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Galen's understanding of anatomy and medicine was principally influenced by the then-current theory of the four humors: black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm, as first advanced by the author of On the Nature of Man in the Hippocratic corpus. [11] Galen's views dominated and influenced Western medical science for more than 1,300 years.
The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. [ 2 ][ 3 ] Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments.
Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. The Greek term for medicine was iatrikē (Ancient Greek: ἰατρική). Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specifically, the ancient Greeks ...
People believed that the human body contained four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. [1] Illnesses and problems were understood as being caused by dyscrasia, or an imbalance in the four humours. Treatments for disease had the aim of restoring a balance, curing the patient.
Other fifth-century works include On Fleshes, Epidemics I and III (c. 410 BC), On Ancient Medicine, On Regimen in Acute Diseases, and Polybus' On the Nature of Man/Regimen in Health (410–400 BC). [20] At the end of the fifth or the beginning of the fourth century, one author likely wrote Epidemics II–IV–VI and On the Humors.
The theory of humours was derived from the ancient medical works and was accepted until the 19th century. The theory stated that within every individual there were four humours , or principal fluids – black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood, these were produced by various organs in the body, and they had to be in balance for a person to ...
The humoral theory of medicine was central to medicine during antiquity and for centuries following. Physicians believed that the body contained a mixture of bodily fluids, the four humors: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. They assessed a patient's degree of health based on the balance of these four bodily fluids.
In ancient Greek medicine, each of the four humours became associated with an element. Blood was the humor identified with air, since both were hot and wet. Other things associated with air and blood in ancient and medieval medicine included the season of spring, since it increased the qualities of heat and moisture; the sanguine temperament (of a person dominated by the blood humour ...