Prognosis and therapy in the Hippocratic Corpus

Prognosis and therapy in the Hippocratic Corpus Public Deposited

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Creator

Alexandre, Derick Napoleon
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Classics

Abstract

This paper will examine the interdependence of prognosis and therapy in key texts of the Hippocratic Corpus. I argue that, contrary to prevailing scholarly opinions, prognosis possessed great medical significance, for it helped to determine the kairos, or the right moment to apply specific treatments before the patient's condition declines. I consider both the "Coan" and "Cnidian" writings, showing the fundamental coherence of the medical approaches represented in them. The analysis of the relationship between prognosis and therapy bears particular fruit in the nosological treatises. In these we can detect an evolution from prognoses based on pathology alone to prognoses rooted in confidence about the immediate or long-term effectiveness of the prescribed therapies.

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