Did the Four Humours Work?

The Theory of the Four Humours was an important development in medical knowledge which originated in the works of Aristotle. ... These Four Humours needed to remain balanced in order for people to remain healthy. The Four Humours were liquids within the body- blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.

Is the theory of the four humours still used today?

Imbalances between these humours were thought to be responsible for different moods and character traits – sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic are all terms still in use today. Good health was felt to reflect a state in which the four humours were in balance; diseases arose when they were not.

How many years did the 4 humours theory remain accepted?

Led by Hippocrates in 400 B.C.E, this theory remained uncontested for nearly two thousand years influencing both Western and Eastern medicine, proposing that the human body consisted of four major fluids or humours that must be maintained in equilibrium in order to promote a good well-being.