Humoral Theory of Disease

Definition

The Humoral Theory of Disease is a medical concept from Ancient Greece that suggests the body is made up of four "humors" or fluids - blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Health was believed to be maintained by a balance of these humors.

Analogy

Think about baking a cake. You need the right balance of ingredients for it to turn out well. Too much or too little of one ingredient can ruin the whole thing. Similarly, in the Humoral Theory, health was like a perfectly baked cake - it required just the right balance of all four humors.

Related terms

Galen: Galen was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. He is considered one of the most accomplished medical researchers in Ancient history. His theories dominated European medicine for over 1,000 years.

Hippocrates: Known as the "Father of Medicine," he was an ancient Greek physician who first proposed the Humoral Theory.

Medieval Medicine: The period when Galen's interpretation of Hippocratic medicine became widely accepted across Europe.