My Big Fat Greek Medical Legend

I've been reading Next Medicine--The Science and Civics of Health by Walter M. Bortz II, M.D., and in it, he describes a Greek legend that (in my mind) totally and completely describes our medical world today, and where it went off track.

From page 46 of his book:

"When Asclepius came of age, the gods charged him with caring for the health of all Greek mortals. He fathered many children, several of whom helped with the family business, including two daughters. The older, Hygeia, washed and scrubbed her father's patients, which helped to protect the mortals' health--so much so that she came to resemble health itself, giving rise to the word HYGIENE.

Hygeia came to represent a virtue of the sane life in a pleasant environment, the ideal of mens in corpore sano--a clean mind in a sound body. And in concert with this was the notion that the body tends to heal itself, Vis medicatrix naturae. Nature heals.

Asclepius's other daughter, Panacea (pronounced pan-AH-cee-a, with emphasis on the second syllable, as opposed to the way we say it today, with emphasis on the third syllable) represented the power to cure those who were already sick. Hygeia and Panacea represent an age-old dichotomy: prevention vs. cure. The ancient Greeks understood better than we do today that there are two ways of treating disease. Panacea built her reputation as the great healer. She mastered the use of the knife and studied the curative values of plants. Eventually, her disciples outpaced those of Hygeia. Outside her temples, mortals waited in long lines to be cured. She changed the way mortals thought about their health. Health did not occur naturally or as a result of cleanliness: it was a gift they obtained at the hands of a physician. Renè DuBos, formerly a scientist at Rockefeller Institute and philosopher-humanist, commented that to ward off disease and recover health, man as a rule finds it easier to depend on the healer than to attempt the more difficult task of living wisely."

This explains a lot--not only where the wheels fell off in "health" care, but also explains the Health Care Reform law. We're expected to subsidize the current-day worshipers of Panacea because we're reaping the benefits of Hygeia, and as a result, have more money in our pockets, and are living a longer, healthier life because of it.

It also explains why I distrust the medical community so much. Panacea's disciples (doctors and medical researchers) figured out how to get rich wielding the knife and the pill.

Again, we zig while other are zagging. It's fun being a contrarian, isn't it?

Anyway, my history-buff husband tells me that Greek medical knowledge got rescued by the Arabs through various writings left behind. I don't remember what he said about after medicine met the Arabs, but maybe this explains the origins of halal and kosher dietary laws, and maybe the foot-washing before entering a mosque (as part of Hygeia's lessons).

I'm still reading Walter's book, so maybe I'll find out for myself. It's what inspired me to finally take the leap and change my blog--I've always had an interest in health and longevity, and now I get to share it.