From Hippocrates to modern medicine

Abstract

Hippocrates was the first to introduce the concept of 'physis' and to transform hieratic or theocratic medicine into rational medicine. The overall construction of the Asclepieion on Kos clearly indicates that he and his school followed a holistic concept, combining scientific thought with drug therapy, diet schedules, and physical and mental exercise, also asking for God's help. Hippocrates also formulated the first standards and ethical rules to be followed in medical profession, which are still valid today. The knowledge of Graeco-Roman medicine has been transferred by Arab scholars into the West, whereas renaissance, urbanization, and industrialisation have changed its face over the centuries. With the entrance of molecular technology and economy, modern medicine now faces the risk of becoming itself industrialized. Correct use of new scientific knowledge, individualized management with a Hippocratic holistic approach and compassionate sympathy for the patient who suffers, should be considered in the years to come for maintaining the level of medical profession. The venue of our European Congress in Rhodes is very close to Kos, another historic Aegean island, the place where Hippocrates has given the first professional standards in European medicine and in medicine in general. They were established 2600 years ago and are still valid today.(1,2) If one draws a red line and marks some cornerstones of the evolution that has taken place in medicine over the past centuries, it is evident that these first rules formulated by Hippocrates and his school also reveal the future responsibilities for our profession and make them better recognizable and more conclusive.