Obsolete medical theories

Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a disease in healthy people can cure similar symptoms in sick people; this doctrine is called similia similibus curentur, or "like cures like".

form of alternative medicine in which local suction is created on the skin

thumb|16th-century German illustration of the four humors: Flegmat (phlegm), Sanguin (blood), Coleric (yellow bile) and Melanc (black bile), divided between the male and female sexes Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers.

obsolete medical theory about the transmission of disease through bad air

purported force in living things

herbalist theory that herbs resembling various parts of the body can treat ailments of those body parts

Pneuma () is an ancient Greek word for "breath", and in a religious context for "spirit". It has various technical meanings for medical writers and philosophers of classical antiquity, particularly in regard to physiology, and is also used in Greek translations of ruach רוח in the Hebrew Bible, and in the Greek New Testament.

outdated diagnosis for patients with multiple symptoms of a neurological condition

somatoform disorder that involves heart disease symptoms without any identifiable physiological abnormatlities.

discredited psychological test invented by Max Lüscher

discredited historical theory that autistic spectrum disorders are caused by a lack of parental emotional warmth

pseudoscientific belief that germs do not cause infectious disease

protoscientific medical treatment and navigational aid

thumb|right| Abishag the Shunamite tends to aging David, . thumb|David and Abishag by Pedro Américo, 1879 Shunamitism (also referred to as gerocomy) is the practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin to preserve his youth. It is considered an esoteric youth-enhancing method. The rationale was that the heat and moisture of the young woman would transfer to the old man and revitalize him.

thumb|Title page of Benedictus Figulus's 1608 edition of Kleine Wund-Artzney, based on lecture notes by Basilius Amerbach the Elder (1488–1535) of lectures held by Paracelsus during his stay in Basel (1527).

theory of medicine

erroneous theory that small worms resident within the tooth caused dental caries, periodontitis and toothaches