Hippocrates — "Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases."
Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.
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More from Hippocrates
"The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing."
"Desperate diseases require desperate remedies."
"Nature acts without masters."
"Much suffering is caused by the humors."
"It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has."
Details
A statement on the use of drastic measures for severe conditions.
Date: c. 460-370 BCE
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Understanding this quote
What it means
When a disease is serious or life-threatening, mild or cautious treatment won't suffice — the response must match the severity of the threat. In modern terms: aggressive illness demands aggressive medicine. A harsh chemotherapy regimen for cancer, emergency surgery for acute conditions, or intensive interventions for critical patients all embody this logic. Proportionality is the key idea: calibrate the strength of the remedy to the gravity of the disease.
Relevance to Hippocrates
Hippocrates founded empirical, observation-based medicine, rejecting supernatural explanations for disease. He taught physicians to weigh risks against outcomes — his famous commitment to 'do no harm' didn't mean passivity, but deliberate judgment. As a practicing physician in ancient Greece, he confronted epidemics, wounds, and acute crises requiring bold intervention. This principle reflects his core belief that medicine must be rationally matched to reality: a physician who under-treats a severe disease fails the patient just as surely as one who over-treats.
The era
In 5th-century BC Greece, medicine was just breaking from temple-based healing and supernatural explanations. Hippocrates practiced during the Peloponnesian War era, when mass casualties, plague — the catastrophic Plague of Athens struck around 430 BC — and battlefield trauma demanded decisive treatment. With no antibiotics or modern diagnostics, conditions rapidly became fatal. Bold interventions — cauterization, surgical drainage, aggressive purging — were often the only tools that could turn the tide against severe disease.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].