Question 1

True or false: Hippocrates believed all disease was caused by imbalances in four bodily humors.

Accepted Answer

True. His humoral theory—blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile—dominated Western medicine for over 2,000 years, despite being entirely wrong.

Question 2

True or false: Hippocrates was the personal physician to Alexander the Great.

Accepted Answer

False. Hippocrates lived c. 460–370 BCE, while Alexander the Great lived 356–323 BCE—Hippocrates died before Alexander was born.

Question 3

True or false: Hippocrates was the first to describe clubbing of the fingers as a sign of disease.

Accepted Answer

True. Hippocratic fingers, or digital clubbing, are named after him because he first documented this physical finding in patients with lung and heart conditions.

Question 4

True or false: The Hippocratic Oath forbids doctors from ever charging fees for their services.

Accepted Answer

False. The original oath does not mention fees; it focuses on ethical conduct, confidentiality, and not harming patients. Fee-for-service was common in ancient medicine.

Question 5

True or false: Hippocrates correctly identified that epilepsy was a brain disorder, not a divine punishment.

Accepted Answer

True. In his work 'On the Sacred Disease,' he argued epilepsy had natural causes in the brain, challenging supernatural beliefs of his time.

Question 6

True or false: Hippocrates invented the concept of informed consent before performing surgery.

Accepted Answer

False. Informed consent is a modern ethical principle; Hippocrates advised physicians to conceal most information from patients to avoid causing distress.

Question 7

True or false: Hippocrates recommended using wine as a wound disinfectant and to reduce fever.

Accepted Answer

True. He often prescribed wine topically for wounds and internally for fevers, noting its antiseptic and sedative effects long before germ theory.

Question 8

True or false: Hippocrates performed the first recorded human dissection in ancient Greece.

Accepted Answer

False. Human dissection was taboo in ancient Greece; Hippocrates gained anatomical knowledge mostly from animal dissections and external observations.

Hippocrates Trivia Questions