The Most Powerful Message of Ancient Greek Medicine
Most modern doctors and other health care providers, despite their vast knowledge of man’s anatomy and physiology, sometimes seem to forget an important truth that ancient doctors kept in mind–man’s anatomy and physiology don’t change from century to century or millennium to millennium. What was harmful to the health of ancient people is harmful to the health of modern people; and what was good for the health of ancient man is good for the health of modern man.
Archaeobotonists have confirmed the identity of most of the plant extracts that were used to make ancient medicine in pill form discovered on a ship that sank around 130 BC off the coast of Tuscany, Italy. Vegetables such as wild onion and medicinal herbs such as yarrow were identified as ingredients in a box of tablets believed to be a prepared archaic prescription from ancient Greek medicine. A modern physician could not officially write a prescription for a medicine as natural as the effective ancient medicine of the past. Instead, expensive, health-destroying, and sometimes life-threatening drugs are prescribed because to “prescribe” an herb would be labeled medical quackery. But, were those all natural “drugs” of times past truly effective? History books inform us of the diseases from which people died in those times–the black death, for example.
Ancient Medicine Versus Modern Medicine
If those natural “drugs” prescribed in history were truly effective, why did so many people still die from disease? Practitioners of modern medicine understand the need to thoroughly cleanse their hands before and after giving treatment to patients and the need to sterilize medical instruments to prevent infection and the spread of contagious diseases. It’s common knowledge that health care providers in the past would do things like dissect a corpse and then, without washing their hands, deliver a baby. Even today, the close relationship between filth, promiscuity, and disease is evident; therefore, it’s not at all hard to believe that most of the diseases in ancient times could have easily been prevented if the people had known about the importance of good hygiene. Neither modern nor ancient medicine can prevent the consequences of certain behavior or uncleanliness–another truth that endures from antiquity to modern times.
Now, it could be said that ancient Greek medicine as well as the medical practices of other nations of the past, did not have the answer to how to live disease free any more than modern medicine has. The ancients had the right medicine, but poor hygiene. Modern man has good hygiene, or at least he knows what good hygiene is whether he practices it or not; but, he is exposed to poisons and toxins in food, cleaning products, personal care products, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, chemical warfare, cigarette smoke, etc. Should we conclude that man was just destined to be cheated out of good health and long life whether by ignorance of how filth and promiscuity caused and spread disease in ancient times or by constant exposure to pollutants, toxins, and poisons in modern times? No, there’s no need to arrive at such a conclusion.
The first five books of the Christian Bible reveal how God instructed his people, ancient Israel, in hygiene and warned them against promiscuity so that the diseases that afflicted other nations would not afflict them. These divine instruction had both spiritual and natural significance to attend to Israel’s need for both spiritual and physical health. Ancient Israel was made up of those who were born into the nation and also of those who joined the nation by accepting the God of Israel as their God (Esther 8:17, Romans 2:28-29). They did not have to wait for the invention of the microscope to know that microscopic organisms that caused disease existed. They did not have to understand the laws of hygiene they received from God; they only needed to follow them to be protected. Israel did not even have to wait for the invention of vaccinations to enjoy the good health that comes with eating the wholesome diet they followed and with using only natural ancient medicine for ailments. Yes, the Bible reveals much about the use of herbs for sickness. We see that the best of both worlds was indeed enjoyed–cleanliness and morality, and no exposure to environmental pollutants and carcinogens (cancer causing agents). That combination was a “recipe” for good health and long life.
Just as ancient Greek medicine consisted of using all natural herbs and foods to prevent and treat disease, so modern medicine can also. The article, “Homemade Herbal Medicine in Pill Form,” reminds of the forgotten techniques used to actually make herbal medicine. Fortunately, many Americans have come to realize that there’s a reason why cancer is so prevalent in a nation that is supposed to be so advanced in medicine. They are aware that despite cruel animal research, nanotechnology, a prescription here and a prescription there, sophisticated machinery, physicians who’ve spent numerous years in medical school, access to the best specialists, and the best medical insurance coverage; good health will not be enjoyed when the body is polluted on every side, becomes sick, and is then treated with more pollutants called “medicine.
There are many aspects of modern medicine that are wonderful, especially when it comes to drugs that alleviate discomfort. Nevertheless, there are also many wonderful aspects of ancient medicine which emphasize a wholesome diet and reliance on natural medicines to prevent and cure disease. Thumbs up to those who are fighting the war against unnatural medicine used to treat unnatural health problems caused by eating an unnatural diet and constant exposure to an unnatural environment.
Some might say that the ancients did not have to deal with some of the new diseases that modern man must face; but, is that really true? Did not scurvy appear to be a new disease that would never have been seen had the diet of the sailors who suffered it not been depleted of vitamin C? If no one ever suffered a vitamin B1 (thiamin) deficiency, who would ever have heard of the disease beriberi? What about the disease pellagra caused by a deficiency of vitamin B3 (niacin)? All of these diseases were “new” in their time; but, they were not really new; they were only the result of a problem in the diet. Down through the ages, most diseases show up as the result of a problem in the diet and/or behavior. Although sickness and disease cannot be totally eradicated, they should not dominate either.
