Galen is associated with which medical concept?

Galen is associated with which medical concept?

• A. Theory of Humours
• B. Germ theory
• C. Theory of Opposites
• D. Spontaneous generation

Answer: (C)

Balancing the body's qualities to treat illness is the idea being tested. In ancient medical thinking, health hinged on the balance of four humours, and disease arose when one or more of these qualities tipped out of balance. Galen extended this by teaching that you should counter a problem with its opposite: use remedies with opposite properties to restore harmony. This practical approach—tilling illness by applying the opposite qualities (hot vs cold, dry vs moist, etc.)—is what’s captured by the Theory of Opposites. It sits within the larger humoral framework, but the specific method Galen is known for is balancing by opposites. The other options point to ideas from later science or a broader framework, not to this direct Galenic method.

Balancing the body's qualities to treat illness is the idea being tested. In ancient medical thinking, health hinged on the balance of four humours, and disease arose when one or more of these qualities tipped out of balance. Galen extended this by teaching that you should counter a problem with its opposite: use remedies with opposite properties to restore harmony. This practical approach—tilling illness by applying the opposite qualities (hot vs cold, dry vs moist, etc.)—is what’s captured by the Theory of Opposites. It sits within the larger humoral framework, but the specific method Galen is known for is balancing by opposites. The other options point to ideas from later science or a broader framework, not to this direct Galenic method.