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Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. Many components were considered in Ancient Greek Medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specifically, the theories and ideologies from which Ancient Greek Medicine derived included the humors, gender, geographic location, social class, diet, trauma, beliefs, and mind set. Early on, Ancient Greeks believed that illnesses were “divine punishments” and that healing was a “gift from the Gods.” (Cartwright, Mark in “Greek Medicine.”) As trials continued wherein theories were tested against symptoms and results, Ancient Greek medicine also grew such that the pure spiritual beliefs as to “punishments” and “gifts” were converted to a foundation based in the physical, i.e., cause and effect.〔Cartwright, Mark. Greek Medicine. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited, UK, 2013. (http://www.ancient.eu.com/Greek_Medicine/). Retrieved Nov. 9, 2013.〕 Humorism refers to blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. It was also theorized that gender played a role in medicine because some diseases and treatments were different for women than for men. Moreover, geographic location and social class affected the living conditions of the people and might subject them to different environmental issues such as mosquitoes, rats, and availability of clean drinking water. Diet was thought to be an issue as well and might be affected by a lack of access to adequate nourishment. Trauma, such as suffered by gladiators, or from dog bites or other injury played a role in theories relating to understanding anatomy, and infections. Additionally there was significant focus on the beliefs and mind set of the patient in the diagnosis and treatment theories. It was recognized that the mind played a role in healing, or that it might also be the sole basis for the illness.〔Bendick, Jeanne. “Galen – And the Gateway to Medicine.” Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, 2002. ISBN 1-883937-75-2.〕 Ancient Greek medicine began to revolve around the theory of humors. Humoral theory states that good health comes from perfect balance of the four humors blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Consequently, poor health resulted from improper balance of the four humors. Hippocrates, known as the "Father of Modern Medicine", established a medical school at Kos and is the most important figure in ancient Greek medicine.〔Atlas of Anatomy, ed. Giunti Editorial Group, Taj Books LTD 2002, p. 9〕 Hippocrates and his students documented numerous illnesses in the ''Hippocratic Corpus'', and developed the Hippocratic Oath for physicians, which is still in use today. The contributions to ancient Greek medicine of Hippocrates, Socrates and others had a lasting influence on Islamic medicine and Medieval European medicine until many of their findings eventually became obsolete in the 14th century. The earliest known Greek medical school opened in Cnidus in 700 BC. Alcmaeon, author of the first anatomical compilation, worked at this school, and it was here that the practice of observing patients was established. Despite their known respect for Egyptian medicine, attempts to discern any particular influence on Greek practice at this early time have not been dramatically successful because of the lack of sources and the challenge of understanding ancient medical terminology. It is clear, however, that the Greeks imported Egyptian substances into their pharmacopoeia, and the influence became more pronounced after the establishment of a school of Greek medicine in Alexandria.〔Heinrich Von Staden, ''Herophilus: The Art of Medicine in Early Alexandria'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 1-26.〕 ==Hippocrates and Hippocratic medicine== A towering figure in the history of medicine was the physician Hippocrates of Kos (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC), considered the "Father of Modern Medicine."〔(Hippocrates: The "Greek Miracle" in Medicine )〕〔(The Father of Modern Medicine: Hippocrates )〕 The ''Hippocratic Corpus'' is a collection of about seventy early medical works from ancient Greece that are associated with Hippocrates and his students. Hippocrates famously wrote the Hippocratic Oath which is relevant and in use by physicians to this day. The existence of the Hippocratic Oath implies that this "Hippocratic" medicine was practiced by a group of professional physicians bound (at least among themselves) by a strict ethical code. Aspiring students normally paid a fee for training (a provision is made for exceptions) and entered into a virtual family relationship with his teacher. This training included some oral instruction and probably hands-on experience as the teacher's assistant, since the Oath assumes that the student will be interacting with patients. The Oath also places limits on what the physician may or may not do ("To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug") and intriguingly hints at the existence of another class of professional specialists, perhaps akin to surgeons ("I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art").〔Owsei Temkin, "What Does the Hippocratic Oath Say?", in ''"On Second Thought" and Other Essays in the History of Medicine'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), pp. 21-28.〕 Hippocrates and his followers were first to describe many diseases and medical conditions. He is given credit for the first description of clubbing of the fingers, an important diagnostic sign in chronic suppurative lung disease, lung cancer and cyanotic heart disease. For this reason, clubbed fingers are sometimes referred to as "Hippocratic fingers". Hippocrates was also the first physician to describe Hippocratic face in ''Prognosis''. Shakespeare famously alludes to this description when writing of Falstaff's death in Act II, Scene iii. of ''Henry V''. Hippocrates began to categorize illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic, and use terms such as, "exacerbation, relapse, resolution, crisis, paroxysm, peak, and convalescence." Another of Hippocrates's major contributions may be found in his descriptions of the symptomatology, physical findings, surgical treatment and prognosis of thoracic empyema, i.e. suppuration of the lining of the chest cavity and hair loss and baldness. His teachings remain relevant to present-day students of pulmonary medicine and surgery.〔 Hippocrates was the first documented chest surgeon and his findings are still valid. The ''Hippocratic Corpus'' contains the core medical texts of this school. Although once thought to have been written by Hippocrates himself, today, many scholars believe that these texts were written by a series of authors over several decades.〔Vivian Nutton'Ancient Medicine'(Routledge 2004)〕 Since it is impossible to determine which may have been written by Hippocrates himself, it is difficult to know which Hippocratic doctrines originated with him. The idea that diseases have natural, and not divine causes is a critical point in Hippocratic medicine. Additionally, the emergence of regimens containing diet and exercise, humors, and purging can all be attributed to Hippocratic medicine. Purging included bloodletting, emetics, laxatives, diuretics, and enemas. Physicians would first examine the face, eyes, hands, posture, breathing, sleep, stool, urine, vomit, and sputum of their patients. They would also check for coughing, hiccupping, flatulence, fever, convulsions, pustules, tumors and lesions. Hippocrates noted that to treat burns Greek and Roman doctors would use pig fat, resin and bitumen. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ancient Greek medicine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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