Hippocrates performed operations on the brain and heart 2,500 years ago!
He was born in the 5th century BC, in Kos, where he studied medicine, at the famous Asclepieion.
He studied with sophists, philosophers, but also with Herodotus, who is considered the founder of medical gymnastics.
When he finished his studies, he started traveling to different places to get an education. He considered outdated the way medicine was practiced until then and believed that by traveling, he could be provided with the necessary knowledge, but also experience to practice medicine.
Returning to Kos from a trip to Egypt, he started the "war" against the school of Knidos, led by Eurifontas.
This school was, until then, the highest there was and the opinion of Eurifondas was respected from all the world!
According to the school of Knidos, medicine was practiced in temples and sanctuaries, while the role of doctors was taken over by priests, who kept their methods secret.
Patient and therapist
Patients were not examined, but recorded their own symptoms and health observations in special bulletins and suggested treatment on their own. Hippocrates studied these bulletins and revealed the secrets of "priestly" medicine in the market of Kos.
It was the first "hit" against the school of Knidos. The gratuitous shot, however, of Hippocrates, was the establishment of the private medical school, in which anyone could study.
Thus, he free medicine from mysticism and superstitions and began its organized teaching.
Most important is prevention
Hippocrates was an innovator and pioneer in all fields. Above all, he was a scientist, observing his subject, doing research and recording his conclusions methodically.
He believed that most important is prevention and not diagnosis. In this position, probably, contributed the fact that at that time there were no developed therapeutic and pharmaceutical methods, so the point was to prevent the onset of a disease.
For the disease he claimed, that there are stages "birth, evolution, death".
He identified the disease as a problem of the whole organism and not in a specific place. That's why the examination, according to Hippocrates, had to be thoroughly. He, as well as his students, examined every point of a patient. Hair, eyes, nails, breath, sleep, itching, and even tears were studied by "Hippocratic" doctors.
Hippocrates placed special emphasis on body fluids, blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile.
He believed that good health was the result of the right proportion of these fluids. For this reason, in his examinations he even tested the sputum and urine of patients.
The first physician who considered the environment, working conditions and weather
Nature had a special place in Hippocrates medicine. According to the father of modern medicine, in human there is an animal force, which determines the balance of the organism and is none other than nature. That's why he researched the patient's physical environment. The place of residence, the climate in which patients lived, but also the weather changes of their place.
Proper nutrition and diet were also essential conditions for good human health. Due to Herodotus influence, Hippocrates attached great importance to physiotherapy and its basic method, which is massage.
And all this, two and a half thousand years ago, when most people, to be well, prayed to Zeus!
The surgeries of Hippocrates
Despite the almost non-existent surgical instruments, Hippocrates performed difficult surgeries. He and his students successfully dealt with cases of orthopedics, heart surgery and basic surgery.
Hippocrates even performed operations on the human skull, as we read in several of his works.
In addition to the operation itself, Hippocrates attached great importance to the preparation of the patient and the surgery
It's not just the knowledge
For Hippocrates, the scientific knowledge of his students alone was not enough.
A doctor had to be neat and clean in order to be able to take care of others. That's why he advised his students to pay attention to their body, but also to their appearance. To wear clean and simple clothes and be restrained. The character of the doctor was also very important according to Hippocrates.
His students had to be serious and modest, but also joking in moderation. To be selflessness, fair and to admit their mistakes. Also to respect woman, not to perform abortions and not to develop any emotions for their patients. Finally, to be humble, not at all cunning and never reveal the secrets of their patients.
The worldwide recognition of Hippocrates contribution to medicine, fully justifies the title of the father of modern medicine.
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