Prioreschi Plinio
Creighton University, School of Medicine, Dept. of Pharmacology, Omaha, Nebraska 68178.
Gesnerus. 1992;49(Pt. 3-4):341-50.
The question of whether the Hippocratic physician treated hopeless cases is discussed, and the pertinent passages of the Corpus Hippocraticum dealing with the matter are reviewed. Only one passage (Diseases I, IV) unequivocally advocates treatment when the disease is fatal; all the others, in which hopeless cases are considered, indicate that the physician should not treat or should not treat if possible. The author underlines that, in ancient medicine, the non-treatment of hopeless cases was common and refers to pertinent passages in the Sushruta Samhita, the Caraka Samhita, and the Smith Papyrus. The conclusion is that the Hippocratic physician did not treat hopeless cases, and that such an approach was not only consonant with the paradigms of ancient medicine but of contemporary medicine as well. The contemporary attitude toward the treatment of hopeless cases and the concept of "supportive treatment" and "palliative therapy" is discussed.
探讨了希波克拉底派医生是否治疗无望病例的问题，并回顾了《希波克拉底文集》中涉及该问题的相关段落。只有一段（《疾病篇》第一卷，第四章）明确主张在疾病致命时进行治疗；其他所有涉及无望病例的段落都表明，医生不应治疗或应尽可能不治疗。作者强调，在古代医学中，不治疗无望病例很常见，并提及了《妙闻集》《阇罗迦集》和《史密斯纸草书》中的相关段落。结论是，希波克拉底派医生不治疗无望病例，而且这种做法不仅符合古代医学的范式，也符合当代医学的范式。还讨论了当代对无望病例治疗的态度以及“支持性治疗”和“姑息治疗”的概念。
