Closing In On Cancer

FOLLOWING THE DECLINE OF EGYPT, the next chapters of medical and scientific history were written in Greece and Rome. There the great doctors Hippocrates and Galen—who would dominate medical thought for 1500 years—lifted medicine out of the realms of magic, superstition and religion, defining disease as a natural process, and basing treatment on observation and experience. Cancers were identified, with warnings against treatment of the more severe forms.

Greek Theories of Disease
By the time of Hippocrates, Greek philosophers believed that four elements—earth, air, water and fire—each with its own quality of cold, dry, moist and hot, governed the universe. Harmony derived from balance among the four. Four corresponding fluids, or humors, governed man's health—blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Illness and disease were the result of imbalance among the four humors.

The Cult of Aesculapius
As Greek civilization spreads, other culture's beliefs in demons, signs, incantations and superstitions were absorbed. The idea of gods healing took root in the myth and cult of Aesculapius, the son of Apollo and Coronis, who was credited with miracle cures and raising the dead. Temples were built in which priests administered a psychotherapeutic regimen of diet, baths, physical therapy and hypnosis.

Roman Surgery
Two great physicians of antiquity, the Roman Galen and the Greek Antyllos, performed and described new procedures. Antyllos became an authority on aneurysms and left precise surgical directions to treat cataracts and fistulae of the bronchi and intestine as well. Galen excised tumors and infected bone, and resectioned ribs and sternums. Like Hippocrates, he believed cancer was best left alone.

Galen: Physician for a Millennium
From the Dark Ages to the Renaissance, the Roman physician Galen (c.129-200) was the most influential figure in medicine through his writings. Appointed physician to the gladiators of his hometown of Pergamum early in his career, he gained a wealth of anatomical insight treating fractures and brutal wounds. Opinionated and prolific, he produced 500 treatises whose contents were unchallenged for 1500 years.

Hospitals
The development of hospitals was an outstanding Arab contribution to medicine. Hospitals in the West were few and inferior in sanitation, care, facilities and medication. While monastic orders built hospitals in the Near East to care for wounded Crusaders, the great hospitals of the Middle Ages were at Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo.

Universities and Medical Schools: Legacy of the Middle Ages
The founding of medical schools and universities may be the greatest monument to the medieval period. For 400 years the school at Salerno admitted men and women, producing notable texts on obstetrics, surgery and health maintenance. Universities evolved from groups of masters and pupils in law, theology, art and medicine, and schools were established at Bologna, Paris, Montpellier and Oxford in the eleventh century.

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						Greek Theories of Disease By the time of Hippocrates, Greek philosophers believed that four elements—earth, air, water and fire—each with its own quality of cold, dry, moist and hot, governed the universe. Harmony derived from balance among the four. Four corresponding fluids, or humors, governed man's health—blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Illness and disease were the result of imbalance among the four humors.

		Universities and Medical Schools: Legacy of the Middle Ages The founding of medical schools and universities may be the greatest monument to the medieval period. For 400 years the school at Salerno admitted men and women, producing notable texts on obstetrics, surgery and health maintenance. Universities evolved from groups of masters and pupils in law, theology, art and medicine, and schools were established at Bologna, Paris, Montpellier and Oxford in the eleventh century.

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