The idea that health depends on balancing bodily fluids is associated with which concept?

• A. The theory of the four humours
• B. Germ theory
• C. The balance of spirits
• D. The four seasons approach

Answer: (A)

Health is understood as a balance between four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Each humour was thought to have qualities—hot or cold, moist or dry—and to be connected with different seasons and temperaments. When the balance tipped, illness was believed to result, with symptoms reflecting which humour was in excess or deficient. To restore balance, physicians advised regulated diets, proper exercise and rest, and, when needed, procedures like bleeding or purging to shift the humours back toward equilibrium. This approach shaped medical thinking from ancient Greece through the medieval period, guiding diagnosis and treatment long before the rise of germ theory. Germ theory, by contrast, explains disease through microbes rather than fluid balance, which is why it describes a different cause of illness.