Podcast Transcript - History of Medicine: Four Humours

 Okay, so let\'s break it down. Yeah. The ancient Greeks believed that these four fluids, blood. Yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm were crucial for health. They were important. Yeah, they thought if these fluids got out of balance, you\'d get sick. That\'s right. And they even connected each hu...

 Okay, so let\'s break it down. Yeah. The ancient Greeks believed that these four fluids, blood. Yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm were crucial for health. They were important. Yeah, they thought if these fluids got out of balance, you\'d get sick. That\'s right. And they even connected each humor to the natural elements and the seasons. Oh, wow. Like blood was linked to air in spring. Yellow bile to fire in summer. And so on. It\'s kind of like how we talk about eating seasonally today. It is! A little bit. But way more intense. It was all about maintaining harmony between your body and the world around you. Yeah. So who came up with this whole four humors thing? Well, the theory is credited to a brilliant Greek physician named Hippocrates. Hippocrates. Yeah. He\'s often called the father of medicine because his ideas had a massive impact on western medical practice. Okay. So big deal. Yeah. Big guy. So I\'ve got a quote here from one of his books. Okay. On the nature of man. It says, The human body contains blood, phlegm, and yellow bile and black bile. Okay. These make up its constitution and cause its pains and health. Health is primarily that state in which these constituent substances are in the correct proportion to each other. For Hippocrates and his followers. Yeah. Maintaining this balance was the key to good health. Okay. So let\'s fast forward a few centuries. Okay. What happened to the four humorous theory after the Greeks? Well, it was adopted and expanded upon by the Romans. Okay. One of the most influential figures was a Roman physician named Galen. Galen? Okay. Who lived in the second century A. D. What did Galen do that was so important? He took Hippocrates ideas and added a whole new layer of complexity. Like what? He did dissections mainly on animals. And based on his observations, he developed a much more detailed system of how the humors worked in the body. So it wasn\'t just about keeping those fluids in balance anymore. Right. Galen went deeper. How much deeper? He argued that different organs produced and regulated different humors. Oh, wow. He thought the liver was the source of blood. The liver. The spleen produced black bile, the gallbladder produced yellow bile, and the brain produced phlegm. So let me get this straight. If you had too much black bile, for example. Yeah. Your spleen was working overtime. That\'s how Galen saw it. Really? And he linked each humor to specific temperaments and personality traits. Like, too much black bile made you melancholic. Interesting. While too much blood made you sanguine, cheerful, and optimistic. I can see where the term bad blood comes from. I can too. So if someone got sick. Yeah. How did these humoral doctors figure out what to do? What was wrong? They\'d look at your symptoms, your overall appearance, and even your personality. Oh wow. They believed that all these things could provide clues about which humor was out of balance. So let\'s say I went to a Galenic doctor. Okay. Complaining of a headache. Right. What kind of questions might they ask me? Well, they might ask you to describe the pain. Okay. Was it sharp or dull throbbing or constant? Interesting. They might look at the color of your skin. Okay. Was it pale or flushed? They might even ask about your mood. Were you feeling irritable or sluggish? And based on my answers, they\'d make a diagnosis. They\'d try to figure out which humor was causing the problem. Wow. Was it an excess of blood making me hot headed and giving me a throbbing headache?. Or was it too much black bile making me feel depressed and giving me a dull, persistent ache? Okay, that makes sense. So once they figured out the humoral imbalance, Yeah. how do they actually treat it? That\'s where it gets interesting and maybe a little scary. Well, one of the most common treatments was bloodletting. Bloodletting? Like with leeches? Exactly. Leeches were a popular tool. But sometimes they would also just cut open a vein and let the blood flow. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That sounds pretty intense. Did it actually work? Well, not really. Didn\'t think so. We know now that removing blood doesn\'t cure most illnesses, and in many cases it could actually be harmful, but at the time it made sense to them. They thought if you had too much blood, or if your blood was bad somehow, getting rid of some of it would help. So what other tricks did they have up their sleeves? Another common treatment was purging. Which basically means making someone throw up or have diarrhea. Yikes. It wasn\'t very pleasant. They would use strong laxatives or emetics. Substances that make you vomit. Oh. To try and rid the body of excess bile. So the idea was to get all those bad humors out of your system, literally. Precisely. They also used things like enemas, sweating therapies. And special diets to try and regulate the humors. So these treatments sound a bit rough. They do. Even by historical standards. Was everyone on board with this four humors idea? That\'s a great question. The four humors theory was dominant for centuries. But there were always people who had different ideas about how the body worked and how to treat illnesses. So it wasn\'t like everyone just blindly accepted what Galen and Hippocrates said. Not at all. Throughout history, there were other medical traditions and theories that competed with the four humors. Like what? For example, in ancient China, they had a system of medicine based on the concept of qi. Yixiao. Uh huh. A vital energy that flows through the body. So different cultures had their own ways of understanding qi. The body and health? Exactly. Okay. And even within Europe, there were other medical traditions like verbalism, Right. that offered different approaches to healing. So while the four humors was the main theory for a long time, Yeah. it wasn\'t the only game in town. Right. And eventually the four humors theory started to face some serious challenges. What happened? Did bloodletting and purging weren\'t such great ideas? Well, it was a gradual process, but new scientific discoveries and changing ways of thinking started to undermine the foundations of the four humors theory. So what were some of these game changing discoveries? Well, one of the biggest turning points was the Renaissance, of incredible intellectual and artistic flourishing that began in the 14th century. That\'s when they rediscovered all that ancient Greek and Roman stuff, right? That\'s right. So, how did that lead to changes in medicine? Great question. It wasn\'t just about rediscovering those old texts, it was about questioning them too. So they were looking at them with fresh eyes. They were. Okay. The Renaissance encouraged people to think for themselves, to observe the world closely and to challenge traditional ideas. So it was a time of both looking back and looking ahead. Exactly. Yeah. And that had a huge impact on how people understood the human body. Okay, can you give us some examples of how Renaissance thinking changed medicine? Absolutely. One key figure was Andreas Vesalius. Andreas Vesalius. A Flemish anatomist who lived in the 16th century. He\'s known for writing a groundbreaking book on anatomy called De Humani Corporis Fabrica. What was so groundbreaking about it? Well, Vesalius was a bit of a rebel. He believed that the best way to learn about the body was through direct observation and dissection. Not just by reading what Galen or other ancient authorities had written. So he was challenging the old ways of doing things. He was. Yeah. And his book was filled with incredibly detailed illustrations based on his own dissections. These drawings were so accurate. That they revolutionized the study of anatomy. Wow. And showed that some of Galen\'s ideas about the structure of the body were actually wrong. That\'s amazing. It\'s like he was saying, Hey, we need to look for ourselves and not just blindly accept what\'s been said before. Exactly. And the spirit of questioning and observation was a major turning point in the history of medicine. Okay, so we\'ve got Vesalius shaking things up with his revolutionary anatomy book. Right. What other Renaissance discoveries challenged the four humors theory? Well, another major breakthrough came in the 17th century. Okay. With an English physician named William Harvey. He discovered the circulation of blood. Wait, so before Harvey, Mm. people didn\'t even know how blood moved around the body. That\'s right. They had all sorts of ideas, but no one had ever accurately described how blood flowed through the heart, arteries, and veins. So what did Harvey figure out? He demonstrated that blood circulates in a closed loop, Okay. pumped by the heart, Okay. Yeah. And that it travels through arteries to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the body\'s tissues, and then returns to the heart through the veins. That\'s incredible. It\'s such a basic concept. It is. But it took centuries for someone to figure it out. It really is a remarkable discovery. Yeah. And it completely contradicted the humoral theory. Right. Which had all sorts of misconceptions about how blood was produced and used in the body. It\'s like someone finally turned on the lights and everyone could see how the body really worked. That\'s a great analogy. Harvey\'s discovery was a major blow to the four humors theory and helped to pave the way for a more scientific and evidence based approach to medicine. So while those old humoral ideas hung around for a while, it was clear That change was in the air. It was. Yeah. And as we move further into the 17th and 18th centuries, see how these new discoveries and ways of thinking started to reshape medical practices and ultimately led to the demise of the four humors theory. Before we jump ahead, let\'s delve into one of the most captivating stories from this period. One that really brings the Four Humors theory to life.. And shows just how dramatically it could impact even the most powerful individuals. I know exactly what you\'re talking about. Do you? The story of King Charles II and his final days. Is a gripping tale that highlights the complexities and limitations of 17th century medicine. So let\'s Set the scene. Who was Charles II? Okay. And what led to this dramatic medical moment charles II was a fascinating character. He became king after a really turbulent time in England. The English Civil War. His father, Charles I, was actually executed. And there was a period when England didn\'t even have a king. Charles II eventually returned from exile and restored the monarchy. So a bit of a comeback story. Yeah, big time comeback. So he was king during a time of big changes. Absolutely. Okay. But in 1685, Charles II suddenly fell ill. Oh. The exact nature of his illness is still debated today. But we do know his doctors were convinced it was a humoral imbalance. Knowing what we do about the four humors, I can already guess what happened next. You guessed it, they threw the whole humoral playbook at him. Bloodletting, purging the works. They even applied blistering agents. What were those? They were substances that cause blisters on the skin. On the skin? Yeah, the idea was to draw out bad humors. Oh my gosh. It sounds crazy now, but they genuinely thought it would help. So they were doing all this to a king. They were. It must have been a pretty intense scene. Accounts from the time describe a frantic effort to save the king. Uh huh. They drained an incredible amount of blood from him, some reports say, up to a pint. Oh my gosh. And they gave him strong laxatives and emetics that caused him to vomit and have diarrhea. Wow, all this because they believed his humors were out of whack? That\'s right, it\'s a tragic story. Yeah. But it really highlights the grip that the Four Humors Theory had on medical thinking. Yeah. Even at the highest levels of society. So what happened to Charles II? After a few days of this intense treatment, the king died. Wow. His death sent shockwaves through England and beyond. Even though some people were beginning to question the Four Humors Theory, it was still a major shock that even the king couldn\'t be saved by these treatments. It really shows how deeply ingrained the Four Humors Theory was in people\'s minds. It does, but Charles death also marked a turning point. What do you mean? People began to question more openly whether those old treatments were actually effective. Right, so it\'s like, his death made people realize that Maybe, just maybe, those ancient ideas about humors weren\'t the ultimate answer to health and disease. Exactly. This period marked the beginning of a major shift in medical thinking. The renaissance had already planted the seeds of doubt, and as scientists continued to make new discoveries like Harvey\'s work on blood circulation, the for humors theory gradually started to lose its grip on the medical world. So while Charles II\'s story is a bit grim, Yeah. it\'s also a reminder That even in the midst of seemingly unshakable beliefs. Right. Progress is still possible. Absolutely. And as you delve deeper into your GCSE history studies, Remember how important it is to look at things in context? Right. The Four Humors Theory dominated medicine for centuries. Uh huh. And while we know it isn\'t accurate, it shaped the way people thought about health, illness, and even the world around them. It\'s also a great example of how scientific ideas are never just about science. Right. They\'re also about culture beliefs and the power of tradition. Right. And it\'s a reminder that knowledge is constantly evolving. Yeah. What we believe to be true today might be challenged and changed by new discoveries tomorrow. That\'s the exciting part of studying history and science, isn\'t it? It is. There\'s always more to learn. Absolutely. Keep questioning, keep exploring, and you\'ll find all sorts of amazing connections and insights along the way. Well that wraps up our deep dive into the four humors. It does. It\'s been an incredible journey. It has. We\'ve seen how this theory rose to prominence shaped medical practices for centuries and ultimately gave way to new ways of understanding the body. And remember, as you continue exploring history, the four humors is a fantastic foundation. You\'ll see its influence throughout the next thousand years of medicine. Keep those brains buzzing and we\'ll see you next time on the Deep Dive.