Over the span of history, numerous civilizations have tried to obliterate pain. Various methods have been applied, some with success, others with failure. However, from Ancient China to Ancient Greece, the basic belief that a higher being was responsible for ailments remained stable. People mistakenly believed that illnesses were caused by superstitions, a disfavor of the gods, or possession of evil spirits. People believed that man was not responsible for medicine and therefore, had no power to cure illnesses.
These early people believed that ailments were caused by forces out of mans reach. These diseases were therefore “prevented and treated by magic directed against supernatural forces” (Haggard 10). These beliefs gave rise to the shaman and medicine man; spiritual men who tried to rid the patient of demons through herbal concoctions. This way of thinking was changed in the 5th century during the Dawn of Hippocrates, by the Greek physician Hippocrates. Hippocrates, known as the “Father of Medicine,” was born on the island of Cos, Greek in 460 BC.
He is regarded as the founder of medicine and argued against the theory that illness was caused by supernatural forces, thereby freeing ancient medicine from superstition and shifting it towards science. “Under his influence, the shackles of mysticism, which had bound medicine for so long, were at last cast off. With Hippocrates, medicine entered the stage of Reason based upon observation, and for the first time it acknowledged the unknown. By… careful, painstaking observation and inquiry, the physician became a servant of nature- a doctor instead of a sorcerer” (“History of Medicine” 3).
Hippocrates taught physicians to base their knowledge on their careful observation of their patients, and by seeing how they responded to certain medications (Martin 145-146). He believed that by studying enough patients, a doctor could predict the course of a disease, which is today known as prognosis. He was a key component in the movement to rid Ancient Greece of medical beliefs that revolved mainly around religious ideas. Hippocrates believed in the holistic approach towards medicine, which viewed the body as a whole and not just a series of parts.
“He accurately described disease symptoms and was the first physician to accurately describe the symptoms of pneumonia, as well as epilepsy in children” (Pomeroy 145-146). He made tremendous advancements in having medical treatment and diagnosis be based on a scientific discipline. He believed that good health was based on a nutritious diet, exercise, rest, cleanliness, and fresh air, which is known as preventive medicine, a belief that most doctors stress the importance of even today. Hippocrates also stated that “Walking is a man’s best medicine,” which many doctors still agree upon.
He believed that each individual’s illness was unique and varied in the severity of symptoms. He wrote a treatise entitled “Air, Water, and Places,” which states that climate and environment have a large impact on health. His treatise laid the foundation for epidemiology, which is a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population. He was the first physician that held the belief that thoughts, ideas, and feelings come from the brain, not the heart, which psychologists later proved to be correct.
Hippocrates set an oath called The Hippocratic Oath, which has been a guide for medical practitioners for over two thousand years. “In the oath, the physicians promise to respect the physicians who taught them and to hand on their knowledge only to their teachers’ sons and their paying apprentices” (Pomeroy 460-462). The oath also states that a person practicing medicine must be completely honest with their patients, doing their best to protect and save their lives. A doctor cannot use their craft to harm people in any such way, or to perform abortions and euthanasia (Pomeroy 460).
Abortions and euthanasia are still strongly opposed, even in the twenty-first century, although pro-choice doctors are now choosing to perform abortions, and it has become legal in United States. Hippocrates’s Hippocratic Oath has become a standard in the medical field and is administered during the graduation ceremonies of all modern medical schools. In the United States of America, a physician that is found to have violated the Hippocratic Oath will lose their license to practice medicine.
Hippocrates immense knowledge in the field of medicine not only gave him a spot in history, but also helped shape the face of modern medicine. His novel ideas about the causes of disease and ways to prevent them have helped generations of people throughout the world. His innovative ideas about preventive medicine, prognosis and diagnosis, and the rejection of the theory of the supernatural causing ailments, helped turn medicine into a science. Pain will inevitably be present until the end of mankind, but the Hippocratic Oath will help insure that patients receive the proper care and treatment for their illnesses.