The psychosomatic approach to heart disease. A study in premodern medicine

Prior to the discovery of the circulation of the blood and the advent of modern mind-body dualism, heart disease was conceived as invariably psychosomatic. Familiar vestiges of premodern theory are found in such expressions as "bighearted," "warmhearted," "brokenhearted," and so on. The original medical meanings of such expressions are explained. The historical disappearance of the psychosomatic approach to cardiovascular disease is explained as a product of dualistic thinking and the mechanistic physiopathology it created. It is urged that contemporaries could profit from a return to a holistic view of the disease process.