There\u2019s been a lot in the news lately about the medical profession \u2014 most of it not particularly good. We keep hearing about all the \u201cburn-outs\u201d due to an overworked profession and then of course there\u2019s the occasional medical \u201cscandal\u201d at some hospital, the VA, or somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyhow, I was thinking about doctors \u2014 when I was growing up there was no doctor in Maysville until I was maybe about in high school \u2014 then there was one doctor. I\u2019m sure there isn\u2019t one there today. I\u2019ve been to lots of doctors in various countries and from my perspective, across the board they\u2019re much better right here in the good old USA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t have one in Maysville, but years ago, there were the witch doctors \u2014 many years ago, most people thought illness was a result of evil spirits and preferred to take their medical complaints to the local healer.\u00a0
Then about 2,500 years ago Hippocrates came along and hung out his shingle on the Greek island of Cos \u2014 and he had his work cut out for him. But he persevered and even established a medical school where he taught his new fangled ideas to the future doctors of Greece. He\u2019s now known as \u201cthe Father of Medicine,\u201d and even today, all medical school graduates in the U.S. take the oath he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His biggest contribution was that he treated patients based on scientific evidence. Well, at least mostly scientific anyway.
He was one of the first doctors to believe that disease wasn\u2019t a punishment from the gods. He thought disease was the result of lack of balance in the body. He also believed in the importance of moderation in all things \u2014 working, eating drinking, exercising, sleeping, etc. to prevent disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\u2026 the use of fasts and diets to cleanse the body, the importance of fresh air and a good diet, and the danger of being too overweight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of his innovations included:
Putting his ear to his patients\u2019 chest to check their lungs.
Aligning fractures
Popping dislocations back in place
Draining pus from infections.
All this sounds pretty obvious to us but it was incredibly groundbreaking at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For all he got right, we can forgive him for a few mistakes. His biggest was his belief in the theory that every living thing contains certain mixtures of four elements, called \u201chumours:\u201d \u2014 black bile, phlegm, yellow bile, and blood. These four humours had to be in balance or illness would result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His Hippocratic Oath is still taken by doctors today \u2014 the oath lists the responsibilities of the physician to the patient \u2014 to work for the good of the patient, to do him or her no harm, to prescribe no deadly drugs, and to keep confidential any medical information regarding the patient \u2014 and the rights of the patient under the physician\u2019s care. It warns doctors against overcharging (???) overdressing and wearing perfume. It encourages a pleasing bedside manner, but not too pleasing, because it forbids the doctor to have sex with patients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though Hippocrates gets all the credit, what\u2019s considered his discoveries and beliefs is probably the collective results of the work of many students at his medical school. And even though he was wrong about a few things, he probably earned the title \u201cFather of Medicine.\u201d
Many of his quotes make a lot of sense today\u2026..
\u201cPrayer indeed is good, but while calling on the gods, a man should himself lend a hand.\u201d
\u201cLet food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.\u201d
\u201cTo do nothing is also a good remedy.\u201d
So Hippocrates had lots of good advice, but my grandmother had pretty good advice too \u2014 she always said you should never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s been a lot in the news lately about the medical profession \u2014 most of it not particularly good. We keep hearing about all the \u201cburn-outs\u201d due to an overworked profession and then of course there\u2019s the occasional medical \u201cscandal\u201d … Continue reading