Preview  Galen and Hippocrates – Who were they?

 

d Hippocrates – Who were they?

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” — Hippocrates, father of medicine, 431 B.C.  🍏🍌🍒🍅🌶🍆🍑🍉🍎🍐🍇🍍🥒🥕🥝🍓🍊🍋🍈

There is truly a cornucopia of nutritional benefits that have been:

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Hippocratic theory

Hippocrates is credited with being the first person to believe that diseases were caused naturally, not because of superstition and gods. Hippocrates was credited by the disciples of Pythagoras of allying philosophy and medicine. He separated the discipline of medicine from religion, believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the product of environmental factors, diet, and living habits. Indeed there is not a single mention of a mystical illness in the entirety of the Hippocratic Corpus. However, Hippocrates did work with many convictions that were based on what is now known to be incorrect anatomy and physiology, such as Humourism.

A   VISIT   TO   COS:

          IN   SEARCH   OF   ORIGINS   AND   TRADITIONS*

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In ancient Greece, the knowledge of Medicine was imparted at Medical Schools and such institutions of Learning were known as ‘Askleipion’.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – WHOLE MEDICINE: This ancient School of Medicine is called the ‘Askleipion’ and this could be the Hippocratic Medical School of Kos, Greece.

Humorism

The Hippocratic school held that illness was the result of an imbalance in the body of the four humours, fluids which were naturally equal in proportion (pepsis). When the four humours, blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm, were not in balance (dyscrasia, meaning “bad mixture”), a person would become sick and remain that way until the balance was somehow restored. Hippocratic therapy was directed towards restoring this balance. For instance, utilizing citrus was thought to be beneficial when an overabundance of phlegm was suspected.

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rn from Ancient Greek medicine?

Ancient Greek schools of medicine were split (into the Knidian and Koan) on how to deal with disease. The Knidian School of medicine focused on diagnosis. Medicine at the time of Hippocrates knew almost nothing of human anatomy and physiology because of the Greek taboo forbidding the dissection of humans. The Knidian School consequently failed to distinguish when one disease caused many possible series of symptoms. The Hippocratic School or Koan School achieved greater success by applying general diagnoses and passive treatments. Its focus was on patient care and prognosis, not diagnosis. It could effectively treat diseases and allowed for a great development in clinical practice.

Crisis

Another important concept in Hippocratic medicine was that of a crisis, a point in the progression of disease at which either the illness would begin to triumph and the patient would succumb to death, or the opposite would occur and natural processes would make the patient recover. After a crisis, a relapse might follow, and then another deciding crisis. According to this doctrine, crises tend to occur on critical days, which were supposed to be a fixed time after the contraction of a disease. If a crisis occurred on a day far from a critical day, a relapse might be expected.

Hippocratic medicine was humble and passive. The therapeutic approach was based on “the healing power of nature” (“vis medicatrix naturae” in Latin). According to this doctrine, the body contains within itself the power to re-balance the four humours and heal itself (physis). Hippocratic therapy focused on simply easing this natural process. To this end, Hippocrates believed “rest and immobilization [were] of capital importance.” In general, the Hippocratic medicine was very kind to the patient; treatment was gentle, and emphasized keeping the patient clean and sterile. For example, only clean water or wine were ever used on wounds, though “dry” treatment was preferable.

Hippocrates was reluctant to administer drugs and engage in specialized treatment that might prove to be wrongly chosen; generalized therapy followed a generalized diagnosis. However, potent drugs were used on certain occasions. This passive approach was very successful in treating relatively simple ailments such as broken bones which required traction to stretch the skeletal system and relieve pressure on the injured area. The Hippocratic bench and other devices were used to this end.

One of the strengths of Hippocratic medicine was its emphasis on prognosis. At Hippocrates’ time, medicinal therapy was quite immature, and often the best thing that physicians could do was to evaluate an illness and predict its likely progression based upon data collected in detailed case histories.

Related Articles:

Spiritualism – The Biological Basis of Spirituality

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MEDICINE – THE CONCEPT OF WHOLE MEDICINE:

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE SPIRITUAL BASIS FOR HEALTH:

If the term Soul or Spirit describes the vital, animating principle that governs and operates the existence of the human organism, its nature and functions can be derived from studying the structure and functions of the Red Blood Cell or Erythrocyte which simply exists to integrate and to harmonize the functions of trillions of individual cells, tissues, and the organ systems that constitute the Whole Person who exists as an Individual with Individuality. Health is that condition of the body in which the physiological elements are in balance and in which the various parts function harmoniously with one another. Health represents harmony or good order, or equilibrium in the body. I describe Spirituality as the operating Principle that generates this functional unity, good order, and equilibrium among the cells, tissues, organs, and the organ systems that comprise the human organism and the human Individual who exists because of these functions experiences Peace, Harmony, and Tranquility in his living condition.

The Theory of Medicine will determine the nature of The Art of Medicine that is practiced to establish the Physician – Patient Relationship. If The Art of Medicine is based upon Spirituality Science, the Physician – Patient Relationship will have a Spiritual basis. I would ask my readers to give attention to the problems of modern medical practice and we need a Medical Theory that would have a bearing on the following three aspects of The Art of Medicine:

1.  Is Health is better served by the General Practitioner treating the Whole Man or by a Specialist treating a functionally differentiated Special Organ or Organ System?

2. What should be the nature of the Physician-Patient relationship? Is there a therapeutic factor in the relationship that underlines the effectiveness of the Physician’s skills in all other respects?

3. What is the interaction between mind and body in the origin and in the cure of disease?

Related Articles:

SPIRITUALISM AND KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE

SPIRITUALISM AND THE KEY TO HUMAN NATURE

THE STATUS OF MAN IN NATURE

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Most of our food shopping, if not all, is purchased in supermarkets where we are at the mercy of the food industry. The practices modern farming employs, methods used for storing, processing and cooking foods and the formulations used for convenience packaged and canned food are seriously to blame for foodstuff’s which are both deficient and produce out-of-balance distorted nutrients; these are heavily contaminated with additives and toxins which further compromise the immune system.

So, in view of this, what measures can we take to ensure our on-going health in these conditions?  By far the best idea is to look to strengthening  our immune system so that we are better protected from toxins in our food and the many and varied environmental toxins affecting everybody detrimentally every day of our lives.

To strengthen our immune system, we must first and foremost stop, or drastically reduce, our consumption of foods which add to our already over-burdened system and then attempt to clear toxins which are already present.  A two-pronged attack one might say.  In these circumstances, the foods we should be choosing should be very nutrient-dense,  minimising both exogenous and endogenous toxins, encourage good absorption and toxin elimination from the tissues.  This in turn will facilitate toxin removal from the  body via the organs of excretion, particularly the out-of-balance nutrients which the body holds in excess.

Extra nutrients necessary to reverse deficiencies  and to facilitate toxin removal should be based on individual idiosyncrasies and defined via a nutritionally qualified practitioner as self-diagnosis can be difficult and ineffective.

Firstly the enemies of the immune system, some of which are smoke (tobacco and other – incinerators, chimneys, etc.), stress, pollution (busy roads, industry, etc.), radiation, pesticides, carcinogenic chemicals (domestic and industrial), drugs (legal and illegal, medical, etc. – these require medical supervision for reduction or elimination – do not try it alone), food additives (especially colours and flavours), incorrect balance of food (too much sugar, salt or fat), accidents, obesity or starvation, using dangerous forms of weight reduction, inappropriate exercise, genetic defects, infection (from bacteria, viruses, worms, etc.), negative attitudes to life – unhappiness, etc.

Some reasons for boosting your immune system, by way of eating and drinking habits are:-

1. How fast you age is determined by your immune system.
2. Your immune system fights off the viruses, bacteria, etc, which try to attack you, from the common but irritating ones like the cold, flu and thrush to serious problems such as Legionaire’s disease and Aids.
3. The immune system has the power to destroy cancerous cells, as they develop.
4. Every day your immune system clears the body’s waste disposal system,  ridding dead cells, toxic chemicals, dead bacteria, etc.
5. Radiation and chemical pollutant effects are minimised by the immune system when working effectively.
6. Allergies and auto-immune problems, like arthritis are caused by a poorly functioning immune system.
7. A struggling immune system predisposes you to being ill more often, for longer periods of time and for more days of your life.
8. With a strong immune system you are virtually invincible and should be able to lead a long, vigorous and healthy life.

A great priority is the ingestion of pure water.  It does depend on a person’s bodyweight, exercise expenditure and the type of food one eats, but, as a generality, four pints of water should be consumed over and above any other liquid intake on a daily basis.  This is to be still, uncontaminated with stimulants, sugars, flavourings or heavy minerals, such as in some bottled waters.  Taking at least this amount gives man health benefits, but in the area I am discussing in this article, it will greatly assist in cleansing the cells and removing toxins.

On the  subject of fluids, remove, or drastically restrict stimulant-containing beverages such as coffee, tea, colas, cordials, fruit drinks and spring waters.  These are all diuretics and cause the body to lose more water than is being replaced, putting most organs, especially the adrenal system, under stress.  The serious effects upon which will, at the very least, manifest in episodes of blood sugar imbalances, hypoglycaemia, and, if carried on for long periods of time, can eventually result in adult-onset diabetes.  Furthermore, ingestion of caffeine from coffee, tea colas and lots of pharmaceutical preparations (and chocolate!) will, in sensitive people, produce digestive and nervous upsets, made worse  by eating processed foods.  Everyone’s mineral absorption is affected negatively  by caffeine ingestion; calcium and magnesium are greatly affected, iron compromised and other necessary nutrients depleted.  Drink more water!

Alcohol, although not a stimulant to the same degree, (more than a tiny amount has depressive effects throughout the nervous system), is a source of toxins and unnecessary calories.  One glass of organically-produced, preferably red, wine, three times per week is now considered to improve the blood circulation, hence having beneficial actions upon the heart, due to its anti-oxidant properties.  For women who have kicked the caffeine habit, and are not sensitive to it, could indulge in the addition of a 50gm bar of organically-produced 70% cocoa-mass dark chocolate with their glass of wine – combining the synergistic effects of both.  A maximum of three a week though!  A great way to improve your iron/magnesium status and counteract the often quoted……… healthy food is boring!

To be optimally fit, healthy, with unlimited energy and with a strong immune system, it is necessary to follow certain nutritional criteria.  I list general ones below:-

Eat fresh, whole foods.  Whenever possible eschew processed and packaged foods, things that have been added to,  refined,  enriched or in some way interfered with,  such as most processed baked goods, commercial peanut butter, candy, ‘cheese’  foods, crisps and corn chips, canned sauces.

Especially abstain from hydrogenated products, such as margarines.  Anything hydrogenated, or partly so, avoid like the plague.  These will seriously upset the way your body  handles its essential fatty acids, culminating in impaired mineral placement and usage.

Products containing preservatives, additives, coloring agents, texturisers and flavourings should be avoided.  Stop using pasteurised, homogenised, fortified, vitamin- added milk and its products.  Most of the problems with dairy products have to do with the  abysmal conditions in which the cows are kept and fed on dry foods with little nutritive value, rather than fresh nutritious grass.  Genetically engineered BST and other hormones are routinely given to boost milk production.  Calcium, although high in milk, is poorly absorbed from this source, since it is improperly balanced with magnesium and recent research suggest that magnesium is the mineral of choice, along with other co-factors, to prevent osteoporosis – only prevalent in milk-consuming nations.

Eat a wide variety of foods.  This way there is less likelihood of your reacting to foods to which you may be slightly sensitive.

Sort out any food sensitivities with professional help.  Have someone test you at least for wheat, corn, soy, dairy and orange – and if you have any sort of arthritis, prepare to be considered sensitive to the nightshade family, comprising potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, etc.

Consume a diet high in essential fatty acids – absolutely vital to your immune system.

Fresh only (not canned) mackerel, herring, salmon, etc. should contain some – although these do not come  without  the  ever-present threat of pollution.  Consider linseed oils, walnut oils, all the oily seeds – but never heat in any way – and buy organic, cold-pressed and unrefined only.   It is important not to just consume essential  fatty acids, but to have the balance correct between Omega 3’s (fish/linseed) and Omega 6’s (evening primrose, blackcurrant seed oil, sesame, etc.)  Seek professional help.

Cut down, or better out, sugar and refined carbohydrates.  White and brown sugar, honey, glucose and fake sugars like aspartame and sorbitol, plus all commercially prepared biscuits, cakes, jams, ice-cream, soft drinks and other sweet-tasting processed foods.  Not only do these rot your teeth, but they also adversely disturb metabolism of essential fatty acids, and therefore your hormone profile, cause massive magnesium losses  and worsens copper deficiences.  Refined carbohydrates include anything made with white flour or white rice.

Most of all, listen to your body, it is well-equipped with an efficient immune system, which is able to resist disease and heal injury if we give it what it needs to do so.

The ability of an organism to resist a specific infection or toxin by the action of antibodies or sensitized white blood cells is what creates our ‘immunity.’ Our immune systems take a beating trying to fight against natural and industrial waste and poor-quality food and water that causes illness. T-cells, made by the immune system, are the foremost soldiers of our immune system, and our gut flora is like the headquarters sending out ‘troops’ to keep the home front protected. There are ways to have ‘super’ immunity; however, if we look into the phenomenon of the immune system more closely.

As the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases states:

“Unlike B cells, T cells do not recognize free-floating antigens. Rather, their surfaces contain specialized antibody-like receptors that see fragments of antigens on the surfaces of infected or cancerous cells. Helper T cells, or Th cells, coordinate immune responses by communicating with other cells. Some stimulate nearby B cells to produce antibodies, others call in microbe-gobbling cells called phagocytes, and still others activate other T cells.” 

Free radicals can signal T cells to get busy getting rid of inflammation, another big       cause of disease, but they can be over-zealous in doing so, especially in cases of chronic inflammation.

If the immune system becomes overly strained, it starts to attack itself instead of foreign invaders. It can literally become its own worst enemy. This is often how auto-immune diseases begin. B-cells can’t communicate properly with T cells any longer. The goods news is that we can help the immune system do its job, without becoming over-active simply by changing our diet, and altering a few lifestyle habits.

Read: 8+ Natural Antibiotics to Replace Pharmaceuticals

Here are 7 ways to help create a super-healthy immune system:

7 Tips for Super Immunity

• 1. Food is medicine. You can practically double your immune system’s ability to fight disease with the way you eat – Try eating more leafy greens, fruits and vegetables. Organic fruits and vegetables are choke-full of important immune-boosting antioxidants. Dr. Joel Fuhrman believes you can stay healthy forever, just by changing your nutrition.
• He believes that you should eat only foods that are high in nutrition. He includes onions, beans, and lots of veggies and fruits. He suggests you should base your meals on phytonutrient-rich foods.Without carotenoids and leafy greens that help boost gut flora, your immune system becomes exhausted.Fuhrman states: “The quality of a diet can be judged base on three simple criteria. Levels of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals) per calorie. Amounts of macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate, protein) to meet individual needs, without excessive calories that may lead to weight gain or health compromise.Avoidance of potentially toxic substances (such as trans fats) and limited amounts of other potentially harmful substances (such as sodium).”

• 2. Eating foods high on the ORAC chart also helps to boost immunity – These are foods that fight free radicals in the body, one of the main reasons disease develops and the body turns acid instead of maintaining its alkaline balance. Free radicals are an uncharged molecule that can wreck havoc on the body. They congest our cells and cause us to age faster and be more prone to disease. High ORAC foods include many herbs, like sumac, cloves, and oregano have high ORAC values. So do bran, sorghum, cinnamon, turmeric, Szechuan pepper, and vanilla beans.

• 3. Stop eating fast-food – Slow-absorbing food is better for your immune system. When you eat ‘fast’ food devoid of nutrients, it makes your digestive system work extra hard to digest something that gives your body no benefit. Many slow-absorbing foods have both fiber and protein, or one or the other, along with important nutrients which also keep your glucose levels from spiking. There is a great documentary, Fast Food Nation, that explains why fast-food makes us sick, tired, and fat.

• 4. Support healthy gut flora – Eating refined sugar erodes gut flora, while eating fermented foods like Kim Chi or drinking Kombucha can help create healthy gut flora. Dark chocolate has also been shown to provide ‘food’ for healthy gut bacteria. Leafy greens help to create healthy gut flora too. Obviously, taking a probiotic supplement can help as well, since this replaces ‘bad’ bacteria with ‘good’ bacteria, making it harder for the ‘bad guys’ to hang around in your intestinal tract.

• 5. Get More Sleep – Your body can’t fight free radicals and restore itself if it barely has enough energy to carry out functions like pumping your heart or making sure you breathe. Dr. Fikrig and his colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine has found that our circadian rhythms (sleep and wake cycles) actually govern our immunity. Disturbed sleep patterns means compromised immunity. Make sure when you sleep, you stay asleep, soundly for 7-9 hours nightly. Sleeping even removes toxic waste form the brain!

• 6. Eat more mushrooms, onions and seeds – Aside  from  eating  your  fruit        and vegetables,  mushrooms,  onions,  and seeds all have their own immune-boosting produce spores and then grow from the hypha of fungi concealed in soil or wood. They are proverbial for rapid growth. They also help to break down things, both in the forest, and in our bodies that shouldn’t be there.
• This is why many mushrooms are hailed as super-foods and life-enhancers in Chinese medicine. Shiitake, Reishi, and Maitake are excellent.Onions are anti-microbial, anti-viral, and immune boosting wonders, and seeds are like miniature plants, packed with a storehouse of all the nutrients they will need to grow big and strong, so they do the same for you. Sprouted seeds are even better. For example, sprouted broccoli seeds have 50 times the cancer-fighting ability as eating the broccoli plant itself.

• 7. Take a Daily Walk – Exercise is one of the most important ways to promote a good immune response in the body. You don’t need to over-do it. Intense workouts can actually cause more stress on the body and depress the immune system. Especially if you are already under the weather, keep it light. For the best immune boosting benefits, make walking, running, swimming, jump-roping, or other sports, a daily activity.

• 8. Use herbs and supplements instead of vaccines and pharmaceuticals – There are literally hundreds of herbs that help boost the immune system and fight off disease. These include things like moringa, olive leaf, astragalus, cloves, oregano, and more.
• Kathy Abascale lists 30 herbs in her book Herbs & Influenza: How Herbs Used in the 1918 Flu Pandemic Can Be Effective Today that can naturally lessen flu symptoms, including herbs that treat Swine Flu.
• Conversely, vaccines and pharmaceuticals (especially antibiotics) can dampen your natural immune response, and kill healthy gut flora that are your ‘second brain’ when   it comes to fighting disease.

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Preview  Medicine Through Time – Ancient Greek –

And The Work of Hippocrates

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 Preview  GCSE history: Hippocrates in Five Minutes

GCSE history: Hippocrates in Five Minutes