Hippocratic Approach to Epilepsy; Natural Theory and Practice

The birth of the Hippocratic medicine marked a transition from ritual and folk healing to a profession of secular theory and practice. Epilepsy, with its common occurrence, dramatic presentation, and hidden cause attracted the attention of many healers in the ancient world and was the primary subject of full Hippocratic medical treatise written in fourth century BC. This work known as 'Sacred Disease' was the first emphatic argument for a naturalistic understanding and treatment of epilepsy and made advances that would not be surpassed for two thousand years. Galen one of the most well known and prolific physicians who practiced in Rome in the second century A.D. modeled himself after the Hippocratic ideal physician. This ideal can be conceptualized as a physician healed the sick through skilled practice by applying diligent trial and error and logic, and also was a learned natural philosopher who could defend his actions by knowledge of nature and an understanding of the human body. The advances of Greco-Roman medicine in understanding and treating epileptic disorders found in the 'Sacred Disease' can provide an example how an idealized Hippocratic physician should approach medicine with skilled practice arising from carefully deduced and deafened natural theory. Hippocrates of Kos (cir.460 BC-380 BC) was an ancient Greek physician is often called "the father of medicine", and is know for writings an collection of writings of his name the Corpus Hippocraticum. The corpus was attributed to Hippocrates in antiquity, and its teaching followed principles of professionalism, natural theory, and rigorous practice of applying general diagnoses and passive treatment which was aimed to aid nature in restoring the sick to health. Hippocrates argued that diseases were caused by natural process within the body and not as a result of supernatural action or Gods and his natural philosophy and treatment approaches were emulated and idealized for centuries later. The