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The cardiovascular system in the pre-Hippocratic era
Marios Loukas1, R Shane Tubbs, Robert G Louis
1Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies. mloukas@sgu.edu
Insights
Pre-Hippocratic civilizations viewed the body and illness through a divine lens, lacking scientific observation. Despite this, they identified "air carriers" (arteries), a term still used today.
Area of Science:
- * History of Medicine
- * Cardiovascular System Evolution
- * Ancient Medical Practices
Background:
- * Limited understanding of pre-Hippocratic cardiovascular knowledge.
- * Traditional attribution of medicine's origins to Hippocrates.
- * Need to explore early civilizations' perspectives.
Observation:
- * Pre-Hippocratic cultures (Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Greek) attributed health to divine powers.
- * Medicine was predominantly based on religious beliefs, not empirical evidence.
- * Early identification of vessels carrying air (arteries) was noted.
Findings:
- * Pre-Hippocratic medical systems were largely supernatural and non-scientific.
- * Ancient peoples identified vessels for air transport, naming them arteries.
- * These early observations, though flawed, influenced later terminology.
Implications:
- * Highlights the rudimentary, supernatural basis of early medicine.
- * Demonstrates the persistence of ancient terminology in modern science.
- * Underscores the significant evolution of cardiovascular understanding over millennia.
Abstract:
Although Hippocrates has been traditionally recognized as the father of medicine and one of the major early writers regarding the cardiovascular system, very little is known of about the knowledge of the cardiovascular system in the pre-Hippocratic period. We reviewed the literature and examined available references regarding the cardiovascular system in the pre-Hippocratic era of the Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, and Ancient Greeks including Asclepios, Alcmaeon, Empedocles and Diogenes. All pre-Hippocratic civilizations attributed the illnesses and the structures of the human body to divine powers. Pre-Hippocratic medicine was largely based on religious beliefs and not in scientific observations. Interestingly, despite these erroneous methods, the pre-Hippocratics were able to identify pipes carrying air into the body and name the air carriers (arteries). Unfortunately, the arteries were not associated with blood but rather with air, however, this ancient word still remains in use in our days. This paper reviews the evolution of thinking and discovery regarding the different aspects of the cardiovascular system in the pre-Hippocratic era.
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