Humorism facts for kids

A diagram showing the four humors, or body fluids, as ancient doctors understood them.

Humorism (also called humoralism) was an old idea about how the human body works and what makes people healthy or sick. People who believed in humorism thought that your health and even your personality depended on the balance of four special body fluids. If you had too much or too little of any of these fluids, it could make you unwell or change your mood. This system was very personal, meaning each person had their own special mix of these fluids.

This ancient medical idea connected both the mind and the body. It was like an early way of looking at health in a "holistic" way, meaning they considered the whole person.

The History of Humorism

The idea of humorism started with famous ancient Greek doctors like Hippocrates. Over time, doctors in Rome and Persia also used this theory. For many centuries, it was the main way doctors understood the human body and how to treat illnesses.

This system of medicine was used for a very long time. However, in the 19th century, new medical research began to change how doctors understood the body. Scientists discovered more about how our bodies truly work. Because of these new discoveries, humorism is no longer used in modern medicine today.

Images for kids

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  A 16th-century drawing showing the four humors: Flegmat (phlegm), Sanguin (blood), Coleric (yellow bile), and Melanc (black bile).

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  An 18th-century woodcut showing the four temperaments: phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, and melancholic.