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fandomhigh2010-02-03 12:20 pm
notsobadatall.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2010-02-03 12:20 pm
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History of Medicine - Second Period - Wednesday, 2/03
Nick looked somewhat unhappy in class today, unhappy and a little bit on edge. That said, there was nothing actually wrong or out of line in the way he conducted class. Just a lack of joy.
"Today, we'll be doing the medicine of Ancient Greece. Our lesson will focus on, obviously, Hippocrates as well as his another physician, Galens, who extended some of his ideas while also adding his own."
He leaned against his desk.
"All of you have heard of the Hippocratic oath, I'm sure, but for those who haven't, there's a copy on each of your desks. The basic idea behind this oath is that a healer, someone working in the medical arts, would always do his best to provide the best care possible. Also, that he would do no harm to the patient. It's a guiding principle for medicine even today, with almost any doctor you would know having sworn it. But, of course, there's more to Hippocrates than just that oath."
He started pacing in front of the board, pausing to think every few moments before he finally spoke.
"Hippocrates cleared medicine of the magic and superstition that had proceeded him. Illness did not come from demons or monsters, but from imbalances in the human body. He said that the physician should observe a disease as much as possible and treat it according to what was observed, not as the Egyptians did, with pre-written remedies for every ailment. He also believed that surgery, as it was dangerous and not always successful, should be held off unless absolutely necessary."
Nick managed a small smile at the class.
"But he's best known for his work with the theory of the four humors, a medical idea which persisted well into Western history. Now, the four humors started up with Aristotle, but it was Hippocrates and his followers who argued that each humor would more than likely be effected during it's season. The humors, which were bodily liquids, were blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, and their seasons were as follows: yellow Bile with summer, black bile with autumn, phlegm with winter and blood with spring. If you were wondering where 'bleeding' of patients came from, you can look to Hippocrates; it was his method of dealing with too much 'blood' in the balance."
He breathed out then, glancing at those Danger Shop windows, the ones that had very nice sunlight eeking through them.
"Galens, on the other hand, was known for his physiology. A supporter of observation and reasoning, he was one of the first experimental physiologists, researching the function of the kidneys and the spinal cord in controlled experiments. His main message involved the believe that observation and experimentation should be the most important part of a doctor's research in general, that to understand the functions of the body would be to know it's disease. Sounding pretty modern now, isn't it?"
[ocd up!]
"Today, we'll be doing the medicine of Ancient Greece. Our lesson will focus on, obviously, Hippocrates as well as his another physician, Galens, who extended some of his ideas while also adding his own."
He leaned against his desk.
"All of you have heard of the Hippocratic oath, I'm sure, but for those who haven't, there's a copy on each of your desks. The basic idea behind this oath is that a healer, someone working in the medical arts, would always do his best to provide the best care possible. Also, that he would do no harm to the patient. It's a guiding principle for medicine even today, with almost any doctor you would know having sworn it. But, of course, there's more to Hippocrates than just that oath."
He started pacing in front of the board, pausing to think every few moments before he finally spoke.
"Hippocrates cleared medicine of the magic and superstition that had proceeded him. Illness did not come from demons or monsters, but from imbalances in the human body. He said that the physician should observe a disease as much as possible and treat it according to what was observed, not as the Egyptians did, with pre-written remedies for every ailment. He also believed that surgery, as it was dangerous and not always successful, should be held off unless absolutely necessary."
Nick managed a small smile at the class.
"But he's best known for his work with the theory of the four humors, a medical idea which persisted well into Western history. Now, the four humors started up with Aristotle, but it was Hippocrates and his followers who argued that each humor would more than likely be effected during it's season. The humors, which were bodily liquids, were blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, and their seasons were as follows: yellow Bile with summer, black bile with autumn, phlegm with winter and blood with spring. If you were wondering where 'bleeding' of patients came from, you can look to Hippocrates; it was his method of dealing with too much 'blood' in the balance."
He breathed out then, glancing at those Danger Shop windows, the ones that had very nice sunlight eeking through them.
"Galens, on the other hand, was known for his physiology. A supporter of observation and reasoning, he was one of the first experimental physiologists, researching the function of the kidneys and the spinal cord in controlled experiments. His main message involved the believe that observation and experimentation should be the most important part of a doctor's research in general, that to understand the functions of the body would be to know it's disease. Sounding pretty modern now, isn't it?"
[ocd up!]