“Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.”
- c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC
- Greek
- Physician, “Father of Medicine”
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Quote
“Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.”
Explanation
This quote is often attributed to Hippocrates and appears in Latin as “Purgationes sunt extremae, morbis extremis aptae” in some later sources. While its exact phrasing is not found in the core texts of the Hippocratic Corpus, the underlying concept aligns with ancient medical reasoning. Therefore, although its attribution may be stylistically embellished over time, it reflects a principle consistent with Hippocratic medical philosophy.
The quote conveys the idea that severe or life-threatening illnesses may require bold or aggressive treatments. In antiquity, when faced with high fevers, acute infections, or dangerous inflammations, physicians sometimes employed powerful interventions such as bloodletting, purging, or surgery—options considered last resorts. This principle suggests a calibrated response, where the intensity of treatment matches the gravity of the disease.
In modern medicine, this logic continues in areas such as oncology or emergency care, where extreme conditions—like late-stage cancer or severe trauma—necessitate radical surgeries, chemotherapy, or intensive interventions. However, the quote also serves as a caution: such measures should be reserved for genuinely extreme cases, lest the treatment itself become more harmful than the illness. It reminds practitioners to weigh the risk-benefit balance carefully and to act decisively but judiciously when the situation demands it.
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