Esha M Drinkard
Theory Of Humoral, Anatomical, and Germ Diseases
HW215-07
Models for Health and Wellness

The history behind the theories. The world is made up of hypothesis and theories for why we acquire what diseases, and who was responsible for finding the answers. It is relative to say that history has taught us a lot about who, what, when, where, why and how of health and wellness. Some common concepts and theories of disease are humoral, anatomical, and germ. The humoral concept is one that describes how four elements are noticeable in disease deterioration, while the anatomical theory describes how our insides show us what disease is what, now the germ theory basically brings about the fact that bacteria is one of the leading causes for disease. All three of these theories are different in style as well as theory, but similar in many ways as well. They all come together with one common purpose, to find the disease and rid the human body of it. Now, let us get into more detail about the humoral theory a bit. What is so humorous about a disease? Nothing, because disease is no laughing matter, but something that is a fun fact is how the humoral disease came about. The humoral disease started out about the four elements: Earth, Air , Fire, and Water. What I feel is a bit comical is who brought together the humoral theories, Greeks during the Renaissance era. They felt that if one of the four elements in a persons body was out of balance, then whatever physically happened was the cause and not something internally. How they determined the roles of the elements was a breakdown like so: Sanquine-blood-liver-air; Choleric-yellow bile-spleen-fire; Phlegmatic-phlegm-lungs-water; and last Melancholic-black bile-gall bladder-earth. These breakdowns were once very popular in disease recognition, but for now in modern times, do seem a bit humorous. So, onward to our other friend, the anatomical theory, which is the theory that states what is happening on the outside is a reflexion of what is going on inside. The anatomical theory came about in the 16th and 19th century, where one, Giovanni Battista Morgagni, used pathology to get a better understanding of his patients’ organs and the root of their problems. Due to his hard work and study, a bond was forged between his patients’ symptoms; basically he found the link between the physical outside symptoms and what disease was happening on the inside. I realize that that is probably the most logical way to determine a cause of disease, by research and testing, trial and error, as opposed to making a theory based on no facts. Lastly, the germ theory, which is not a theory at all, it is a series of facts brought to light to determine false information. The theory was that bacteria somehow generated on its own and had no real origin. Now, this theory was discovered in the 19th century by a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Phillippe Semmeweis, who also made the great discovery of antiseptics. Ignaz was the one who found the bond between his patients deaths and septicemia. Which, in turn, gave birth to antiseptics. The major differences between the three theories is the fact that they all deal with different aspects of treating diseases. If you look, the humoral theory talks about how to identify with the elemental factors as opposed to the actual physical evidence, which is more the anatomical theory. It states that to know whats on the outside, is to discover whats on the inside. Now the germ theory is the most different from the two in that it deals mainly with bacteria being the cause of the diseases. But, without the information and research of the first two, we could not have come to the knowledge about the third. Also, although they have some differences , as with all history, one could not have gotten so far without the others. Look at the germ theory, without the knowledge from the first two, the germ theory may not have been able to bring about anticeptic, vaccines and all the good drugs that prevent or heal diseases. What is historically important about each of these theories, is again, without one, there could not be another. Without the initial first two theories, Semmeweis might not have come up with the bond between his dying mother patients and septicemia. If not for that knowledge , no one would know that washing your hands is important when dealing with patients, because back then , it was not as important. Sanitation and hygiene was not as stringent as it is in modern medicine. Look at autoclaves and how sterile hospitals have become due to one historical event. SO without the knowledge of the first 2 , we would not have been able to come as far on the third and begin the learning process. The world of medicine has come a long way since the renaissance times and made a lot of lead way in the world of disease and healing.
In conclusion, these three theories have taught me about how history plays a role in everything. The humoral, anatomical and germ theories are all individual, yet different, and still play a part in each others findings and discoveries. Without the history and research or theories of the other , each theory would have no basis. I also discovered that history of the entire world had a hand in what we now use in our current hospitals and with our current health systems. Without the hard work of scientist and historians, and the knowledge from physicians for our medical care today, we would not be in any better shape than we were millions of years ago.
Referances:
http://www.kheper.net/topics/typology/four_humours.html http://dictionary.com www.medicinenet.com
Ode to the West Wind; Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley's Poetry and Prose; 1977, New York : Norton, p221-223, 3p.
The Anatomy of Melancholy; Burton, Robert; 1621, London