the sky, so many deceptions are hidden in a woman's heart.

Hippocrates is a historical figure. Mentions of the "great Asclepiad doctor" are found in the works of his contemporaries - Plato and Aristotle. Collected in the so-called. "Hippocratic Corpus" 60 medical treatises (of which modern researchers attribute from 8 to 18 to Hippocrates) had a significant impact on the development of medicine - both a science and a specialty.
The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and ethics of a doctor's behavior. The Hippocratic Oath contains the fundamental principles that a doctor should be guided by in his practice. Taking an oath (which has changed significantly over the centuries) upon receiving a medical diploma has become a tradition.

Origin and biography

Biographical information about Hippocrates is extremely scattered and contradictory. To date, there are several sources that describe the life and origin of Hippocrates. These include:
writings of the Roman physician Soranus of Ephesus, born more than 400 years after the death of Hippocrates
Byzantine Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Court of the 10th century
works of the Byzantine poet and grammarian of the 12th century, John Tsets.

Information about Hippocrates is also found in Plato, Aristotle and Galen.
According to legend, Hippocrates was a descendant of the ancient Greek god of medicine Asclepius on his father, and Hercules on his mother. John Tzetz even gives a genealogical tree of Hippocrates.

Doctrine

It should be noted that the teaching of the Hippocratic corpus in literature is inseparable from the name of Hippocrates. At the same time, it is certain that not all, but only some of the treatises of the Corpus belong directly to Hippocrates. Due to the impossibility of isolating the direct contribution of the "father of medicine" and the contradictions of researchers about the authorship of this or that treatise, in most modern medical literature, the entire legacy of the Corpus is attributed to Hippocrates.
Hippocrates is one of the first who taught that diseases arise due to natural causes, rejecting the existing superstitions about the intervention of the gods. He singled out medicine as a separate science, separating it from religion, for which he went down in history as the "father of medicine." In the works of the Corpus there are some of the first prototypes of "case histories" - descriptions of the course of diseases.
The teaching of Hippocrates was that the disease is not a punishment of the gods, but a consequence of natural factors, malnutrition, habits and the nature of human life. In the collection of Hippocrates there is not a single mention of a mystical character in the origin of diseases. At the same time, the teachings of Hippocrates in many cases were based on incorrect premises, erroneous anatomical and physiological data, and the doctrine of vital juices.
In ancient Greece, during the time of Hippocrates, there was a ban on opening the human body. In this regard, doctors had a very superficial knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. Also at that time there were two competing medical schools - Kos and Knidos. The Knidos school focused its attention on isolating one symptom or another, depending on which the treatment was prescribed. The Kos school, to which Hippocrates belonged, tried to find the cause of the disease. The treatment consisted in observing the patient, creating such a regime in which the body itself would cope with the disease. Hence one of the fundamental principles of the Do No Harm doctrine.

Temperaments

Medicine owes Hippocrates the emergence of the doctrine of human temperament. According to his teachings, the general behavior of a person depends on the ratio of the four juices (liquids) circulating in the body - blood, bile, black bile and mucus (phlegm, lymph).
The predominance of bile (chole, "bile, poison") makes a person impulsive, "hot" - choleric.
The predominance of mucus (phlegm, "sputum") makes a person calm and slow - phlegmatic.
The predominance of blood (lat. sanguis, sanguis, sangua, “blood”) makes a person mobile and cheerful - a sanguine person.
The predominance of black bile (melena chole, "black bile") makes a person sad and fearful - a melancholic.

In the works of Hippocrates there are descriptions of the properties of sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic and very fluent - melancholic. The selection of body types and mental make-up was of practical importance: the establishment of the type was associated with the diagnosis and choice of the method of treating patients, since according to Hippocrates each type is predisposed to certain diseases.
The merit of Hippocrates lies in the allocation of the main types of temperament, in the fact that, according to I. P. Pavlov, he "caught the capital features in the mass of countless variants of human behavior."

The staging of the course of diseases

The merit of Hippocrates is also the definition of staging in the course of various diseases. Considering the disease as a developing phenomenon, he introduced the concept of the stage of the disease. The most dangerous moment, according to Hippocrates, was the "crisis". During a crisis, a person either died, or natural processes won, after which his condition improved. With various diseases, he singled out critical days - days from the onset of the disease, when the crisis was most likely and dangerous.

Examination of patients "Bench of Hippocrates"

The merit of Hippocrates is the description of the methods of examination of patients - auscultation and palpation. He studied in detail the nature of secretions (sputum, excrement, urine) in various diseases. When examining a patient, he already used such techniques as percussion, auscultation, palpation, of course, in the most primitive form.

Contribution to surgery

Hippocrates is also known as an outstanding surgeon of antiquity. His writings describe how to use dressings (simple, spiral, diamond-shaped, "Hippocratic cap", etc.), treat fractures and dislocations with traction and special devices ("Hippocratic bench"), treat wounds, fistulas, hemorrhoids, empyema.
In addition, Hippocrates described the rules for the position of the surgeon and his hands during the operation, placement of instruments, lighting during the operation.

Dietetics

Hippocrates laid out the principles of rational dietetics and pointed out the need to nourish the sick, even the febrile. To this end, he pointed out the necessary diets for various diseases.

Medical ethics and deontology

The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and ethics of a doctor's behavior. According to Hippocrates, diligence, a decent and tidy appearance, constant improvement in their profession, seriousness, sensitivity, the ability to win the patient's trust, the ability to keep a medical secret should be inherent in a doctor.

Hippocratic Oath

The Oath (lat. Jusjurandum) is the first composition of the Hippocratic Corpus. It contains several principles that a doctor must be guided by in his life and professional activities:
1. Commitment to teachers, colleagues and students
“Consider the one who taught me this art equal to my parents, share funds with him and, if necessary, help him in needs, accept his offspring as brothers and, at their request, teach them this art, free of charge and without contract; instructions, oral lessons and everything else in the teaching to communicate to my sons, the sons of my teacher and students who are bound by an obligation and swore an oath according to the medical law, but to no one else. »
2. The principle of doing no harm
“I will direct the regimen of the sick to their benefit, according to my ability and understanding, refraining from causing any harm or injustice. »
3. Denial of euthanasia and abortion
“I will not give anyone the requested lethal means and will not show the way to such a goal, just as I will not hand over abortive pessary to any woman. »
4. Refusal of intimate relations with patients
“Whatever house I enter, I will enter there for the benefit of the sick, being far from everything deliberately unrighteous and destructive, especially from love affairs ...”
5. Preservation of medical secrecy
“Whatever during treatment, as well as outside treatment, I see or hear about the life of people that should not be talked about, I will keep silent about it, considering all this shameful for disclosure. »

Payment for medical work

The issue of payment for medical work in modern society is quite relevant.
At the same time, there are two radically opposite points of view about the attitude of Hippocrates himself to this issue. On the one hand, many are sure that, according to the Hippocratic oath, the doctor is obliged to provide assistance free of charge. Opponents, referring to the same Hippocrates, cite a legend about the treatment of a certain Anachersitis, according to which Hippocrates, having provided first aid to the patient, asked his relatives if they were able to pay for the patient's recovery. Hearing a negative answer, he suggested "give the poor fellow poison so that he does not suffer for a long time."
Neither of the two established opinions is based on reliable information. The Hippocratic Oath says nothing about paying a doctor. Also in the writings of the Hippocratic corpus devoted to medical ethics and deontology, there is no information about the treatment of the poor patient Anachersitis. Accordingly, it can only be taken as a legend.
There are several phrases in the works of the Hippocratic Corpus, thanks to which we can assume the attitude of Hippocrates himself to this issue:
“Everything that is sought for wisdom, all this is also in medicine, namely, contempt for money, conscientiousness, modesty, simplicity in clothes ...”
If you first proceed with the matter of remuneration - after all, this also has a bearing on our whole case - then, of course, you will lead the patient to the idea that if an agreement is not made, you will leave him or will treat him carelessly and will not give him advice present. The establishment of remuneration should not be taken care of, since we consider it harmful to the patient to pay attention to it, especially in acute illness: the speed of the disease, which does not give an opportunity for delay, makes a good doctor look not for profit, but rather for the acquisition of fame. It is better to rebuke those who are saved than to plunder those in danger ahead of time.
“And sometimes he would heal for nothing, considering a grateful memory higher than momentary glory. If the opportunity presents itself to help a stranger or a poor person, then it should especially be delivered to such people, for where there is love for people, there is also love for one's own art. »
According to the above quotes, the sentence “and sometimes I would heal for nothing, considering grateful memory above momentary glory” best reflects Hippocrates’ attitude to the issue of remuneration for medical work.

The external and internal appearance of the doctor

In the writings of the Hippocratic Corpus, much attention is paid to the appearance of a doctor. Hippocrates emphasizes that an overly cheerful doctor does not command respect, and an overly harsh one loses the necessary confidence. According to Hippocrates, the doctor must be inherent in the thirst for new knowledge that must be obtained at the bedside of the patient, internal discipline. At the same time, he must have a clear mind, be neatly dressed, moderately serious, show understanding for the suffering of the sick. In addition, he emphasizes the need for constant availability of medical instruments at hand, appropriate equipment and type of medical office.

Idioms

Many of the expressions of Hippocrates have become winged. Although originally written in the Ionian dialect of ancient Greek, they are often quoted in Latin, a language widely used in medicine.
The doctor heals, nature heals (lat. Medicus curat, natura sanat) - one of the aphorisms of Hippocrates translated into Latin. It means that despite the fact that the doctor prescribes the treatment, nature always heals, which supports the vitality of the patient.
Life is short, art is [long] forever (lat. Ars longa, vita brevis) - the expression represents the first sentence of Hippocrates' Aphorisms reformulated by Seneca in Latin. The original of this aphorism of Hippocrates is as follows: (Life is short, (medical) art is lengthy, chance is fleeting, experience is deceptive, and judgment is difficult). Initially, Hippocrates emphasized that a lifetime would not be enough to comprehend the great science of medicine.
Medicine is the noblest of all sciences (lat. Omnium artium medicina nobilissima est).
Do no harm (lat. Noli nocere) - the main commandment of the doctor, formulated by Hippocrates.
“With fire and sword” - a paraphrased aphorism “What drugs do not cure, iron cures; what iron does not cure, fire heals” (lat. Quae medicamenta non sanant, ferrum sanat; quae ferrum non sanat, ignis sanat).
“The opposite is cured by the opposite” (lat. Contraria contrariis curantur) is one of the aphorisms of Hippocrates. Modern medicine is based on this principle. The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, proposed treating “like with like”, opposing homeopathy to medicine that treats “opposite with opposite”, calling it allopathy.

legends

Democritus - the ancient Greek philosopher, whom Hippocrates, according to legend, conducted the first psychiatric examination
Of contemporaries, Plato and Aristotle in their writings mention "the greatest Asclepiad doctor Hippocrates." Thanks to the collection of works “The Hippocratic Corpus” that has survived to this day, from which modern researchers attribute only some of the works to Hippocrates himself, one can judge his teaching.
Many legends and stories about the life of Hippocrates are implausible and are not confirmed by modern historians. Similar legends exist about another famous physician Avicenna, which also confirms their legendary character. These include the legend of how Hippocrates, having arrived in Athens, where the plague was raging, held a series of events, after which the epidemic stopped. According to another legend, during the treatment of King Perdikka II of Macedonia, Hippocrates diagnosed him with aggravation - an unintentional exaggeration of his morbid condition. "Hippocrates Refuses the Ambassadors of Artaxerxes". Painting by Girodet-Trioson
Other unconfirmed stories include the refusal of Hippocrates to leave Greece and become the attending physician of the king of the Achaemenid Empire, Artaxerxes. According to another legend, the citizens of Abder invited Hippocrates to treat the famous ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, considering him insane. Democritus, for no apparent reason, burst into laughter, human affairs seemed so ridiculous to him against the backdrop of the great world order. Hippocrates met with the philosopher, but decided that Democritus was absolutely healthy both physically and mentally, and in addition declared that he was one of the smartest people with whom he had to communicate. This story is the first mention that the society required to be subjected to a medical examination for "abnormality".
In contrast to the legends that describe Hippocrates as an ideal doctor, the smartest and most principled person, Soranus of Ephesus cites the legend of the shameful act of Hippocrates, according to which he burned the Asklepion (a medical temple in which people were treated and the god of medicine Asclepius was worshiped at the same time) of the Knidos school, which competed with the Kos . The Byzantine grammarian of the 12th century, John Tsets, transforms this legend about this act. According to his writings, Hippocrates burned the temple not of the rival Cnidian school, but of his own Kosian one, in order to destroy the medical knowledge accumulated in it, thus remaining their sole owner.

Hippocrates(about 460 BC, the island of Kos - 377 BC) - an ancient Greek physician, naturalist, philosopher, reformer of ancient medicine.

The works of Hippocrates, which became the basis for the further development of clinical medicine, reflect the idea of ​​the integrity of the body; individual approach to the patient and his treatment; the concept of anamnesis; teachings about etiology, prognosis, temperaments.

The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and a model of ethical behavior of a doctor. Hippocrates is credited with the text of the code of ethics of the ancient Greek doctors (the “Hippocratic Oath”), which became the basis of the obligations subsequently taken by doctors in many countries.

Hippocrates was born on the island of Kos (Southern Sporades archipelago, southeast of the Aegean Sea) in a family of hereditary healers who traced their genealogy to Asclepius, the god of medicine. During his life, Hippocrates traveled a lot, traveled to Greece, Asia Minor, visited

Libya and Tauris, founded a medical school in his homeland.

Hippocrates is recognized as the founder of medical science. He owns the works "On Air, Water and Terrain", "Prognosis", "Diet in Acute Diseases", "Epidemics" in two volumes, "Aphorisms", "Reduction of Joints", "Fractures", "Head Wounds".

Unlike his predecessors, Hippocrates believed that diseases were not sent down by the gods, but were caused by quite understandable reasons, for example, environmental influences. In On the Nature of Man, Hippocrates hypothesized that health is based on the balance of the four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile. Disruption of this balance causes disease.

Hippocrates saw the doctor's task in studying the individual characteristics of the patient, in ensuring the mobilization of the body's forces to restore health. In medical ethics, Hippocrates put forward four principles of treatment: do not harm the patient; treat the opposite with the opposite; help nature; spare the patient.

Hippocrates established the stages of development of diseases, laid the foundations of ancient surgery, developed methods for applying dressings, treating fractures and dislocations, introduced the concepts of anamnesis, prognosis, and etiology into medicine; divided people according to temperaments (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic). His teaching had a great influence on the ideas of physicians of subsequent eras. The main principles of modern medical morality are based on the "Hippocratic oath" developed back in antiquity. (Encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius)

More about Hippocrates:

Every doctor, starting his professional career, certainly remembers Hippocrates.

When he receives a diploma, he pronounces an oath, consecrated by his name. Except for another Greek doctor - Galen, who lived a little later than Hippocrates, no one else could have such an impact on the development of European medicine.

Hippocrates was born on the island of Kos in 460 BC The civilization and language of this island colonized by the Dorians were Ionian Hippocrates belonged to the Asclepiad family, a corporation of doctors that claimed to be descended from Asclepius, the great physician of Homeric times (Asclepius began to be considered a god only after Homer.) Among the Asklepiades, purely human medical knowledge was passed on from father to son, from teacher to student. The sons of Hippocrates, his son-in-law and numerous students were doctors.

The corporation of Asklepiades, which is also called the Kos school, preserved in the 5th century BC, like any cultural corporation of that time, purely religious forms and customs; so, for example, they adopted an oath that closely connected students with a teacher, with brothers in the profession. However, this religious character of the corporation, if it required conventional norms of behavior, in no way limited the search for truth, which remained strictly scientific.

Hippocrates received his initial medical education from his father, the doctor Heraclid, and other doctors of the island, then, with the aim of scientific improvement, he traveled a lot in his youth and studied medicine in different countries according to the practice of local doctors and according to votive tables, which were hung everywhere in the walls of the temples of Aesculapius.

The history of his life is little known, there are legends and stories related to his biography, but they are legendary. The name of Hippocrates, like Homer, subsequently became a collective name, and many of the seventy or so works attributed to him, as found out in modern times, belong to other authors, mainly his sons, the doctors Thessalus and Dragon, and son-in-law Polybus. Galen recognized as authentic 11 Hippocrates, Albrecht Haller - 18, and Kovner - undoubtedly authentic only 8 works from the Hippocratic Code. These are treatises - “On winds”, “On airs, waters and localities”, “Prognostics”, “On diet in acute diseases”, the first and third books of “Epidemics”, “Aphorisms” (first four sections), finally - surgical treatises “On Joints” and “On Fractures”, which are the masterpieces of the “Collection”.

To this list of major works it will be necessary to add several works of an ethical direction: "The Oath", "The Law", "On the Physician", "On Decent Conduct", "Instructions", which at the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 4th century BC will transform scientific medicine Hippocrates in medical humanism.

In the time of Hippocrates, it was believed that diseases were sent by evil spirits or through witchcraft.

Therefore, his very approach to the causes of disease was innovative. He believed that diseases are not sent to people by the gods, they arise for various, and quite natural, reasons.

The great merit of Hippocrates lies in the fact that he was the first to put medicine on a scientific basis, deducing it from dark empiricism, and cleared it of false philosophical theories, often contradicting reality, dominating the experimental, experimental side of the matter. Looking at medicine and philosophy as two inseparable sciences, Hippocrates tried to combine and separate them, defining their own boundaries for each.

In all literary works, the brilliant observation of Hippocrates and the logical conclusions are clearly highlighted. All his conclusions are based on careful observations and strictly verified facts, from the generalization of which, as it were, conclusions flowed by themselves. An accurate prediction of the course and outcome of the disease, based on the study of similar cases and examples, made Hippocrates widely famous during his lifetime. The followers of the teachings of Hippocrates formed the so-called Kos school, which flourished for a very long time and determined the direction of modern medicine.

The writings of Hippocrates contain observations on the spread of diseases depending on the external influences of the atmosphere, seasons, wind, water, and their result - the physiological effects of these influences on a healthy human body. In the same works, data on climatology from different countries are also given, in the latter, the meteorological conditions of one locality of the island and the dependence of the disease on these conditions are studied in more detail. In general, Hippocrates divides the causes of diseases into two classes: general harmful influences from climate, soil, heredity and personal - living and working conditions, nutrition (diet), age, etc. The normal effect on the body of these conditions also causes the correct mixing of juices, which for him and there is health.

In these writings, first of all, the indefatigable thirst for knowledge strikes. The doctor, first of all, looks closely, and his eye is sharp. He asks questions and takes notes. The vast collection of seven books of Epidemics is nothing more than a series of notes taken by the doctor at the head of the patient. They describe cases discovered in the process of medical rounds and not yet systematized. This text is often interspersed with some general consideration that does not relate to the facts set forth in a row, as if the doctor wrote down in passing one of the thoughts with which his head is constantly occupied.

Here one of these inquisitive thoughts touched upon the question of how to examine the patient, and immediately there arises the final, all-revealing, precise word, showing much more than a simple observation, and depicting the scientist’s method of thinking: “Examining the body is a whole thing: it requires knowledge, hearing, smell, touch, language, reasoning.”

And here is another discussion about examining a patient from the first book of Epidemics: “As for all those circumstances in diseases on the basis of which a diagnosis should be made, we learn all this from the general nature of all people and each person’s own, from illness and from the patient , from all that is prescribed, and from the one who prescribes, for this makes the sick either better or feel more difficult; in addition, from the general and particular state of celestial phenomena and every country, from habit, from the way of eating, from the kind of life, from the age of each patient, from the speech of the patient, morals, silence, thoughts, sleep, lack of sleep, from dreams, what they are and when they appear, from twitches, from itching, from tears, from paroxysms, from eruptions, from urine, from phlegm, from vomiting.

One should also look at changes in diseases from which to which they occur, and at deposits leading to death or destruction, then - sweat, chills, coldness of the body, coughing, sneezing, hiccups, inhalations, eructations, winds silent or noisy, expiration blood, hemorrhoids. Based on all these signs and what happens through them, research should be carried out.

It should be noted a wide range of requirements. During the examination, the doctor takes into account not only the patient's condition at the moment, but also the previous illnesses and the consequences that they could leave, he takes into account the patient's lifestyle and the climate of the habitat. The doctor does not forget that, since the patient is the same person as everyone else, in order to know him, you need to know other people, he explores his thoughts. Even the "silence" of the patient serves as an indication for him!

An overwhelming task that would entangle any mind lacking breadth. As they would say today, this medicine is distinctly psychosomatic. Let's put it simply: it is the medicine of the whole person (body and soul), and it is connected with his environment and way of life and with his past. The consequences of this broad approach are reflected in the treatment, which in turn will require the patient, under the guidance of the doctor, to participate with his whole body - soul and body - in his recovery. Strictly observing the course of diseases, he attached great importance to various periods of illness, especially feverish, acute ones, setting certain days for a crisis, a turning point in the disease, when the body, according to his teachings, would make an attempt to get rid of undigested juices.

In other writings of Hippocrates - "On the joints" and "On fractures" operations and surgical interventions are described in detail. From the descriptions of Hippocrates it is clear that surgery in ancient times was at a very high level, tools and various dressing techniques were used, which are also used in medicine of our time.

In the essay “On Diet in Acute Diseases”, Hippocrates laid the foundation for rational dietology and pointed out the need to feed the sick, even feverish ones (which was later forgotten), and for this purpose established diets for forms of diseases - acute, chronic, surgical, etc. .

Hippocrates during his lifetime knew the heights of glory. Plato, who was one generation younger than him, but his contemporary in the broad sense of the word, comparing medicine with other arts in one of his dialogues, draws a parallel between Hippocrates from Kos and the greatest sculptors of his time - Polykleitos from Argos and Phidias from Athens .

Hippocrates died about 370 BC in Larissa, in Thessaly, where a monument was erected to him. (Samin D.K. 100 great scientists)

More about Hippocrates:

Hippocrates - the most famous Greek doctor from the island of Kos, b. 460 BC, d. in 356 BC Chr. in Larissa, in Thessaly, where a monument was erected to him; belonged to the well-known in ancient Greece family of Asclepiades and had doctors as his closest ancestors. He received his initial medical education from his father, the doctor Heraclid, and other doctors, Fr. Spit; then, with the aim of scientific improvement, Hippocrates traveled a lot in his youth and studied medicine in different countries from the practice of local doctors and from the votive tables that were hung everywhere in the walls of the temples of Aesculapius.

The life story of Hippocrates is little known, there are legends and stories related to his biography, but they are legendary. The name of Hippocrates, like Homer, later became a collective name, and many of the works from the huge number (72) attributed to him, as found out in modern times (Galen, Haller, Grunert, Gezer, Litre, Kovner, etc.), belong to other authors, mainly to his sons , doctors Thessalus and Dragon, and son-in-law Polybus.

The great merit of Hippocrates lies in the fact that he was the first to put medicine on a scientific basis, bringing it out of dark empiricism and clearing it of false philosophical theories, often contradicting reality, dominating the experimental side of things. Looking at medicine and philosophy as two inseparable sciences, Hippocrates tried to both combine and separate them, defining each of its own boundaries.

In all literary works, the brilliant observation of Hippocrates and the logical conclusions are clearly outlined. All his conclusions are based on careful observations and strictly verified facts, from the generalization of which, as if by themselves, the conclusions followed. An accurate prediction of the course and outcome of the disease, based on the study of similar cases and examples, made Hippocrates great fame even during his lifetime. The followers of the teachings of Hippocrates formed the so-called Kos school, which flourished for a very long time and gave direction to modern medicine.

Of the works included in the so-called collection of Hippocrates, the most famous are the following, attributed by almost all historians of medicine to Hippocrates himself: "De aere aquis et locis" and "Epidemiorum libri septem" - contain observations on the spread of diseases depending on external influences of the atmosphere, times year, wind, water and results - the physiological effects of these influences on a healthy human body. In the same works, data on climatology from different countries are also given, in the latter, the meteorological conditions of one locality of the island and the diseases that were dependent on these conditions were studied in more detail.

In general, Hippocrates divides the causes of diseases into two classes: general harmful influences from climate, soil, heredity, and personal - living and working conditions, nutrition (diet), age, etc. The normal effect on the body of these conditions also causes the correct mixing of juices - health. The composition "Praenotiones s. Prognosticon" is a proof of Hippocrates' remarkable powers of observation and contains a long series of signs during the course of the disease, on the basis of which one can make a favorable or unfavorable prediction regarding the outcome of the disease.

Hippocrates knew even then very many symptoms that are important for prognosis and diagnosis and at the present time, he studied in detail the nature of secretions (sputum, excrement, etc.) in various forms of diseases and, when examining a patient, he already used such techniques as tapping, listening, feeling , although, of course, in the most primitive form. Strictly observing the course of illnesses, Hippocrates attached particular importance to various periods of illness, especially feverish, acute ones, setting certain days for crisis, fracture, illness, when the body, according to his teaching, would make an attempt to get rid of undigested juices.

In "De fracturis" and "De articulis" and others, operations and surgical diseases are described in detail. From the descriptions of Hippocrates it is clear that in ancient times surgery was very high, tools and various dressing techniques were used, which also take place in medicine of our time.

In the work "De gatione victus in acutis" and others. Hippocrates laid the foundation for rational dietetics and pointed out the need to feed the sick, even feverish, which was subsequently forgotten, and for this purpose he established diets in relation to the forms of diseases - acute, chronic, surgical, etc.

There is a huge literature about Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Collection, among Russian works deserve special attention: “Essays on the History of Medicine” by S. Kovner (issue II. Kyiv, 1883). There are several editions of the translation of the Hippocratic Collection into the latest languages; the books "On Ancient Medicine" and "Aphorisms" were translated into Russian. ("Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron")

Collier Encyclopedia

Hippocrates

(c. 460 - c. 377 BC), Greek physician and teacher, whose name is associated in the minds of most people with the famous oath, which symbolizes the high ethical standards of European medicine. Hippocrates, who is called the "father of medicine", is considered the author of an extensive collection of Greek medical writings. Information about his life is scarce and unreliable, the earliest surviving biography was written by Soranus of Ephesus only five centuries later. It is impossible to assess Soranus' sources, but much of his story is unquestionably fiction. Soranus dates the birth of Hippocrates to 460 BC. and refers the period of his active activity to the time of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC); in addition, he gives different opinions regarding the age to which Hippocrates lived. All authors agree that Hippocrates lived a very long life, at least 90 years. This chronology is confirmed by a contemporary source: in Plato's Protagoras, Hippocrates is mentioned as a living physician teaching medicine for a fee. The dialogue was written at the beginning of the 4th century. BC, and the action in it takes place in 432 BC. Aristotle calls Hippocrates "great", so there can be no doubt that the outstanding physician who bore this name really lived at the end of the 5th century. BC. Although Hippocrates was a native of Kos, he appears to have traveled and practiced in other parts of the Greek world. In ancient sources, we find the assertion that Hippocrates was forced to leave Kos because of the accusation of arson, but we have no information that he won his reputation on Kos.

The scene of most of the cases described in those two books of Epidemics, which are considered to be those of Hippocrates himself, are Thasos, a small island in the northern part of the Aegean, and Abdera, the nearest city on the mainland to it; in the same books there are mentions of Cyzicus on the southern coast of the Propontis (modern Sea of ​​Marmara), of Larissa and Melibea in Thessaly. Hippocrates was traditionally believed to have died at Larissa. The second and last surviving mention of Hippocrates by a contemporary is also found in Plato, in the Phaedrus, where it is said that Hippocrates considered a good theory to be more important for medicine than purely empirical observations. This view is difficult to reconcile with some of the surviving writings from the Hippocratic Corpus. There are many later mentions of Hippocrates, but they no longer refer to him, but to a vast corpus of writings that have come down under his name. The Hippocratic Corpus that has come down to us ("Hippocratic Collection") contains approx. 70 separate works, although it is clear that some of them are parts of the once unified works. In addition, a certain overlap of some compositions with others and repetitions are found here. The collection contains both Hippocrates' own writings and works by other authors written at different times. It has been suggested that the corpus is the remains of a medical library rather than the work of authors belonging to the same school. Some of the writings testify to the development of scientific thought and the skill of clinical observations and are therefore considered more "authentic" than others.
But even on this issue there is no generally accepted opinion: there are researchers who generally doubt the existence of works belonging to Hippocrates himself. Apparently, the corps was formed and attributed to Hippocrates already in the 1st century BC. AD, when Erotian, the physician of the era of the reign of Nero, compiled a dictionary of hippocratic terms. Commentaries on the most important Hippocratic writings written by Galen in the 2nd century BC have been preserved. AD Some treatises of the corpus date back to the time of the life of Hippocrates, others, apparently, date back to the 3rd-4th centuries. BC. Probably by the 5th c. BC. refers to the treatise On ancient medicine, which discusses the problem of teaching the art of healing. Its author (perhaps not Hippocrates) rejects the explanation of the disease by the interaction of natural philosophical "basic qualities" (warm, cold, wet, dry), points to the importance of diet and the role of certain "juices" of the body. He emphasizes that medicine deals with relative rather than absolute factors: what is good for one may be harmful for another, or what is good at one time may be harmful at another.
The Treatise On Airs, Waters, and Places also belongs to the 5th century. BC, this is truly a "golden book", which has taken a firm place in the history of science. The author is an experienced practitioner, using examples, he reasonably and convincingly proceeds to consider the influence of three environmental factors on the general state of health. Illnesses or predisposition to illnesses can be caused by weather conditions, such as very hot summers or rainy winters.
Secondly, as factors influencing health, local climatic conditions are considered - the prevailing direction of the winds, the orientation of the city relative to the cardinal points.
Thirdly, the quality of water is mentioned here as one of the direct causes of a number of diseases; advice is given on which sources to prefer. The second part of the work is devoted to the diverse influence of climatic conditions on the formation of national types. At the same time, the author shows a deep knowledge of non-Greek peoples, especially the nomadic Scythians who inhabited the southern territories of modern Ukraine and Russia. In the work known as Epidemics, a description of the course of diseases is given. Only books 1 and 3 are considered "authentic", the remaining five seem to belong to two later imitators of Hippocrates.
Also in Epidemics we see not only an impartial description of individual cases, but also general statistics of diseases and an attempt to correlate them with climatic conditions. There are few indications of treatment here, but there is a clear realization that the analysis of particular cases of diseases can lead to the establishment of general patterns. This kind of research led to the development of a new direction in medical science, namely prognosis. The most famous of the prognostic works of the corpus is the Aphorisms. The beginning of the first aphorism is well known, although few people know its continuation, as well as the fact that it is taken from the Hippocratic Corpus: “Life is short, art [[i.e. science]] is huge, chance is fleeting, experience is deceptive, judgment is difficult. only the doctor himself should do everything that is necessary, but the patient, and those around him, and all external circumstances should contribute to the doctor in his activities. Another well-known saying is also found for the first time in the Aphorisms: "In the most severe illnesses, the most powerful means are also needed, precisely applied." But most often observations of a purely medical nature are generalized here: "Uncaused fatigue indicates illness"; "When food is consumed in excess, it leads to disease, as is clearly evidenced by the cure"; "Better to have fever come after convulsions than convulsions after fever."

Probably, the Aphorisms are not a special essay, but a collection of valuable observations and advice from earlier writings. Here we find not only brief generalizations: some aphorisms describe in detail the whole course of the disease, and students of medicine, no doubt, found them very useful. The doctrine of "critical days" appears already in the Aphorisms, and then occurs repeatedly throughout the corpus. Thanks to clinical observations, it was found that in some diseases, exacerbations occur at approximately the same time intervals after the onset of the disease. This was especially evident in relapsing fevers in malaria. The principle of critical days, which determine the course of the disease in the direction of improvement or deterioration, was given a generalized formulation; a period of seven days was considered especially important. The writings of the Hippocratic Corpus attach great importance to the observance of the correct regimen (Greek "diet"), which is understood not only as a diet in the modern sense, but also as a whole way of life of the patient. Treatise On the Regime is the earliest work on preventive medicine, it is devoted not only to the restoration of health in case of illness, but also to its preservation with the help of the correct regimen.
The famous treatise On the Regime in Acute Diseases seems to have been written by the Kosian school, since it criticizes the views of the medical school in the nearby Greek city of Knidos. In cosmic medicine, emphasis is placed on an individual approach to the patient and the adaptation of treatment to his characteristics; the specialists of the Knidos school prescribed a certain treatment for every patient. Knowledge of physiology during this period was in its infancy. Although the existence of blood vessels was well known, it was believed that not only blood, but also other substances moved through them, the functions of the heart and the difference between veins and arteries were unknown. The word "artery" was used, but meant any large vessels, as well as, for example, the trachea. In particular, it was believed that the blood vessels carried air, the vital function of which was recognized, to all parts of the body. The author of On the Sacred Disease (epilepsy) uses this idea to explain the onset of an epileptic seizure as the result of phlegm blocking the blood vessels. He writes: "The air that goes into the lungs and blood vessels, filling the cavities of the body and the brain, and thereby delivers intelligence and sets the limbs in motion." Although this idea seems primitive, it is hard not to see in it a foretaste of modern knowledge about the process of oxygenation of the blood and its connection with consciousness and muscle activity. The most difficult thing was to explain how food is absorbed by the body, turning into tissues, blood, bone, etc. The most common was the following explanation: food, such as bread, contains the smallest invisible particles of all tissues of the body, they are separated from each other, and then the body accumulates them accordingly. Whatever the views of the practicing followers of Hippocrates themselves, public opinion was against the dissection of corpses. Therefore, anatomy was known mainly through the study of wounds and injuries.
The corpus contains a number of works on surgery, mainly devoted to wounds of various types. The two writings, On Fractures and On Joints, may be parts of one large work, the full text of which has been lost. The section on the joints, devoted to the reduction of dislocations, which describes in detail the famous "bench of Hippocrates", quite possibly goes back directly to the origins of Greek medicine. The most famous surgical treatise, On Wounds of the Head, is famous for its accurate description of the cranial sutures and the striking recommendation to perform a craniotomy (opening and removing part of the skull bone) in all cases of contusion or crack. Ever since this advice was given by the author of the treatise, he has invariably puzzled surgeons, but the tone in which the recommendation is made is so firm and definite that it leaves no doubt that the author used this operation in his practice. Gynecology and obstetrics are also not passed over in silence in the corpus, they are considered in a number of works, for example, in the treatises On Women's Diseases, On the Diseases of Girls, On the Seven-Month Fetus, On the Eight-Month Fetus.
These treatises demonstrate extensive knowledge; but, as usual, practice was ahead of theory, and descriptions of the processes of reproduction are naive and erroneous. The categorical statement that semen is collected from all parts of the body is analogous to the doctrine of the growth of body tissues by separating the smallest homogeneous particles from food. No other theory at that time was able to explain the origin of the organism. Even the author of the treatise On Airs, Waters and Places shares these views, proving them by the inheritance of certain qualities, such as gray eyes. Moreover, he extends the applicability of this principle and considers that acquired qualities can also be inherited, referring to barbarian tribes in which it was the custom to lengthen the skull of newborns. The author suggests that as a result of this, a hereditary predisposition to an elongated head shape is acquired. Among the works on obstetrics there is a treatise On the dissection of the fetus in the uterus, which shows the level of professional skill of the doctors of the Hippocratic school. The relationship between medicine and religion, reflected in the Hippocratic Corpus, is an interesting and complex problem. People have always been inclined to associate diseases, and even more so epidemics, with the disfavor of the gods. In the Iliad, the epidemic that strikes the Greek army near Troy is attributed to the wrath of Apollo: if the god is appeased, it will stop. The authors of the Hippocratic Corpus criticize the idea of ​​the divine origin of diseases, believing that any natural phenomenon has a natural cause. Epilepsy, which was called the "sacred disease", caused particular fear in those days. In the corpus there is an essay with this title, it begins with a polemical attack against healers and charlatan doctors, who, shrouding this disease in religious mystery, claim to cure it with the help of chants and cleansing ceremonies. The author of the treatise writes: "It seems to me that this disease is no more sacred than all others, but has the same nature as other diseases, and therefore it arises."

The author's criticism is directed not against religious beliefs as such, but against "magicians, purifiers, charlatans and deceivers who pretend to have piety more than all others and more intelligent than all others." We see a similar approach in the author of the section On Dreams, which concludes the essay On the Regime. The author leaves aside the question of whether prophetic dreams are really sent by heaven to warn the state or individuals, and agrees to leave the study of this problem to professional interpreters of dreams. He only notes that many dreams are the result of certain states of the body. The interpreters can do nothing with them, the only thing left for them is to advise the dreamer to pray. "Prayer," admits the author of the fragment, "is good, but, calling on the help of the gods, a person must take part of the burden upon himself." The Hippocratic oath contained in the corpus makes it possible to judge the practical activities of the early Greek medical school. Some of its places seem mysterious. But she is remarkable for her desire to establish high moral standards for the medical profession. The teachings of Hippocrates had a strong influence not only on ancient, but also on modern medical practice. In antiquity, the books of the Hippocratic Corpus were translated into Latin, Syriac and Arabic.

Hippocrates

The name of Hippocrates is associated with the idea of ​​a high moral character and ethics of a doctor's behavior. Hippocrates is a historical figure.

Mentions of the "great doctor" are found in the works of his contemporaries - Plato and Aristotle. Collected in the so-called. The Hippocratic Corpus of 60 medical treatises (of which modern researchers attribute from 8 to 18 to Hippocrates) had a significant impact on the development of medicine - both a science and a specialty. The Hippocratic Oath contains the fundamental principles that a doctor should be guided by in his practice. Taking an oath (which has changed significantly over the centuries) upon receiving a medical diploma has become a tradition.

Millions of modern doctors around the world solemnly pronounce the Hippocratic Oath. True, there are two small questions: was there really that same Hippocrates? And if it was, then did it bring humanity more harm than good?

The questions are not as crazy as they seem at first glance. One of the first to put them was the American Herbert Shelton. Oh, this was a unique person! He lived for almost a hundred years and died as a result of an accident, in the prime of his creative ideas and new ideas, being an unusually cheerful, cheerful, healthy and successful person. This fact alone, you see, deserves some respect.

And besides, Shelton - this great physician, philosopher, humanist of the twentieth century - was a doctor of medicine, pediatrics, surgery, nutrition, philosophy, literature ... Wrote more than forty scientific papers, translated into dozens of languages, for many years chaired the International Society of Hygienists , was the editor-in-chief of the English journal Hygienic Review. Long before his unexpected departure, Shelton became a real guru for all who seek to achieve health through natural methods.

The methods and approaches of natural hygiene are fundamentally at odds with traditional medicine. It is clear: one side relies on natural health remedies, the other - on medicines. And these two beginnings - pardon the banality - are like ice and fire, a cat and a mouse, a wife and a mistress. They have been fighting fiercely and desperately for thousands of years. And, in essence, there is only one stumbling block: how can one cure a sick person?

Shelton notes that the current Western medicine originated in the Greek colonies of Asia Minor at the turn of the 5th-4th centuries BC, "in a period of complete disregard for anatomy, physiology, pathology and other sciences." And it is connected directly with the name of the supposedly great Hippocrates. However, Shelton categorically asserts: the cult of this pundit was artificially inflated. And the works attributed to Hippocrates most likely do not contain a single line written by him. In fact, our knowledge of the historical Hippocrates is borrowed almost entirely from Plato. But can one source be trusted?

What is really known? Around 460 B.C. on the island of Kos in Asia Minor, a man named Hippocrates was born, who later served as a priest of a famous temple, and also practiced medicine. And after some time there was a myth that Hippocrates is the father of medicine. And this despite the fact that there are actually no medical works belonging to his pen. For a century, medical works were simply attributed to him, mainly by the physicians of the medical school on the island of Kos, and in addition, early Greek treatises, which were collected together by Alexandrian scholars of the third century. It's funny, isn't it?

The great myth of Hippocrates, Shelton writes, has been in the making for centuries. "Since the manuscripts of the past, of which almost all are anonymous, were collected in the Library of Alexandria, readers believed that they had discovered the "doctrines of Hippocrates" in many anonymous manuscripts of the 5th-4th centuries BC. Even in those days, some scholars disputed their authorship. But as time passed, readers became less and less critical, and the collection of "Works of Hippocrates" continued to grow until it included almost all the anonymous works of the classical age of Greece.

I swear by Apollo the physician, Asclepius, Hygiea and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses, taking them as witnesses, to fulfill honestly, according to my strength and my understanding, the following oath and written obligation: to consider the one who taught me the medical art on an equal footing with my parents, to share with him with their wealth and, if necessary, help him in his needs; consider his offspring as his brothers, and this is an art, if they want to study it, to teach them free of charge and without any contract; instructions, oral lessons and everything else in the teaching to communicate to their sons, the sons of their teacher and students bound by obligation and oath according to medical law, but to no one else.

I direct the regime of the sick for their benefit, according to my ability and my understanding, refraining from causing any harm and injustice. I will not give to anyone the lethal agent asked of me, nor show the way for such a design; likewise, I will not hand any woman an abortion pessary. Purely and undefiled shall I conduct my life and my art. In no case will I make sections in those suffering from stone disease, leaving it to people involved in this matter. Whatever house I enter, I will enter there for the benefit of the sick, being far from any intentional, unrighteous and destructive, especially from love affairs with women and men, free and slaves.

Whatever, during treatment - and also without treatment - I see or hear about human life from what should never be divulged, I will keep silent about it, considering such things a secret. To me, who inviolably fulfills the oath, may happiness be given in life and in art, and glory among all people for all eternity, while transgressing and giving a false oath, may it be the opposite.

By the way, about the famous Hippocratic oath given by doctors. Referring to the opinions of historians, Shelton writes: "The famous Hippocratic oath is only a restoration of the ethical instructions formulated by the Egyptian priests." At the same time, there are several variants of the oath, and all of them, most likely, appeared a long time after the death of Hippocrates.

Well, well, suppose there was such a great doctor Hippocrates, and all his works were written by him with his own hand. Shelton admits that although there is a lot of nonsense in them, there is "a lot of real hygiene, indicating that whoever the authors of these works were, they were influenced by practical temple medicine."

What is meant? Initially, doctors of the Hippocratic school actively used natural methods of treatment - rest, fasting, diet, exercise, sun and water baths. And then they began to expand the use of those magical substances that later became known as medicines, endowing them with medical properties. And, abandoning the means of nature, they began to actively impose on people "a miserable slavish dependence on disease-causing poisons. Only step by step, medicinal practice took precedence over the ability to regulate the patient's lifestyle ... The growing aggressiveness of the means characterized the evolution of medicine since its inception around the 4th century BC. The School of Hippocrates was predominantly a school of medicinal treatment.

It should be noted that the teaching of the Hippocratic corpus in literature is inseparable from the name of Hippocrates. At the same time, it is certain that not all, but only some of the treatises of the Corpus belong directly to Hippocrates. Due to the impossibility of isolating the direct contribution of the "father of medicine" and the contradictions of researchers about the authorship of this or that treatise, in most modern medical literature, the entire legacy of the Corpus is attributed to Hippocrates.

Hippocrates is one of the first who taught that diseases arise due to natural causes, rejecting the existing superstitions about the intervention of the gods. He singled out medicine as a separate science, separating it from religion, for which he went down in history as the "father of medicine." In the works of the Corpus there are some of the first prototypes of "case histories" - descriptions of the course of diseases.

The teaching of Hippocrates was that the disease is not a punishment of the gods, but a consequence of natural factors, malnutrition, habits and the nature of human life. In the collection of Hippocrates there is not a single mention of a mystical character in the origin of diseases. At the same time, the teachings of Hippocrates in many cases were based on incorrect premises, erroneous anatomical and physiological data, and the doctrine of vital juices.

During the time of Hippocrates, there was a ban on opening the human body. In this regard, doctors had a very superficial knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. Also at that time there were two competing medical schools - Kos and Knidos.

  • The Knidos school focused its attention on isolating one symptom or another, depending on which the treatment was prescribed.
  • The Kos school, to which Hippocrates belonged, tried to find the cause of the disease. The treatment consisted in observing the patient, creating such a regime in which the body itself would cope with the disease. Hence one of the fundamental principles of the doctrine "Do no harm".

The merit of Hippocrates lies in the allocation of the main types of temperament, in the fact that, according to I.P. Pavlov, he "caught the capital features in the mass of countless variants of human behavior." The merit of Hippocrates is also the definition of staging in the course of various diseases. Considering the disease as a developing phenomenon, he introduced the concept of the stage of the disease. The most dangerous moment, according to Hippocrates, was " a crisis". During a crisis, a person either died, or natural processes won, after which his condition improved. With various diseases, he singled out critical days - days from the onset of the disease, when the crisis was most likely and dangerous.

The merit of Hippocrates is the description of the methods of examination of patients - auscultation and palpation. He studied in detail the nature of secretions (sputum, excrement, urine) in various diseases. When examining a patient, he already used such techniques as percussion, auscultation, palpation, of course, in the most primitive form.

Hippocrates is also known as an outstanding surgeon of antiquity. His writings describe how to use dressings (simple, spiral, diamond-shaped, "Hippocratic cap", etc.), treat fractures and dislocations with traction and special devices ("Hippocratic bench"), treat wounds, fistulas, hemorrhoids, empyema. In addition, Hippocrates described the rules for the position of the surgeon and his hands during the operation, placement of instruments, lighting during the operation.

Hippocrates laid out the principles of rational dietetics and pointed out the need to nourish the sick, even the febrile. To this end, he pointed out the necessary diets for various diseases.

Thus, the followers of Hippocrates laid down the structure that modern medicine diligently follows. Here Shelton is very categorical: “Now medicine is characterized by quackery to the same extent as in the days of Hippocrates ... In his writings one can find words that reflect one of the most fatal deceptions that dominated the minds of physicians. Modern physicians still adhere to this lie. There is nothing more terrible than a practice based on the principle: the more sick the patient, the more desperate his condition, the weaker he is, the more he needs radical remedies.When the patient's ability to resist is reduced and he is easy to kill, doctors offer him the most dangerous treatment.

Thus, the role of Hippocrates (imaginary or real - it does not matter) is very great. It was after him that the great and final schism occurred. Medicine hopelessly split into two parts, desperately at odds with each other: medicinal and natural. Both have grandiose victories and desperate defeats. Which one to choose - decide for yourself.

Hippocrates on medicine

  • Marriage is an upside down fever: it starts hot and ends cold.
  • Your food must be your medicine and your medicine must be your food.
  • In any illness, not to lose the presence of mind and keep the taste for food is a good sign; the opposite is bad.
  • The doctor is a philosopher; for there is no great difference between wisdom and medicine.
  • Everything is good in moderation.
  • Any excess is contrary to nature.
  • The action of dietary agents is long, and the effect of drugs is transient.
  • The human soul develops until death.
  • Life is short
    And the path of art is long,
    Convenient occasion is fleeting
    Experiment is dangerous and judgment
    Complicated.
  • Healing is a matter of time, but sometimes it is also a matter of opportunity.
  • Just as clothiers clean cloth, knocking it out of dust, so gymnastics cleanses the body.
  • The doctor heals the disease, but nature heals.
  • Medicine is truly the noblest of all the arts.
  • Some patients, despite the consciousness of doom, recover only because they are confident in the skill of the doctor.
  • Neither satiety, nor hunger, and nothing else is good if one transgresses the measure of nature.
  • Doctor's first commandment: Do no harm!
  • The opposite is cured by the opposite.
  • Burning himself, always shine to others (doctors).
  • How many stars are in the sky, so many deceptions are kept by a woman's heart.
  • Old people get sick less than young people, but their illnesses end only with life.
  • If you want to be a real surgeon, follow the army.

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