Bedside Rounds

The Four Humors are probably the longest-lasting idea in the history of medicine, even though they’ve been more or less completely abandoned for the past century or so. In this episode, we’ll explore how the ancient Greek idea of disease coming from imbalances in body fluids touched every aspect of medicine for two millennia, well into the modern era. And we’ll discuss how humoral explanations likely hampered adoption of the first clinical trial in history, James Lind’s famous scurvy study. Plus we have a brand new #AdamAnswers about germ theory. Listen to all this and more in Episode 32 of Bedside Rounds, a tiny podcast about fascinating stories in clinical medicine!   Sources: Arikha N, Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humors. 2007. Baron JH, “Sailors' scurvy before and after James Lind--a reassessment,” Nutr Rev. 2009 Jun;67(6):315-32. Bartholomew M, “James Lind and scurvy: a revaluation,” Journal for Maritime Research. Published online: 08 Feb 2011. Lind J. A Treatise of the Scurvy in Three Parts.