Humors
From Angelika’s Diary:
“And here we begin, child, with one of the most important things that you’ll ever learn: how to figure out what’s wrong with the person who’s come to see you. You must observe, usin’ each of the five senses God gave you, to see what’s off in a person.
Look with your eyes – is their skin a different pallor? Is somethin’ enlarged? Are there signs that they’ve eaten recently, like stains upon the dress or food in the surroundings? Is there evidence of tears in their eyes? Are they movin’ more quickly or more slowly than you might expect them to do? Watch them.
Listen with your ears – what is the quality of their breathing? Is their gait altered by something? What are they saying? And what are they *not* saying? This is particularly important with children and old men.
Smell with your nose – illness often carries with it its own stench. Infection has one smell; bad blood, another. Food can go bad to the point that it’s not fit for dogs, and yet in times such as this, we’ve many who fight the dogs for scraps. Your nose can tell you much. Smell the breath of the person – sweet breath will certainly tell you that the problem is not in the stomach. Other smells will tell you there’s too much phlegm.
Taste with your tongue – in small amounts only, mind ya. The air in a sickroom can tell you much, simply by openin’ your mouth. And sometimes, you need your taste and smell senses to work together.
Trust your hands, for the angels of God guide them. A place that carries too much heat has an injury under the skin. Always be gentle when you’re feelin’ for a broken bone, but firm enough to know where and how the bone has broken. Test the quality of the muscles – are they too tight, do they have strength in them, are they unused?
Use all of your senses together, noticin’ if their eyes tighten, they wince, or take a quick intake of breath, when you move or prod somethin’ that hurts. And lastly, trust yourself that you know you’ve been called to be a healer for a reason. You’re not just here to learn – you’re here to become.”
There has always been much known about how diagnosis was accomplished by physicians during the Medieval and Renaissance times. What is interesting is that physicians, in order to separate themselves from the monks who practiced medicine but could not perform surgery, made their practice as scientific as possible, removing the connection of faith from healing. Continuing the work of Galen (Greek physician, principal doctor to the professional gladiators) and Hippocrates (father of modern medicine), doctors diagnosed their patients through testing and observation of the four humors.
All matter in the universe, including the human body was thought to be built of the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. Hippocrates found that blood separates into four liquids when removed from the body and examined. These four are described as a pure red liquid mixed with white material, a yellow-colored froth on top and a black substance that settles below. The word “humor” comes from the Latin umorem, meaning “fluid.” The humors included blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile, each of which had specific characteristics. If a person became ill, physicians assumed that there was an imbalance in their humors, and treatment would be required to return the balance to normal. Sometimes this meant removing the excess of one humor, or adding an excess to the opposite humor.
Physicians would use observations of physical pains, time of year, diet, exercise, urine samples, fecal samples, pulse, breath and appearances in order to diagnose what was wrong with a patient. Sometimes, a small blood sample would be taken, and diagnosis would continue based on the properties of the blood – how quickly it coagulated, layering, clotting, too much of any particular humor, etc. In order to achieve a balance, various methods were incorporated, and could include:
In some instances, not a whole lot has changed since Medieval times, although our methods have become a bit more scientifically based as we have continued the experiments of the Greeks and Romans. Medicine is learning that the mind and body are intricately connected, and disease can be cured if the patient believes it can be cured. As an herbalist, keeping up with new discoveries, performing your own research, recording your observations and treatments – all of this will only make you a more effective healer.
“And here we begin, child, with one of the most important things that you’ll ever learn: how to figure out what’s wrong with the person who’s come to see you. You must observe, usin’ each of the five senses God gave you, to see what’s off in a person.
Look with your eyes – is their skin a different pallor? Is somethin’ enlarged? Are there signs that they’ve eaten recently, like stains upon the dress or food in the surroundings? Is there evidence of tears in their eyes? Are they movin’ more quickly or more slowly than you might expect them to do? Watch them.
Listen with your ears – what is the quality of their breathing? Is their gait altered by something? What are they saying? And what are they *not* saying? This is particularly important with children and old men.
Smell with your nose – illness often carries with it its own stench. Infection has one smell; bad blood, another. Food can go bad to the point that it’s not fit for dogs, and yet in times such as this, we’ve many who fight the dogs for scraps. Your nose can tell you much. Smell the breath of the person – sweet breath will certainly tell you that the problem is not in the stomach. Other smells will tell you there’s too much phlegm.
Taste with your tongue – in small amounts only, mind ya. The air in a sickroom can tell you much, simply by openin’ your mouth. And sometimes, you need your taste and smell senses to work together.
Trust your hands, for the angels of God guide them. A place that carries too much heat has an injury under the skin. Always be gentle when you’re feelin’ for a broken bone, but firm enough to know where and how the bone has broken. Test the quality of the muscles – are they too tight, do they have strength in them, are they unused?
Use all of your senses together, noticin’ if their eyes tighten, they wince, or take a quick intake of breath, when you move or prod somethin’ that hurts. And lastly, trust yourself that you know you’ve been called to be a healer for a reason. You’re not just here to learn – you’re here to become.”
There has always been much known about how diagnosis was accomplished by physicians during the Medieval and Renaissance times. What is interesting is that physicians, in order to separate themselves from the monks who practiced medicine but could not perform surgery, made their practice as scientific as possible, removing the connection of faith from healing. Continuing the work of Galen (Greek physician, principal doctor to the professional gladiators) and Hippocrates (father of modern medicine), doctors diagnosed their patients through testing and observation of the four humors.
All matter in the universe, including the human body was thought to be built of the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. Hippocrates found that blood separates into four liquids when removed from the body and examined. These four are described as a pure red liquid mixed with white material, a yellow-colored froth on top and a black substance that settles below. The word “humor” comes from the Latin umorem, meaning “fluid.” The humors included blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile, each of which had specific characteristics. If a person became ill, physicians assumed that there was an imbalance in their humors, and treatment would be required to return the balance to normal. Sometimes this meant removing the excess of one humor, or adding an excess to the opposite humor.
- Blood is warm and wet, so it is made of air. It is most likely to be found in the head, and the season in which it is most predominant is Spring. People who have a predominance of blood tend to be prone to optimism.
- Phlegm is cold and wet, so it is made of water. It is most likely to be found in the lungs, and season in which it is most predominant is Winter. People who have a predominance of phlegm are prone to apathy.
- Black bile is cold and dry, so it is made of earth. It is most likely to be found in the spleen, and season in which it is most predominant is Autumn. People who have a predominance of black bile are prone to sadness.
- Yellow bile is warm and dry, so it is made of fire. It is most likely to be found in the gall bladder, and season in which it is most predominant is Fire. People who have a predominance of yellow bile are prone to anger.
Physicians would use observations of physical pains, time of year, diet, exercise, urine samples, fecal samples, pulse, breath and appearances in order to diagnose what was wrong with a patient. Sometimes, a small blood sample would be taken, and diagnosis would continue based on the properties of the blood – how quickly it coagulated, layering, clotting, too much of any particular humor, etc. In order to achieve a balance, various methods were incorporated, and could include:
- Drugs that caused diarrhea or vomiting were popular solutions, as the discharge of fluids from the body were perceived as a sign that the imbalanced humor was being expunged.
- Bleeding from a specific vein might drain off fluid from, for example, the spleen, thereby alleviating black bile from a melancholic individual.
- Fever, being an ailment with hot and dry symptoms, would be due to an excess of yellow bile. Therefore, the physician would either drain off excess yellow bile, probably by bleeding, or stimulate the production of yellow bile’s opposite humor, phlegm. To counteract hot and dry, you would use something cold and wet, such as an ice bath. Any ailments could be treated with their opposite.
- And when all else failed, and the physician could do nothing, people often turned to the Church and superstitions. The power of the mind could often accomplish what physicians could not. Totems, amulets and special charms granted by saints were often considered the miracles by which people were cured. At the same time, certain diseases were associated with various of the seven deadly sins. For example, leprosy was associated with the sins of lust and pride, and the Black Death was thought to be a punishment sent by God for the collective sins of the people.
In some instances, not a whole lot has changed since Medieval times, although our methods have become a bit more scientifically based as we have continued the experiments of the Greeks and Romans. Medicine is learning that the mind and body are intricately connected, and disease can be cured if the patient believes it can be cured. As an herbalist, keeping up with new discoveries, performing your own research, recording your observations and treatments – all of this will only make you a more effective healer.
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