For almost two thousand years, medicine was based on and practiced according to one major theory, The Theory of the Body Humors, started by the ancient Greeks and developed into the Middle Age and Renaissance. Ancient doctors believed that these humors kept a balance in a person’s health or caused a certain disease to occur. Most of the medieval medical studies were based upon this theory of the humors.
There were four bodily humors: choleric or yellow bile, black bile or melancholic, phlegm or mucus, and blood or sanguine. Believed, by ancient doctors, the humors promoted good or bad health. They also were said to make a person’s “complexion,” which was the color of a person’s skin (Rawcliffe 13). In order to keep a healthy complexion, it was important not to let a humor become either too weak or too strong so that it would take over the body.
A man with a sanguine complexion, which is a rosy red face, was jovial, whereas the “choleric man was gaunt and irritable” (Rawcliffe 14). Women were heavier and slower than men in medieval times making them phlegmatic, which represented the slow moving mucus in the human body. Melancholic, considered being the worst humor to possess, made a person appear gloomy and ugly.
Since each person had his or her own complexion, many medieval doctors believed that each internal organ had its own complexion or color as well. How a person acted and looked defined what humor the organ housed. For example, the kidneys represented the sanguine humor, which meant it was full of blood but the brain was cold and moist together with grooves that were warm. Other areas, such as the spleen or liver, were host to the melancholic humor. Doctors believed dangerous diseases occurred because of these organs and their humor. People could remedy these bad diseases through excretion of sweat, tears, and urine. These organs were also responsible for producing disorders such as ulcers and tumors. Doctors believed these diseases occurred when the waste removal organs were not functioning properly. They would base their diagnosis on the color change of the patient’s skin.
External problems were usually easier to determine and the diagnosis associated with these humors. Explained by medieval doctors, a red sore appearing on the skin, with throbbing pain was caused by the sanguine humor. If you appeared yellowish and looked like you were in a great deal of pain, doctors diagnosed this disease as harmed by the choleric humor. Pale and soft spots or bumps meant that the phlegmatic humor was unbalanced with the other three humors. Hard or dark spots indicated to the doctors that the cause of sickness was the melancholic humor.
Throughout the years doctors tried to discover alternate ways to examine these humors precisely, both internally and externally. An external ailment was simple to diagnose because the doctor only needed to look at the spot and its color and then relate it to its humor, but finding an internal humor was more challenging. The urinalysis test was created by medieval doctors to determine what was going on inside his patient. They knew the problem originated from inside the human body, so they needed to collect samples of fluids that came from the body to diagnose which humor was causing the pain or anguish. Furthermore, the studying and close examination of these humors led to more medical discoveries and eventually to the creation of invasive surgery.
Works Cited 1. Rawcliffe, Carole. Sources for the History of Medicine in Late Medieval England. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute
Publications, 1995.
FYS 101
Garcia
2/6/07
Wiki Entry 2, the Body Humors
For almost two thousand years, medicine was based on and practiced according to one major theory, The Theory of the Body Humors, started by the ancient Greeks and developed into the Middle Age and Renaissance. Ancient doctors believed that these humors kept a balance in a person’s health or caused a certain disease to occur. Most of the medieval medical studies were based upon this theory of the humors.
There were four bodily humors: choleric or yellow bile, black bile or melancholic, phlegm or mucus, and blood or sanguine. Believed, by ancient doctors, the humors promoted good or bad health. They also were said to make a person’s “complexion,” which was the color of a person’s skin (Rawcliffe 13). In order to keep a healthy complexion, it was important not to let a humor become either too weak or too strong so that it would take over the body.
A man with a sanguine complexion, which is a rosy red face, was jovial, whereas the “choleric man was gaunt and irritable” (Rawcliffe 14). Women were heavier and slower than men in medieval times making them phlegmatic, which represented the slow moving mucus in the human body. Melancholic, considered being the worst humor to possess, made a person appear gloomy and ugly.
Since each person had his or her own complexion, many medieval doctors believed that each internal organ had its own complexion or color as well. How a person acted and looked defined what humor the organ housed. For example, the kidneys represented the sanguine humor, which meant it was full of blood but the brain was cold and moist together with grooves that were warm. Other areas, such as the spleen or liver, were host to the melancholic humor. Doctors believed dangerous diseases occurred because of these organs and their humor. People could remedy these bad diseases through excretion of sweat, tears, and urine. These organs were also responsible for producing disorders such as ulcers and tumors. Doctors believed these diseases occurred when the waste removal organs were not functioning properly. They would base their diagnosis on the color change of the patient’s skin.
External problems were usually easier to determine and the diagnosis associated with these humors. Explained by medieval doctors, a red sore appearing on the skin, with throbbing pain was caused by the sanguine humor. If you appeared yellowish and looked like you were in a great deal of pain, doctors diagnosed this disease as harmed by the choleric humor. Pale and soft spots or bumps meant that the phlegmatic humor was unbalanced with the other three humors. Hard or dark spots indicated to the doctors that the cause of sickness was the melancholic humor.
Throughout the years doctors tried to discover alternate ways to examine these humors precisely, both internally and externally. An external ailment was simple to diagnose because the doctor only needed to look at the spot and its color and then relate it to its humor, but finding an internal humor was more challenging. The urinalysis test was created by medieval doctors to determine what was going on inside his patient. They knew the problem originated from inside the human body, so they needed to collect samples of fluids that came from the body to diagnose which humor was causing the pain or anguish. Furthermore, the studying and close examination of these humors led to more medical discoveries and eventually to the creation of invasive surgery.
Works Cited
1. Rawcliffe, Carole. Sources for the History of Medicine in Late
Medieval England. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute
Publications, 1995.