SPECIAL ARTICLES   

International Angiology 2000 December;19(4):373-6

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Hippocratic views with reference to the anatomical characteristics of “arteries” and “veins”

Christopoulou-Aletra H., Gigis P., Paraskevas G.

From the Department of History of Medicine, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

The ana­tom­i­cal knowl­edge, in the col­lec­tion of books named after ­Hippocrates’ the Hip­po­crat­ic Cor­pus, is usu­al­ly vague and lim­it­ed. This is main­ly due to the ­respect for the dead held by the ­ancients. ­Though the Hip­po­crat­ic books, for the first time, sup­port­ed the ration­al­ity of the aetio­lo­gy of dis­eas­es, and prog­no­sis and treat­ment were based on obser­va­tion, the ­absence of dis­sec­tion restrict­ed the means of obtain­ing knowl­edge of the inter­i­or of the body until ­almost the time of the Ren­ais­sance. How­ev­er in some cases, sur­pris­ing­ly ­enough, this ignor­ance is ­absent. In this essay we will ­attempt to elu­ci­date some of the Hip­po­crat­ic views – ­either erro­ne­ous or up to date – on the anat­o­my of the vas­cu­lar ­system, main­ly the “arter­ies” and “veins”.