What Was The 'theory Of Humours'?

The theory of humours was the lynch pin of ancient Greek medicine. They believed that a person's health was dictated by four bodily fluids, namely blood, phlegm (also referred to as mucus), yellow bile and black bile.
The Greeks believed that all these fluids had to be in harmony and balanced and that any imbalance would result in ill health. Usually they thought that in sickness, one fluid or humour had taken preference over the others.
Once a patient's condition had been established ie a physician had ascertained which of these was dominant, then steps would be taken to restore the equilibrium.
Thus, if a patient were thought to have blood dominating his body, then he would be bled to relieve him of the excess blood and so his health and vitality would (apparently) be restored.
This view of humours was prevalent throughout early history and it was only really in the late 18th Century that the concept was finally discredited.

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