MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY:

1. PATHOLOGY IN GREEK MEDICINE
The Origins and Causes of Disease
Pathology is the study of disease, or how the normal, healthy physiology and functioning of
the organism can become unbalanced, dysfunctional or corrupted. To properly understand
pathology, which is a deviation from the normal state of health, we must first have a clear
understanding of exactly what constitutes health..
In Greek Medicine, the normal, healthy physiology of the body and the normal state of its
organs and tissues is defined by the Seven Natural Factors. Pathology involves an imbalance,
dysfunction or breakdown of one or more of these Seven Natural Factors.
Etiology is the study of disease origins and causes. Although illness and disease may also be
caused by accidental or exogenous factors like microbes, seasonal or climactic overexposure,
injury or trauma, or be congenital or inherited, Greek Medicine maintains that most disease and
pathology is due to repeated errors and transgressions of hygiene. And that involves the Six
Hygienic Factors.
States of Health and Disease
Most people would simply assume that you're either healthy or you're sick. But actually,
health and disease exist on a contimuum. There are intermediate stages in between the extremes
of absolute health and total disease, in which illness varies in severity, or health and illness
coexist side by side.
At the top of the scale is total, absolute, radiant health. Actually, very few people enjoy this
exalted state of total health and euphoric wellbeing, which is usually only accessible to those
who take the time and effort to cultivate and attain it.
The vast majority of healthy people experience normal or average good health. This state is
characterized by the absence of any overt signs or symptoms of disease, discomfort or
dysfunction. The robust health and energy and euphoric wellbeing of total or optimum health is
conspicuously missing, however.
Disease usually starts with minor discomforts or complaints like sneezes and sniffles, aches
and pains. If these are ignored or suppressed without any effort to treat their underlying root
cause, this opens the door to more serious illness later on.
Health and disease can also coexist side by side. The body may be diseased or dysfunctional
in one part, but healthy in all others; examples of this are deafness or blindness. Or, health and
disease can alternate, as in illnesses of repeated onsets and remissions, or seasonal maladies that
appear in one season and disappear in the next.
Health and disease can coexist, with neither being total or complete. Such states exist among
the aged or constitutionally frail or infirm, as well as in those convalescing from serious disease.
At the very bottom of the spectrum is total or overt disease, which may go on to become
chronic, degenerative, and finally terminal or irreversible. Such states are usually the result of
continued abuse or neglect.
Greek Medicine acknowledges the healing power of Nature, and that the human organism is
endowed by Nature with a remarkable resilience and ability to recover, heal and regenerate
itself. And so, most diseases tend to be of limited duration, or self-limiting. Terminal or

2. irreversible disease only happens when the body's innate healing and regenerative mechanisms
have broken down.
Types of Disease
There are many types of diseases and infirmities, with many types of causes. They can also
involve many different systems or aspects of the organism. Greek Medicine utilizes many
different parameters for analyzing and differentiating disease.
Disorders of temperament involve an imbalance, either localized or systemic, of one or
more of the Four Basic Qualities - Hot, Cold, Wet or Dry. They are usually exogenous or
adventitious in nature, attacking the body from without.
Humoral disorders are metabolic in nature, and involve imbalances and/or corruptions of
one or more of the Four Humors. Humoral disorders can either be quantitative - excess or
deficiency - or qualitative; or, they can be both simultaneously. Most humoral disorders are
endogenously created, due to inherent imbalances in the metabolism. Generally, metabolic
disorders are either those of excess or anabolism, such as diabetes or high cholesterol, or
wasting/catabolic in nature, like hypoglycemia or anemia.
Discontinuities are disorders caused by accidents, injuries or trauma. An accident comes
along and disrupts or discontinues the normal flow of life, and deranges the normal structure of
the body in some way. At the site of the trauma, rupture or discontinuity, there is usually pain.
Congenital or inherited diseases are those we were born with, such as birth defects, or those
which are genetically passed on from parent to offspring. Many diseases, especially chronic or
degenerative ones, are constitutional in nature, and tend to run in the family.
Structural disorders are those involving abnormalities in the size or structure of one or more
organs or parts of the body. They typically involve swelling, hypertrophy or enlargement;
atrophy or wasting; hypotonia, or excessive laxness or dilation; hypertonia, or excessive tension,
constriction, narrowing and stenosis; displacement, or deviation from normal form or position;
and obstruction, or blockage.
Primary diseases are differentiated from secondary diseases, or their sequelae or
complications. And so, one disease may become the cause or parent of another. The primary
disease can be likened to the roots of a tree, with the secondary spinoffs being its branches.
Constitutional Medicine and Pathology
Greek Medicine is constitutionally based, and rooted in the doctrine of the Four
Temperaments. In Greek Medicine, all disease and pathology is seen as the result of the coming
together of two basic factors: the exogenous pathogen, stress or risk factor; and the inherent
vulnerabilities and predispositions of the individual, according to his/her constitutional makeup
of humor and temperament.
When one accepts this constitutional dimension of health and disease, many things become
clear. For example, smoking two packs of cigarettes per day for 30 years is enough to cause
emphysema or lung cancer in most people, but not in everyone. There are still some individuals
who don't succumb, and these are individuals whose lungs and respiratory tracts are
constitutionally very strong and resistant. The fact that you can't make simplistic equations
between causative factor frequency or intensity and disease outcomes is due to constitutional
differences.

3. Constitutionally, each one of us is a unique individual, with our own unique makeup of humor
and temperament, and our own unique set of inherent strengths and weaknesses, or
vulnerabilities. Because of individual constitutional differences, no single disease will develop
or progress in exactly the same way in any two individuals. Although, for diagnostic purposes,
we may categorize or name a disease, each individual's disease, or disease process, is unique to
him or her.
Knowing one's constitutional nature and temperament and living in accordance with it is the
key to all health maintenance and disease prevention in Greek Medicine. It's impossible to go
through life without encountering any pathogenic stress or risk factor. But knowing one's
constitutional nature and its limitations and vulnerabilities will help us avoid the really serious or
critical ones, and enable us to take the right remedial measures to compensate for these stresses
and risks.
In evaluating the condition of the patient, the Greek physician distinguishes between
conditions that are more endogenous and self-generated versus those that are more acquired or
adventitious. Endogenous and self-generated conditions usually involve inherent
constitutional predispositions and vulnerabilities of humor and temperament. Generally, the
more deeply constitutional vulnerabilities and predispositions are involved, the more recalcitrant
and difficult the disease will be to treat.
Pathology and the Six Hygienic Factors
Errors and transgressions of proper hygiene are the usual causative factors in most diseases.
This is particularly true of the types of complaints that lead one to seek the help of a natural
holistic healer like the Greek physician. The more longstanding, repeated or serious the abuse of
hygiene, the more grave the resulting disease or disorder.
In Greek Medicine, errors of hygiene involve one or more of the Six Hygienic Factors:
Ambient Air: Poor choice of living environment, insufficient ventillation. Excessive or
unwise exposure to the elements. Air pollution. Insufficient or improper breathing habits.
Seasonal or environmental illness.
Food and Drink: Poor or unbalanced diet, poor food choices. Unhealthy or immoderate
eating habits. Insufficient fluid consumption, dehydration. Eating junk food or impure,
adulterated foods. Not following the dietary guidelines for your constitutional type.
Exercise and Rest: A sedentary lifestyle. Poor exercise habits. Immoderate or excessive
exercise. Insufficient rest and relaxation. Excessive stress and overwork.
Sleep and Wakefulness: Irregular hours, staying up too late. Excessive sloth, somnolence.
Jet lag.
Retention and Evacuation of Wastes: Poor cleanliness habits, insufficient bathing. Poor
bowel habits, chronic constipation, irregularity. Autointoxication, alimentary toxemia. Chronic
diarrhea or excessive urination. Suppression of natural urges.
Perturbations of the Mind and Emotions: Poor mental and moral hygiene. Negative or
erroneous thinking. Excessive stress or worry. All diseases and pathologies involve the mind
and emotions in some way, and create mental anguish. The essence of all dis-ease is discomfort,
pain and suffering, both mental/emotional and physical.

4. The Disease Process
Modern allopathic medicine, with its formidable arsenal of technological weapons, fights
disease by attempting to kill or eradicate it; if this should prove to be impossible, then every
aspect of the disease will be attempted to be controlled and managed. Modern medicine tends to
view the host organism as the neutral or passive battleground on which the doctors fight the
disease.
Greek Medicine, on the other hand, sees the patient, or host organism, as a valuable ally, an
active participant in the battle against disease. The human organism is endowed by Nature's
Creator with an amazing ability to resist or throw off disease and heal itself. The physician's
highest purpose is to assist and enhance these natural healing responses of the organism by
timely and appropriate intervention.
Hippocrates took medicine out of the realm of the supernatural and established it as a rational
science. Disease, he said, was a natural process, subject to natural law. The signs and symptoms
of any given disease were generated or manifested from the body's own self-healing mechanisms
in their struggle to throw off the pathogenic factor or agent.
The human organism encounters many potentially pathogenic stresses and factors in the
course of daily living, but most of these it is able to successfully resist or shrug off in the
incipient stages. It is only when the natural resistance and healing/adaptive responses of the
organism have become weak or compromised in some way that we become sick. Either the
overall strength and virulence of the pathogenic factor overwhelms the resistive powers of the
host organism, or the pathogenic factor, according to its nature, is able to exploit a specific
weakness in the host resistance. This is symbolized by the demise of the mighty warrior
Achilles, who met his end when a poisoned arrow struck him in his vulnerable heel.
And so, the disease process is essentially one of struggle and catharsis, in which the host
organism actively throws off and purges itself of the offending pathogenic factor, whatever it
may be. This process typically happens in four stages, as follows:
Onset: The disease or pathogenic factor makes its entrance and gains a foothold in the
organism. The body's struggle against the disease begins as the malady's signs and symptoms
make their appearance.
Buildup: The struggle of the host organism against the disease intensifies as the signs and
symptoms of the disease intensify. An all-out struggle ensues.
Climax: This is the acme or acute crisis stage of the disease. It's the final showdown or
moment of truth in which the host organism either overcomes the disease or is overcome by it. If
the catharsis of the climax is successful and complete, the climax is followed by a period of
recovery and resolution. If the climax is unsuccessful, and the resistive powers of the host
organism are finally broken down completely, demise and death ensue. If the catharsis is only
partially successful, a residue of the disease or pathogenic factor remains in the organism, and
goes on to create chronic or recurring pathologies.
Resolution: After the catharsis of the climax, the body's inherent healing and regenerative
processes take over to restore health and balance. This resolution or recovery period may either
be shorter or longer, depending on the severity and extent of the damage done by the disease.
Quick resolutions, usually from acute diseases, are called recovery; longer resolutions, usually
from more serious or debilitating diseases, are called convalescence.
It's also possible for some diseases, according to their nature, to have multiple climaxes and

5. resolutions. Such diseases are called intermittent or periodic; the intermittent fever of malaria is
a good example.
The Four Stages of Pathology
Disease manifestations, caused by the struggle of the host organism against the pathogenic
agent or factor, are of four basic types. These are the four basic phases, or stages, of pathology.
Acute diseases are the manifestation of an all-out struggle, a decisive, short term battle
between the host organism and the disease. They are generally of short duration, and follow the
classic four stage progression of onset, buildup, climax and resolution outlined earlier. The host
resistance and immunity are basically strong and intact, although a critical flaw or weakness
permitted the intial invasion and onset of the disease. The signs and symptoms of this all-out
struggle are usually strong and vehement.
Subacute diseases can either be the secondary reactions or complications of an acute disease
that has been imperfectly or incompletely resolved, or the milder, more subdued manifestations
of disease caused by a host resistance and immunity that have been moderately dulled or blunted
by previous acute episodes. They can also be caused by the eruption or catharsis of pathogenic
toxins and factors held deeply or chronically in the organism, which offer opportunities for
greater healing and purification.
Chronic diseases are like long, drawn-out sieges or ongoing battles against one or more
pathogenic factors which permit no easy or decisive resolution. In most all chronic cases, host
immunity and resistance have been significantly compromised, and the host organism has
resigned itself to living with the disease. Although chronic conditions can be greatly ameliorated
or remedied with regular, persistent treatment, a final eradication or definitive resolution is often
elusive.
Chronic diseases can also be recurring, with multiple remissions and relapses. Certain
conditions and circumstances, according to their nature, will bring them on, whereas contrary
ones will resolve them. The scales of nature and disease are tipped back and forth by the
alternating tides and exogenous influences of life.
Degenerative diseases are those in which the normal, righteous function and structure of the
organism starts to break down under the burden of a chronic or unresolved disease process.
Characteristic of these diseases are degenerative changes in the organs and tissues. Generally,
pathology starts out as being more functional and energetic in nature; finally, in the later stages,
organic or structural changes in the organs and tissues set in. When these changes become
pernicious and irreversible, pathology has entered the degenerative stage. Finally, when there is
no longer any hope of survival, the disease becomes terminal.
Conditions of Stress and Tone
Apollo was the Greek god of health and healing. He was also the god of physical culture and
conditioning, which are symbolized by his lyre and bow.
The muscles, organs and tissues of the body all need a certain basic tone, or state of dynamic
tension, to be healthy, responsive and adaptable. The healthy body should be like a well tuned
lyre, with all its parts, or strings, in tune at just the right degree of dynamic tension. Tune the
string too high and it will break; keep it too loose and its tone will be muddled. The bow should
be strung tight enough to shoot an arrow with power and precision, but not so tight that it breaks.

6. Hypotonia is a condition of insufficient tone and excessive laxness in the organs and tissues.
Atony refers to a complete lack of tone. The organ, tissue or system affected is unable to
respond with sufficient strength and vigor, and hypofunction prevails.
Conversely, hypertonia is a state of excessive tension or constriction. This is also
undesirable, because this excessive tension and constriction chokes off the proper circulation and
flow of the humors and vital principles.
Dystonia is a state in which a whole bodily system is out of whack, out of kilter. The various
opposing yet complementary forces are out of their proper adjustment and alignment, and need
to be adjusted and brought to bear in their proper places.
Today, much is made of the deleterious effects of stress, but all stress is not necessarily a bad
thing. Moderate stress, of the right kind, at the right time, and in the right amount, can serve to
condition the body and keep it in shape; then, it is called eu-stress. Proper observance of the
lifestyle related hygienic factors, like Exercise and Rest, and Sleep and Wakefulness, helps us
regulate our lives and manage our stress levels.
When physical activity or wakefulness become immoderate or excessive, they create dys-stress
and fatigue. Dys-stress and fatigue can also set in when the body suddenly undergoes a
stress to which it has not become conditioned or accustomed; this implies a lack of the proper
tone and physical conditioning. Knowing our constitutional limitations and level of physical
conditioning means knowing the first signs of stress and fatigue which, if persisted in, can lead to
the breakdown of disease.
The aging process is one thing that generally robs our bodies of the proper tone they need for
optimum functioning. Parts that should be loose and supple become too tense, stiff and rigid,
and parts that need to be firm and well-toned become too lax and flabby.
Disease as a State Contrary to Nature
In the world of Nature, all living beings do their best to live in balance and harmony with
each other, and within themselves. Health is a state in which the physis, or organism as a whole,
exists in a balanced, whole and uncorrupted state.
Taking this as his initial point of reference, Galen defined disease as a state contrary to
Nature. Diseases can be those of repletion, in which something excessive or superfluous is there
which should not be in the organism in its healthy, natural state. Diseases can also be those of
depletion, or deficiency, in which some needed part or element is deficient or missing.
Or, diseases can also be those of corruption, which can basically be of three types. The
corruption may be a functional disorder, or it may be structural, involving some physical defect
or deformity. Or, the corruption may be qualitative, involving one or more of the Four Basic
Qualities, or a morbid or corrupt humor.
As long as the disease or disorder persists, there will be signs and symptoms manifested as the
organism struggles to regain health, harmony and balance. Once the balance, harmony and
wholeness of health are re-established, the signs and symptoms disappear, as they are no longer
necessary.

7. DYSTEMPERS
Disorders of Temperament
In Greek Medicine, the simplest types of pathology are dystempers, which are disorders or
imbalances of temperament. Simply put, one or more of the Four Basic Qualities - Hot, Cold,
Wet or Dry - overwhelms the body's defenses and homeostatic mechanisms, and gains entry into
the organism as a whole, or localizes itself in a certain part of the body.
A dystemper, in its most basic form, is simply succumbing to an exogenous environmental
influence, or getting "under the weather". One may get a cold from catching a chill, or
experience a bout of rheumatism from cold, damp weather.
Dystempers are rather simple, straightforward affairs; the stronger the offending
environmental influence gets, the stronger become the signs and symptoms of the dystemper.
Conversely, when the offending influences subside or abate, the dystemper is also alleviated, and
one experiences relief.
Dystempers may affect any organ, tissue, or part of the organism, and that includes any one,
or more, of the Four Humors. But even if they affect a humor, a dystemper of a humor isn't the
same as a genuine humoral disorder; the humor's substance or essence hasn't become affected,
and the metabolism and generation of the humors remains balanced and intact. Also, humoral
disorders progress and work themselves out through complex, dynamic metabolic processes of
transformation and ripening, or maturation, which are absent in simple dystempers.
Qualities and Dystempers
Simple dystempers involve only a single quality: heat, coldness, dryness or moisture. They
can also vary in degree or severity, which will make a difference in how they affect the
organism.
The two primary dystempers are heat and coldness, or chill, because they involve the two
primary or active qualities of Hot and Cold. They're primary not just because they're the most
important; they also have the power to precipitate changes in the other two qualities - dryness,
and wetness - as well.
Moderate heat simply increases the quality of heat in the organism, whereas extreme or severe
heat will also lead to dryness and dehydration. Moderate coldness, or coolness, simply cools
down the organism, whereas extreme coldness also precipitates moisture.
Of the two primary dystempers, coldness or chill is usually considered to be the most
deleterious in its effects, because Cold is basically inimical to life. All living organisms generate
a metabolic or innate heat; dead bodies are cold and lifeless.
The two secondary dystempers are dryness and wetness, or moisture. They can exist in
relatively pure form, but are often seen paired up with either heat or coldness. For example, the
heat of an arrid desert is usually dry heat, whereas the heat of a tropical swamp or jungle would
usually be humid or damp heat. Similarly, the coldness of a high mountain ridge is most likely
to be dry, whereas that of a subarctic marsh or peat bog is most likely to be moist or damp.
In addition, there's a fifth quality or exogenous pathogenic factor that often figures into
dystempers: Wind. Wind is rarely found alone, and usually teams up with one or two of the
other four qualities as the motive force that penetrates the body's external immune defenses and
drives the others in.

8. A dystemper enters the organism by overwhelming its immune defenses and upsetting its
homeostatic mechanisms. But what is pathogenic and overwhelming for some may not be so for
others; it's all relative. One's inherent vulnerability to any given influence or potential dystemper
depends on two basic factors: one's constitutional nature and temperament, and any acquired
conditions or imbalances of humor or temperament that one may be suffering from.
For example, those of a Phlegmatic temperament, with a preponderance of coldness and
moisture in their constitutional makeups, will tend to be more vulnerable to dystempers of cold
and/or dampness. Frequent indulgence in cold, damp things, like ice cream or cold, iced drinks
will also make one more vulnerable to dystempers of coldness and dampness, regardless of one's
constitutional makeup.
Coldness and dampness exert a Phlegmatic influence, whereas heat or warmth and moisture
exert a Sanguine influence. Heat and dryness exert a Choleric influence, whereas coldness and
dryness exert a Melancholic influence.
In therapeutics, practitioners of Greek Medicine are always careful to choose treatments or
medicines whose natures are opposite yet complementary, or remedial, for both the patient's
constitutional nature and temperament, as well as any acquired disorders or imbalances that may
exist. Otherwise, a poorly chosen treatment or remedy can just as easily create a new dystemper
or imbalance, leading to further complications.
Dystempers of the Four Humors
The organism as a whole, as well as its constituent parts, responds to, and is affected by,
dystempers. And that includes the Four Humors.
Perhaps the clearest and most obvious example is the way that cold dystempers cause an
increase in, and congestion of, phlegm. This reaction is very common, and many people
experience sneezes, sniffles or runny noses, as well as coughs and lung congestion, right after
catching a chill.
But in simple dystempers, these humoral reactions are very transient and short term. Once the
exogenous pathogenic factor or influence has been expelled and balance or homeostasis is
restored, the humors return back to normal.
Only when dystempers become chronic or entrenched do they start to cause pathological
changes in the humors. Disorders and imbalances of the metabolism also set in, and the
generation of the humors becomes unbalanced or impaired.
Heat
Heat, or a Hot dystemper, is when the body as a whole, or any part thereof, attains a state of
heat which is beyond that which is natural or inherent to it. Moderate or natural Innate Heat is
generated by all living organisms.
In the broadest, most basic sense, excess heat is excess energy or activity - physical/kinetic, or
metabolic. Quite often, the body, or certain parts thereof, will feel hot or feverish to the touch.
Redness, soreness, irritation and inflammation are all signs of heat, as are a rapid pulse and an
elevated body temperature.
The most obvious cause of heat is hot weather or hot environments. A hot, sunny summer
day, a sun-baked desert, or sweltering tropical heat. Everyone knows that extreme heat like this
can lead to secondary fluid loss and dehydration, so one must keep hydrated and drink plenty of

9. fluids.
Other forms of heat exposure can also create Hot dystempers. Examples are overexposure to
a hot fire, a hot oven, or excessive immersion in a hot bath.
Physical activity and exercise are also heating, and moderate but persistent overindulgence in
physical exercise and activity can aggravate excessive or unnatural heat in the body. Physical
activity to the point of utter exhaustion, however, will dissipate heat and lead to cold.
Psychic movement, or e-motion, is also a potent generator of heat. Anger and passion are
heating in nature, as is worry, or even joy or euphoria. Eating, or ingesting nourishment, in
moderation, also exerts a heating influence, as it stimulates the activity of digestion and
metabolism. The organism also acquires the caloric heat generating potential of the foods
consumed. Overeating to the point of gluttony, however, depresses circulation and metabolism,
and is cooling.
Infection and sepsis, or what Greek Medicine calls putrefaction, also generates heat, since it is
the invasion of an exogenous microbe and its foreign heat, or metabolism, into the body. In
addition, the organism manifests additional heat in exerting the immune force and reaction
necessary to expel the invader.
Secondary heat or fever can also be generated as a defensive reaction of the organism to an
invading cold or chill. In these cases, there is usually the paradoxical, simultaneous experience
of both chill and fever.
Excessive heat can accumulate if the normal means and channels for its dispersal and release
are blocked or lacking. Perhaps the most common cause of this kind of heat is obesity, in which
a heavy layer of insulating fat allows excessive heat to accumulate from what for an ordinary
person would be very light activity, and no problem at all. Also, if the pores are closed due to
excessively tight or dry skin, the normal release of heat through perspiration, both sensible and
subtle, or insensible, will be blocked, allowing heat to build up.
Cold
Greek Medicine considers cold to be more dangerous and harmful to the organism than heat,
because cold is basically inimical to life. Cold cramps and constricts, and depresses vital life
functions like circulation, metabolism and digestion.
Most people vastly underestimate the insidious nature of cold, how much damage it can do,
and how long it can linger in the organism. By the time most people finally succumb to a chill
and come down with a cold, they have usually forgotten or discounted their initial exposure(s) to
cold, which have greatly weakened their resistance. Perhaps the most frequent offender is ice
cold drinks, followed by ice cream. These things particularly need to be watched in cold
weather, or when the seasons are changing. In cold weather, hot drinks should be taken, not cold
ones.
In addition to prior exposure, one's constitutional nature and temperament determines how
vulnerable one is to the ill effects of cold. In general, those of a hot, Choleric temperament are
least vulnerable to cold, followed by those of a warm Sanguine temperament. Those of a
Melancholic or Phlegmatic temperament are most vulnerable to the ill effects of cold.
Moderate coldness and dryness, as often prevails in the fall, most easily aggravates
melancholy. Severe or extreme coldness, or coldness and dampness, as often prevails in the
winter, tends to aggravate phlegm.
In the head and cranium, cold can cause headaches, earaches; stuffy, runny or congested nose;

10. and tearing eyes. In the throat, cold can cause sore throat and hoarseness. In the chest, cold can
cause coughing and lung congestion. In the stomach and GI tract, cold can impair digestion,
cause gurgling in the stomach and/or intestines, as well as stomachache, indigestion, abdominal
cramping and diarrhea. In the kidneys and urinary tract, cold can cause urinary debility and
frequent or urgent urination, as well as renal or urinary colic. In the female reproductive organs,
cold can cause menstrual cramps. In the musculoskeletal system, cold can cause or aggravate
arthritic and rheumatic conditions.
Even those of a hot Choleric temperament aren't immune to the ill effects of cold. In such
individuals, exposure to cold may trigger reactions of what could be called rebound heat as the
organism over-reacts. Colds initially caught due to a chill can later manifest a fever as well as
the organism struggles to throw off the chill; paradoxically, the victim feels simultaneous chills
and fever.
Cold is, above all, a phenomenon of extremes, and extremes of many kinds will eventually
lead to cold. Extreme sedentariness and inactivity will lead to cold, as will somnolence, but also
will extreme physical activity and exertion carried to the point of utter exhaustion.
Similarly, eating and nourishment are basically heating, in that they stimulate digestive and
metabolic activity. But overeating far beyond one's digestive capacity, as well as eating too
many cooling, heavy or phlegm- forming foods, stifles the digestive and metabolic fires of the
organism, leading to a cold condition.
The same goes for immersion in a hot or warm bath. Moderate immersion kindles and
cherishes the Innate Heat of the organism and warms up the body. But overimmersion for
extended periods of time over-relaxes the pores and disperses the Innate Heat through too much
sweating, leaving the body cold.
If the humors get too thick, aggregated or congealed, circulation will be impeded and the
Innate Heat will be suffocated, resulting in cold. Cold is also a leading cause of thickening and
congellation of the humors. And so, the effect can become the cause, and vice-versa.
The cardinal signs and symptoms of coldness are: fatigue and low energy; a pale complexion;
feelings of chill, coldness, or being cold to the touch; an aversion to cold weather; closed pores,
goose flesh, and a cessation of perspiration, both sensible and insensible; a slow and/or deep
pulse; and cold hands and/or feet.
In diagnosing a cold condition, a further distinction should be made as to whether it is of
excess or deficiency. Excess cold conditions tend to be more acute, caused by the invasion of
exogenous, superfluous cold pathogenic factors into an otherwise healthy organism. With
deficiency cold, which tends to be more chronic and atonic, the core problem is an inherent
weakness or deficiency of the Innate Heat of metabolism, which allows cold to dominate by
default.
Moisture, or Dampness
The human body is about 70 percent, or over two-thirds water. Water is essential for life, but
when the water level in the body gets even one or two percentage points over normal, moisture
or dampness sets in and begins to get problematic, causing signs and symptoms.
Above all, dampness or moisture is heavy, slow and sluggish; it lingers, and is hard to
disperse. It tends to sink to the lowest point, and seep downwards. Dampness also makes things
soft and soggy, and makes the tone of the muscles and tissues too lax. Its sluggishness tends to
obstruct proper circulation, digestion and metabolism.

11. If moisure and the stagnation it brings become chronic, toxicity and turbidity start to set in.
Cloudiness, murkiness, stickiness and a foul or foetid odor start to appear. In Greek Medicine,
stagnant moisture or dampness is the most common cause of putrefaction, which modern
medicine calls sepsis, or infection.
Moisture or dampness is of many different kinds, and has many different causes. Wetness,
being a secondary or passive quality, is often seen as being a consequence of extreme cold in the
Phlegmatic disposition. Yet dampness can also combine with heat, or be fairly neutral or
temperate in terms of hot or cold.
Eating and nourishment are basically moistening in nature. Through digestion and
metabolism, the nourishing moisture of food and drink is transformed and assimilated into living
tissue. Eating too many moistening foods, or overeating beyond one's digestive capacity, are
common causes of the accumulation of excess dampness, as is taking a warm or hot bath
immediately after eating.
Deficient or obstructed circulation is another common cause of dampness, which will build up
precisely where proper circulation and drainage are lacking. In this, dampness is often seen in
conjunction with cold, which also obstructs or slows down proper circulation.
The retention of secretions or waste matter which should be evacuated is also a common
cause of excess dampness. Closing of the pores, which blocks perspiration, also leads to the
accumulation of dampness. Excessive sleep and rest are also unduly moistening. Living in
damp, marshy, musty or mildewy environments can also cause the accumulation of excess
dampness.
The signs and symptoms of excess dampness are many; the most common and important ones
are:
Lassitude, listlessness, and undue heaviness of the head and limbs.
Swelling, water retention and edema.
Excessive or abnormal secretions or exudations.
Excessively soft, moist, tender or clammy skin.
Soft, loose, or watery stools; stools that are smelly, foetid, gassy or burning (damp heat).
Dizziness and vertigo with a heavy head.
Phlegm congestion and/or discharge.
A thick, turbid tongue coat; a soft, soggy pulse.
Itching and pruritis of the skin (damp heat).
Dryness
Dryness, as one might expect, has qualities which are contrary to those of moisture, or
dampness. Dryness is light, hard and rough, whereas dampness is heavy, soft and smooth.
Dryness also withers and emaciates.
Since life needs moisture and fluids to grow and flourish, dryness is basically inimical to life.
Although it could be argued that, due to this fact, dryness is the greater of the two evils, the
threats posed to the organism by excess moisture or dampness are almost as bad; the scales of
life must be finely balanced.
Perhaps the most common cause of dryness, and one that is easily remedied or preventable, is
insufficient hydration. Many people simply don't drink enough water and fluids.
In terms of environmental causes, a dry weather or climate are the chief concerns; dryness
also tends to prevail in the fall. Extremely hot weather will also disperse or evaporate moisture

12. and cause profuse sweating, thereby leading to dryness. Paradoxically, exogenous cold can be a
cause of dryness if it congeals or prevents the proper circulation and dispersal of moistening
humors like blood, phlegm or lymph.
When it comes to dietary causes, insufficient food and nourishment is the most basic, primal
cause of dryness, since food and nourishment are basically moistening in nature. After this, the
excessive consumption of drying foods and medicines, as well as the abuse of harsh laxatives or
purgatives, are the chief culprits. Excessive or violent evacuations, such as diarrhea, is a
common and dangerous cause of dryness and dehydration.
In terms of lifestyle, exercise, activity and wakefulness are drying in nature, whereas their
contraries, inactivity and sleep, are moistening. Excessive exercise, physical activity and
wakefulness will lead to dryness. Melancholic emotions like grief or loneliness are also drying.
When someone is suffering from dryness, the skin and lips will often be chapped and dry;
other possible signs and symptoms include: hollow cheeks and sunken eyes and temples; dry,
irritated nasal passages, and possible nosebleeds; extreme thirst and dehydration; dizziness and
lightheadedness; a dry, sore throat and a hoarse, scratchy or raspy voice; thick, sticky phlegm
that's difficult to expectorate; wasting and emaciation; constipation and dry stools; stiff, popping
or cracking joints. Other bodily secretions and evacuations, like urine, digestive juices or the
menstrual discharge in women will often be scanty or deficient; extreme dryness can dry up
these secretions altogether.
Aging is basically a drying out process. The Radical Moisture starts to dwindle, as do
hormonal secretions; the skin starts to thicken, wrinkle and wither like a dried-up prune. In
general, old people have a reduced capacity to assimilate and metabolize vital fluids, and the
moist, flourishing Sanguine and Phlegmatic humors are compromised, in both quantity and
quality, and lack their original fulness and robustness.
Wind
Wind can have many manifestations, and assume many forms in the body. Being light, dry,
subtle, rough and mobile in nature, it is most closely associated with the Melancholic/Nervous
humor and temperament, and aggravations and disturbances thereof.
The main characteristic of wind is unnatural or abnormal disturbances or blockages of
movement. These can assume many different forms and manifestations in different parts of the
body. Wind is rarely seen alone, but usually combines with other pathogenic factors.
Wind often enters the body as an exogenous pathogenic factor. It can provide the motive
force that drives other dystempers like heat, cold, dryness or moisture into the body. When you
catch a chill and come down with a cold, you usually catch a chilly draft. The organism will
become extremely sensitized and averse to the secondary pathogenic factor. If the Thymos and
immunity are strong and robust, wind will close or block the pores, stopping all perspiration,
both sensible and insensible; if Thymos and immunity are weak, the pores will be lax and loose,
with sweating abnormal or profuse. Muscular flu-like aches and pains in which wind is
prominent will often be subtle, mobile, ephemeral shooting pains.
Wind is a major culprit in rheumatic complaints, which most typically involve accompanying
cold and/or dampness, although heat can also be involved. Declining Thymos and immunity in
the elderly and infirm allows exogenous wind, along with various other pathogenic factors, to
penetrate into the bones and joints.
In the head and cranium, wind can cause dizziness, vertigo, apoplexy, deviations of the eyes

13. and tongue, stoppage of the senses, and even seizures and convulsions. In the muscles, wind can
create twitches, tremors, tics, spasms and palsy. Internally generated wind can arise from
chronic nervous stress and tension, as well as from high fevers, which aggravate the Choleric
humor, producing giddiness, nausea and dry heaves as well as the above cardinal signs and
symptoms.
In the internal organs, wind is also called flatus; hence the term flatulence. Today, it's most
commonly called gas. Flatus is most commonly seen in the hollow visceral organs of the body;
these are principally the stomach and bowels, but other hollow viscera, like the bladder or uterus,
can be involved as well.
Wind, or flatulence, in the digestive tract is most commonly associated with nervous, colicky
digestive disorders of a Melancholic nature and temperament. The cardinal symptoms are colic,
gas, distension and bloating, which are relieved once the wind is passed. Eating too quickly, or
while stressed, tired or nervous, is a common cause of gas or flatulence; also, some foods, like
cabbage or beans, tend to produce lots of gas, as does poor food combining.
A pressure or distension is felt with wind in other organs, like the bladder, as well as
blockages or disturbances of normal organ function. Once the wind is passed, the symptoms
subside, and normal organ function is restored.
HUMORAL PATHOLOGY
In Greek Medicine, once disorders and pathologies start to affect the Four Humors, they pass
from the realm of the exogenous and superficial into that of the endogenous and self-generated.
All humoral disorders involve the digestive process of pepsis, and hence the nutrition and
metabolism of the organism, which is the domain of the Natural Faculty.
The Four Humors are more gross and material than the qualities or temperaments, which exist
on a subtle energetic level. Being more solid and substantial, the humors hold the temperaments
in place, and affect the organism on a deeper level.
Being generated by and subject to the process of pepsis, which is basically digestion and
metabolism, change and transformation, humoral disorders typically go through a process of
change or metamorphosis as the offending morbid humors are ripened, or concocted. This is in
stark contrast to the typical pattern for dystempers, which is generally more static and linear,
worsening or alleviating in direct proportion to the resurgence or subsiding of the offending
exogenous qualities or influences.
Humoral Disorders and Pepsis
Since the liver concocts the chyle into the Four Humors through the process of pepsis, it is to
this process of pepsis that we must look to understand humoral disorders. Basically, the process
of pepsis is like cooking; to generate balanced, healthy humors, we must cook them just right,
with just the right amount of metabolic heat.
If the metabolic heat is too low, the humors are undercoooked, which is like half-baked bread,
being partially raw. Generally, undercooking the humors tends to generate too much phlegm and
not enough blood.
If the metabolic heat is too high, the humors are charred and burned, producing a kind of
morbid, toxic ash, which is highly toxic to the organism. This charring process is sometimes
called oxidation. The end product is most commonly morbid, toxic forms of black and yellow

14. bile.
The metabolic heat that concocts the humors can also be erratic and deranged, fluctuating
wildly between the extremes of hypo-pepsis and hyper-pepsis. This creates a similar
derangement of the Four Humors, combining raw residues with toxic ash.
The Four Humors, like any other part or component of the body, can be subjected to
exogenous dystempers, with cold congealing them, heat hyperexciting their movement, dryness
thickening them, and moisture or wetness diluting or attenuating them. But true humoral
disorders set in the moment that the process of pepsis which generates and metabolizes the Four
Humors becomes unbalanced or deranged.
Types of Humoral Disorders
In the differentiation of humoral disorders, the most basic distinction we must make is
between quantitative disorders and qualitative disorders of the humors. Simple quantitative
disorders involve only an alteration or imbalance in a humor's quantity, whereas qualitative
disorders also involve some morbid alteration of a humor's texture, composition or consistency.
Quantitatively, an excess or buildup of a certain humor, either locally or systemically, is
called a plethora. Conversely, there can also be a deficiency of a certain humor; for example, a
deficiency of blood is known as anemia. If a humor is not only quantitatively in excess, but also
altered or morbid in quality as well, it is called a qualitative plethora.
Qualitatively, there are various kinds of changes or alterations that a humor can undergo. The
chief ones are as follows:
In terms of texture and consistency, a humor may be too thick and viscid, or it may be too
thin and attenuated. Humors that are too thick and congealed tend to have slow or impeded
circulation, whereas those that are too thin tend to seep out of their proper channels and vessels
too easily, or not nourish sufficiently.
Although normal, healthy humors do mix and mingle, they always maintain their own distinct
identity and functional integrity. Morbid, toxic humors can lose this purity and integrity and
amalgamate, or bond with other humors, to the mutual disabling and detriment of all humors
involved.
Putrefaction is the rotting or spoiling of a humor, much like food spoils on a hot summer
day. It happens when excessive moisture and stagnation within a humor allows a foreign heat or
metabolism to take over; usually, an innate weakness of host metabolism and immunity is also
involved. Nowadays, putrefaction would be called sepsis or infection; a common symptom or
side effect of putrefaction is pyrexia, or fever, with different types of fevers resulting, depending
on the particular humor involved.
Receptacles and Accumulation Sites for the Humors
Each humor, according to its nature and temperament, as well as its physiological functions,
has certain parts of the organism where it likes to reside, to which it has an affinity. These are
the receptacles and accumulation sites for the Four Humors. These receptacles and accumulation
sites are as follows:
Blood: Heart, blood vessels and capillaries (receptacle); liver, spleen, pancreas, uterus.
Phlegm: Lymph nodes and vessels (receptacle); stomach, lungs, respiratory tract; brain, head
and cranium; sinuses, veins, spleen.

15. Yellow Bile: Gall bladder (receptacle); liver, spleen, stomach, duodenum, small intestine,
capillaries
Black Bile: Spleen (receptacle); veins of hepatic portal system, stomach, large intestine;
bones, joints and connective tissue; peripheral nervous system; liver and hypochondriac region.
When a humor gets excessive or aggravated, it first builds up in its receptacle, and then in its
accumulation sites. As pathology progresses, the excessive or aggravated humor will overflow
these accumulation sites, and can spread to invade any part of the organism. However, an
aggravated humor prefers to gravitate towards an organ, tissue or body part whose inherent
nature and temperament gives it a special affinity for, or vulnerability to, the humor in question.
As you may have noticed, some deep internal organs, like the liver and spleen, are
accumulation sites for multiple humors. This is due to the important and central role they play in
the physiology, metabolism and nutrition of the organism.
Diseases of the Four Humors
Each of the Four Humors has certain diseases and disorders that are commonly associated
with it. If one looks at these diseases and disorders, one can see that they often involve the
humor's receptacles and accumulation sites:
Blood: Heart disease, angina, high blood pressure; nosebleeds, hemorrhage and bleeding
disorders; congested, sluggish liver and spleen; uremia and gout; high cholesterol, diabetes;
amenorrhea or suppressed menses; dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation, often with clotting;
menorrhagia, or excessive menstrual bleeding; rashes and skin disorders.
Phlegm: Atonic dyspepsia, gastric atony; coughs, colds and lung congestion; asthma, chronic
bronchitis, respiratory allergies; nasal allergies and sinusitis; somnolence and lethargy; lymphatic
congestion and obstruction; swollen or tender lymph nodes; water retention, swelling and edema;
leucorrhea and white vaginal discharges.
Yellow Bile: Jaundice and fatty liver; hepatitis; biliousness and biliary congestion; gall
stones, cholecystitis, biliary dyskinesia; gastric and duodenal ulcers; gastritis, hyperacidity and
acid reflux; chronic inflammatory conditions, bursitis, tendonitis; rheumatoid arthritis, gingivitis,
headaches, migraines, photophobia.
Black Bile: Constipation, colic, irritable bowel; anorexia, poor appetite; nervous or sour
stomach, chronic or indolent gastroduodenal ulcers; portal congestion or hypertension; veinous
blood congestion, clots and embolisms; tremors, tics, neuralgias, neuraesthenia; nervous,
spasmodic and neuromuscular disorders; seizures and convulsions; arthritic and rheumatic
disorders; abnormal growths and hard tumors; splenic disorders; intestinal obstruction.
In three of the Four Humors, certain patterns in tthe genesis or origin of humoral disorders
and their subsequent spread can be seen:
Phlegm tends to initially accumulate and get aggravated in the upper digestive tract, starting
with the stomach, then spreading to the lungs, chest and respiratory tract; throat, esophagus
and pharynx; and finally, the head, nose and sinuses.
Yellow Bile tends to initially accumulate and get aggravated in the middle digestive tract,
starting with the liver, gall bladder and hepatobiliary system, and then the stomach,
duodenum and small intestine.
Black Bile tends to initially accumulate and get aggravated in the bowels and lower
digestive tract, producing constipation, gas, colic, bloating and irritable bowel. The stomach
and hepatic portal system are subsidiary focus areas. All these intial accumulation sites are

16. adjacent to the spleen, which is the storage vessel or receptacle for black bile.
The three humors that are most likely to cause imbalances in the digestion, metabolism and
nutrition of the organism all start their pathological proliferation from different parts of the
digestive tract. This fact emphasizes the primary importance of maintaining sound, balanced
pepsis and digestion in the prevention of humoral diseases.
The fourth humor, blood, is more generalized and systemic in its accumulation patterns,
lacking any particular localization in the digestive tract. This is because blood is the essence of
life and health, and the bottom line in the overall nutrition of the organism.
Stages and Progression of Humoral Pathology
Humoral pathology is not static, but progresses through several different distinct stages. A
thorough understanding of these stages and how they progress is necessary to properly
understand humoral pathology.
Basically, there are two different ways of looking at this progression, each with a different
model or schema of subdividing or delineating the stages of humoral disorders. Each is equally
valid, and has its own distinct strengths and virtues.
The first model is the six stage progression. It starts out with a buildup or accumulation
phase, which may hardly be noticed by the individual. The offending humor is slowly
accumulating or getting aggravated, but has not yet reached critical levels that challenge the
organism's physiology, metabolism and homeostatic mechanisms.
Next comes the provocation stage, or the acute crisis. The offending morbid or superfluous
humor has built up to critical levels, which now threaten the organism's physiology, metabolism
and homeostatic mechanisms. The signs and symptoms of an acute crisis manifest as the
organism struggles to throw off the offending morbid or superfluous humor.
If the healing and catharsis that comes with the acute crisis is successful and complete, the
organism returns to a state of health and regeneration as balance and homeostasis are
reestablished. If this healing and catharsis does not occur, or if it is only partial or incomplete, a
subsequent stage of spreading or metastasis, which can also be seen as a submergence, ensues.
The humoral imbalance or pathology spreads beyond the initial accumulation site(s) to affect the
organism on a deeper and more systemic level.
Morbid or superfluous humors circulating freely throughout the organism tend to gravitate to,
or concentrate themselves in, weak spots or defective parts of the body, which could be called
Achilles' heels. Often, these weak spots are sites of an old illness, injury or deformity. This
stage of pathogenesis is called deposition, or entrenchment. It must be remembered that
morbid humors, like any other pathogenic factor, are basically opportunistic in nature, and will
strike at the weakest point.
After deposition comes the stage of manifestation, in which the classical signs and symptoms
of a serious or chronic disease make their initial appearance. This stage, in which pathology is
already quite advanced, usually follows quite quickly after deposition or entrenchment.
A serious disease or disorder, after it has persisted for a while, often generates spinoffs or
complications. And so, complication is the final stage in this six step progression of
pathogenesis. The original serious or chronic disease could be likened to a tree, with the
complications being like the fruit that the tree bears.

17. The second model or perspective on pathogenesis is simpler, and consists of only four
stages. Actually, these aren't so much stages as they are the various forms or manifestations that
a disease can take.
First, there is acute disease, which roughly corresponds to the second acute crisis stage of
the previous six stage model. The signs and symptoms of an acute disease are strong and
vehement, as the organism struggles vigorously and decisively to throw off the offending
pathogenic humor or factor. Of course, acute disease presupposes that there has already been an
initial latent accumulation stage that has precipitated the acute crisis.
Then, there is subacute disease, in which the organism's struggle to throw off the offending
pathogenic humor isn't quite so vigorous and vehement as it was in the acute stage. Actually, the
word "acute" means sharp; in the subacute stage, the organism's symptom-generating responses
have become more dulled and subdued. Usually, subacute disease manifestations were preceded
by one or more initial acute episodes; now, the organism's defensive responses have become
weakened. The "sub" in subacute can also indicate a submergence or spreading of the offending
humor or pathogenic factor to affect the organism on a broader, more systemic level. Subacute
disease roughly corresponds to the spreading or metastasis stage of the six stage model.
If subacute disease is not resolved, it becomes chronic disease. In chronic disease, the
organism has resigned itself to living with the offending humor or disorder, and various
physiological, metabolic or immunological mechanisms and functions have become
compromised to accommodate the pathology. In the initial stages of chronic disease, these
changes or compromises are mostly functional, but as chronic disease progresses, they become
increasingly structural and organic. Chronic disease roughly corresponds to the manifestation
stage of the six stage model.
Finally, pathology enters the degenerative disease stage. Degenerative disease is
characterized by degenerative organic or structural changes in the organs and tissues which are
often irreversible. The existence of degenerative disease illustrates an important principle of
humoral physiology and pathology: Since all the body's organs and tissues are formed and
generated from the Four Humors, the continued presence of corrupt or morbid humors, if not
corrected and resolved in a timely manner in the earlier stages of pathology, will eventually lead
inevitably to degenerative changes in the organs and tissues. Morbid humors generate morbid
changes in the organs and tissues. In the final complication stage of the six stage model,
degenerative changes are usually present. When these degenerative changes preclude any hope
for survival, the degenerative disease becomes terminal.
Resolving Humoral Disorders Through Pepsis
The Four Humors are all generated through the process of digestion, or pepsis. Every major
change or movement of each humor at each stage of its metabolic pathway occurs through the
digestive action of pepsis and the metabolic heat.
And that includes the final elimination or removal of morbid or superfluous humors from the
body. They can't be forcibly extracted or removed; they must first be concocted or ripened
through pepsis. This is like the refiner's or smelter's fire, which separates the dross and
impurities from the valuable ore.
Of all humoral pathologies, blood disorders are the quickest and easiest to ripen and resolve.
That's because blood is the first humor to arise in the Second Digestion, and is quickly generated
and re-generated. Blood takes only a day or so to ripen, two at the most.

18. The other three humors all take longer to ripen and resolve. Yellow bile, being the hottest in
temperament, and therefore the most active and volatile, takes only three days to ripen. Phlegm
is next, requiring nine days to ripen and resolve. Black bile is the slowest and most recalcitrant,
requiring a full fifteen days to ripen.
The general rule is that a humoral disorder must be treated for at least as many days as it takes
that humor to ripen. The role of the physician in Greek Medicine is to aid and facilitate the
organism in the ripening and elimination of morbid or superfluous humors, and in the cleansing
and catharsis it wants to accomplish. Humoral ripening wil tend to be faster in hot weather and
slower in cold weather.
When morbid or superfluous humors are being ripened and passed off, signs and symptoms of
an acute crisis will often occur. These can include: dizziness, vertigo or headaches; fevers,
sweats or hot flashes; coughing or expectoration of phlegm; giddiness, nausea or vomiting;
muscular aches, pains or fatigue; boils, blisters, pustules, abscesses and other skin discharges or
secretions; diarrhea, soft stools or irritable bowel; and increased urination, often with changes in
volume, color, odor, texture, etc... These signs and symptoms, in the proper circumstances and
context, are recognized as the healing crisis in Greek Medicine, which is not something to be
suppressed, but rather managed and facilitated in a proper manner.
Conclusion: A Humoral Understanding of Pathology
A humoral understanding of pathology is one of Greek Medicine's most valuable
contributions to the art of healing. A number of previously unexplained mysteries about how the
organism responds, in both health and disease, become clear when one understands the
physiology and pathology of the Four Humors.
The Four Humors, being the metabolic agents of the Natural Faculty, follow the workings of
Nature within the human organism. When the physician works with the Four Humors in
correcting and facilitating their natural homeostatic and metabolic processes, he is truly working
with Nature as a natural healer.
Modern medicine has a vast, bewildering array of imposing, polysyllabic disease names. But
Greek Medicine sees behind this perplexing facade to common humoral themes that run through
them like universal connecting threads. The vast multiplicity of diseases stem, by and large,
from only Four Humors, which can get deranged, aggravated or vitiated in various ways, to
varying degrees, and localize themselves in various organs, tissues or parts of the body.

20. Avicenna's four humours and temperaments
Evidence Hot Cold Moist Dry
Morbid
states
inflammations
become febrile
fevers related to
serious humour,
rheumatism
lassitude loss of vigour
Functional
power
deficient energy
deficient digestive
power
difficult digestion
Subjective
sensations
bitter taste,
excessive thirst,
burning at cardia
Lack of desire for
fluids
mucoid salivation,
sleepiness
insomnia,
wakefulness
Physical
signs
high pulse rate,
lassitude
flaccid joints
diarrhea, swollen
eyelids, rough
skin, acquired
habit
rough skin,
acquired habit
Foods &
medicines
calefacients
harmful,
infrigidants
beneficial
infrigidants
harmful,
calefacients
beneficial
moist articles
harmful
dry regimen
harmful,
humectants
beneficial
Relation to
weather
worse in summer worse in winter bad in autumn
CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMORS
Humou
r
Season
Elemen
t
Organ
Qualitie
s
Ancient
name
Modern
MBT
I
Ancient
characteristic
s
Blood spring air liver
warm &
moist
sanguine artisan SP
courageous,
hopeful,
amorous

21. Yellow
bile
summe
r
fire gall bladder
warm &
dry
choleric idealist NF
easily
angered, bad
tempered
Black
bile
autumn earth spleen
cold &
dry
melancholi
c
guardia
n
SJ
despondent,
sleepless,
irritable
Phlegm winter water
brain/lung
s
cold &
moist
phlegmatic rational NT
calm,
unemotional