CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.
Today’s History Feature:
Hippocrates
(460 BC – 370 BC)
💠 Greek Physician
💠 Father of Clinical Medicine
His contributions:
- Hippocrates was raised in Greek Island of Kos around the year 460 BC.
- He learned medicine from his father and grandfather. He was probably trained at the Askleipion of Kos, it was believed to be a healing temple, located in ancient Greece and dedicated to Asclepius – the God of medicine in Greek mythology.
- In fact, Hippocrates was highly praised for being the first person who believed that diseases were caused naturally and not because of superstition and the supernatural.
- He also separated the discipline of medicine from religion by believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the God but rather the influence of environmental factors, diet, and living habits.
- He emphasised that the signs and symptoms of a disease were caused by the natural reactions of the body to the disease process.
- Subsequently, he introduced the approaches such as friendly, sympathetic, pleasing and painless treatment to patients in medical practice. One of the strengths of his medicine was its emphasis on prognosis.
- Furthermore, he was the first to divide diseases into Acute and Chronic.
- He then established the first intellectual school called “Hippocratic school of Medicine” devoted to teaching the practice of medicine.
- Actually, his intellectual school revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece and established medicine as a profession and a discipline distinct from other fields.
- His Eponyms…
- 🔅 Hippocrates facies – Sunken appearance of face in dehydration
- 🔅 Hippocratic fingers – Clubbing of the fingers
- 🔅 Hippocratic succussion splash – A clinical test for obstruction of the pylorus of stomach
- 🔅 Hippocrates bandages
- His collected writings “Hippocratic Corpus” provides a wealth of information on diagnosis, epidemics, obstetrics, pediatrics, nutrition and surgery.
- His book also included the Hippocratic oath – an ancient code of ethics for physicians. Even today, the oath is valued as a historic example of medical ethics and principles.
The Most Outstanding Figure in the History of Medicine
Hippocrates 🙏🏼
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Very interesting, & informative
History of Medicine is the soul of Medicine. So many things came into mind how they have evolved. A marvellous mode of CME.