Final answer:
Hippocrates is considered the "father of Western medicine" for his pioneering approach to treating diseases. So correct option is (A).
Step-by-step explanation:
The "father of Western medicine" is Hippocrates. Hippocrates, a Greek physician, revolutionized the way we understand and practice medicine by proposing that diseases have natural causes from within patients or their environments, rather than supernatural ones.
His contributions include not only his stance on the natural causes of diseases but also the Hippocratic Corpus (a collection of medical texts) and the Hippocratic Oath, which pledges dedication to diagnosing and treating patients ethically. Galen, another Greek physician, further extended medical knowledge by explaining human health in terms of the balance of the four humors in the body.
While Hippocrates is honored as the father of medicine for his foundational role, figures like Thucydides contributed to understanding immunity, and later, figures like Avicenna and Paracelsus made significant advancements in medical knowledge and practice.
He believed that diseases had natural causes from within patients or their environments, rather than being caused by supernatural forces. Hippocrates and his heirs wrote the Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of medical texts, and he is credited with authoring the Hippocratic Oath.