The Greek physician, Hippocrates, has had a profound impact as to the way in which science is performed and how ethical issues should be conducted, in not only the past but in current medicine. [1] Hippocrates medical advancements had resulted in a scientific revolution as he transformed medicine from being based upon primarily religion to being based on evidence and alternative medical practices. [2] Furthermore, his ideas surrounding ethics in medicine are still relevant and used today, as seen by the requirement of medical students to sign the Hippocratic oath. [3] In addition to these examples, Hippocrates has also developed new practices that were more accurate and effective ways to treat disease, including the method of detailed observations. …show more content…
Medical observation is a technique that Hippocrates recognised and provides that doctors should conduct observations and include detailed medical histories when seeing patients. This method of prognosis, ensured that diagnoses were more accurate and were based on evidence. [4] This technique and others, should be used when treating a patient and are set out in ‘On Forecasting Disease’, within the Hippocratic Corpus. [9] Not only did Hippocrates believe in the importance of prognosis, he also believed that in order to provide quality medical treatment each patient should be cared for independently. Hippocrates would consider a range of factors that may have caused the disease including where they lived and the age of the person. [10] Furthermore, Hippocrates prescribed a range of treatments that were novel of its time, in order to cure individuals with a range of medical issues. A number of these treatment options are still used today, such as prescribing exercise as a treatment in order to cure an individual. [11] Hippocrates also believed in the Four Humours which consisted of blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. [12] He further believed that they were related to the four elements which were fire, water, air and earth and that the cause of a disease was due to an imbalance of these factors. [7 p335] Although some of the practices adopted by Hippocrates are no longer used within current medicine, other techniques such as the importance of observation are still widely