Hippocrates and Society Today

In class we discussed Hippocrates I found his thoughts and ideas to be very interesting pertaining to the human body and its state of well being. He was all about helping the people in need, for example he had even stated that the patients should not be charged if they were financially down. Personally I think I was drawn to his voice because of the fact that he believed in natural healing of the body. He believed that rest, exercise, healthy eating, etc. all aided in healing and healthy living. I am very much about eating healthy, working out regularly and getting lots of sleep seeing as how I am an athlete here at ACU. The only thing that he said that I did not agree with is “the worst thing a physician could do is interrupt the natural healing process”. I think to some extent we should let our bodies heal naturally, however, when it gets serious and you are not getting better on your own I believe a physician should indeed step in and get you well. Just as Hippocrates stated “the body has the ability to heal itself and it is the physician’s job to facilitate this natural healing”.  I believe that the natural healing (rest, fluids, healthy eating, exercise) along with physicians coinciding together can exist and be useful at times.

As Christians we believe our body is a sacred temple which should be treated with love and respect. If you think about it this is kind of the message Hippocrates was attempting to get out. Instead of damaging our bodies with unhealthy foods and pumping ourselves with medication every time we have a hang nail or catch a cold, we should heal in a more natural sense because that is what your body was made to do.

However, on a contradictive note not everyone in society treats their body as a “temple” per say. During small groups in class we discussed; since Hippocrates time we have somewhat gone against his rational of “natural healing” and turned to prescription medication for everything. When we get sick and or when we are in pain what the first thing we do is? Have our doctor prescribe us a medication to fix it. When is that last time you went to the doctor, for any circumstance, and were NOT prescribed something for it? I honestly cannot remember the last time I wasn’t prescribed antibiotics or some kind of medication.

The following video explains exactly how close of friends society and prescription medication have become:
Overmedicated Society

I believe that society needs to find the healthy balance of “what I DO need help and medication for” and “what I can cure ON MY OWN”. This would help society all around whether we talk financially or their own personal health. Some of Hippocrates reasoning and ideas are still used today such as the Hippocratic Oath, however, I believe that his beliefs in our own ability to do well to and help ourselves should be better recognized and put into act.