Works Of Hippocrates Research Articles

Energy Dynamics in Seizure Disorder: Reexamining the Sacred Disease

In this paper we explore the dynamic basis of epilepsy, the sacred disease, and show, surprisingly, that in all cases its manifest signs and symptoms correspond to the four-tier vertical framework –material, efficient, formal and final causes – advanced by Aristotle a half-century after the Hippocratic works surfaced. Specifically, impaired energy dynamics during the seizure state transiently disrupt the couplement between the material and formal causal layers of the body precipitating the behavioral alterations that define epilepsy.

ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЙ О РОЛИ ХРОНИЧЕСКОГО ВОСПАЛЕНИЯ КАК КЛЮЧЕВОГО ЗВЕНА В ПАТОГЕНЕЗЕ БРОНХИАЛЬНОЙ АСТМЫ

ntroduction. Asthma is considered as a heterogeneous disease. Recently, the pathophysiological mechanisms of chronic airway inflammation development have been established. However, the evolution of understanding the asthma pathogenesis is a matter of great interest. Aim. Based on literature review, our aim was to provide the key milestones in the formation of modern understandings in asthma etiology and pathogenesis. Material and methods. We searched across PubMed and eLibrary.ru databases to identify articles published in 1900-2022, using the keywords ‘bronchial asthma’, ‘history’, ‘pathogenesis’, ‘eosinophilic inflammation’, ‘endotypes’, ‘biomarkers’, ‘innate lymphoid cells’ and ‘Th2 lymphocytes’. Results and discussion. Since ancient times scientists were interested in the mechanisms of asthma development. ‘Asthma’ derived from Greek word that means ‘shortness of breath’ and ‘suffocation’. In the Middle Ages, science was scholasticism oriented, so the understandings of asthma were based only on observational studies, and the works of Hippocrates and Galen were considered irrefutable. Subsequently, in Modern times observational studies were supported by experiments and that gave the opportunity to study the asthma pathogenesis. Since the 20th century studies on identifying the roles of heredity, sensitization and mechanisms of airway inflammation have flourished and that led to the identification of asthma endotypes and phenotypes. Recent trends in the understanding of pathogenesis at molecular levels provided a personalized approach to asthma treatment. Conclusion. Thus, accumulated clinical observational and experimental data gained new insights into asthma pathogenesis and led to the development of biologics for the management of asthma. This study was funded by grant from Kazan State Medical University N2/22-10 (02.08.2022).

Комментирование и компилирование медицинской литературы в византийский период Поздней Античности и Раннего Средневековья

The transmission of medical knowledge played an important role in the history of medicine. Historically, the first medical texts were created in ancient Greek and Latin. The article examines the ways in which medical knowledge recorded in primary sources, mainly the works of Hippocrates and Galen, was further spread in subsequent epochs and beyond the geographical boundaries of its origin, namely, commenting and compiling. These methods were used everywhere in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but the authors limit their consideration mainly to Byzantium. A brief overview of the development of medicine in Byzantium is given, and the history of the comprehension and transmission of medical knowledge through commenting and compiling is considered. The authors concern the role and significance of some outstanding Greek commentators and compilers of medical literature, whose names have been preserved in the history of medicine. The role of Byzantium as an important link in the global progress of medicine is substantiated.

ἄριστον μέν ὕδωρ: An Examination of the Public Waterworks in Athens in the Early 5thC BCE

This article examines the design and social impact of waterways in Athens in the early 5thC BCE. While the Athenian political landscape transitioned from a series of tyrannies to democracy at the end of the Archaic period (ca. 650-480 BCE), the archaeological record also shows widespread innovation in the development of public water systems, particularly in sanitation and water supply. A movement away from buildings constructed by the Athenian tyrants facilitated the development of the Classical Agora and the creation of new public-use spaces and structures, like the Southeast Fountain House and the Great Drain in the Agora. The fountain has long been identified with the famous Peisistratid Enneakrounos (“Nine Spouts”) fountain, but through investigation into the arguments of J.M. Camp and Jessica Paga, I propose that a later date ca. 500 BCE is more suitable for the historical and archaeological context of the fountain. 
 I investigate several Athenian waterworks built/maintained during the late Archaic period to the Classical period (~500-323 BCE): the Great Drain in the Agora, the Southeast Fountain House, the Klepsydra fountain, and the Asklepieion on the Akropolis. The works of Hippocrates, Thucydides, and—to a lesser extent—Pausanias, inform my examination of the implications of the construction of these waterworks and the development of democracy in the 5th century. These waterways show a dedicated shift from the private use of water and tyrannical building works, to a new, fully public and communal mode of engagement with the city and its resources.

Evolution of microneurosurgical anatomy with special reference to the history of anatomy, surgical anatomy, and microsurgery: historical overview.

This article reviews the evolution of microneurosurgical anatomy (MNA) with special reference to the development of anatomy, surgical anatomy, and microsurgery. Anatomy can be said to have started in the ancient Greek era with the work of Hippocrates, Galen, and others as part of the pursuit of natural science. In the sixteenth century, Vesalius made a great contribution in reviving Galenian knowledge while adding new knowledge of human anatomy. Also in the sixteenth century, Ambroise Paré can be said to have started modern surgery. As surgery developed, more detailed anatomical knowledge became necessary for treating complicated diseases. Many noted surgeons at the time were also anatomists eager to spread anatomical knowledge in order to enhance surgical practice. Thus, surgery and anatomy developed together, with advances in each benefiting the other. The concept of surgical anatomy evolved in the eighteenth century and became especially popular in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, microsurgery was introduced in various surgical fields, starting with Carl O. Nylen in otology. It flourished and became popularized in the second half of the century, especially in the field of neurosurgery, following Jacobson and Suarez's success in microvascular anastomosis in animals and subsequent clinical application as developed by M.G. Yasargil and others. Knowledge of surgical anatomy as seen under the operating microscope became important for surgeons to perform microneurosurgical procedures accurately and safely, which led to the fuller development of MNA as conducted by many neurosurgeons, among whom A.L. Rhoton, Jr. might be mentioned as representative.

Ganglion: abundle of meanings : The history of development of amultifaceted medical term

The variety of meanings of the term ganglion have their origins in the Greco-Roman antiquity. The first clue can be found in the works of Hippocrates who speaks of ganglionic tendon swellings. Later, Galen of Pergamum referred to the nodules of the prevertebral nerve cords discovered by him as ganglia. Therefore, the term was known in pathology for alonger time than in anatomy. From the eighteenth century onwards, ganglion has also been used to denote central nervous structures.

Medicine in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland, c.1350–c.1750

AbstractBetween c.1350 and c.1750 a small group of professional hereditary physicians served the Gaelic communities of Ireland and Scotland. Over fifty medical kindreds provided advice regarding health maintenance and treatment with herbs and surgery. Their medical knowledge was derived from Gaelic translations of medieval European Latin medical texts grounded in the classical works of Hippocrates and Galen, and the Arab world. Students studied in medical schools where they copied and compiled medical texts in Irish, some for use as handbooks. Over 100 texts are extant. Political upheaval and scientific advances led to the eclipse of this medical world. Through examination of the Gaelic medical manuscripts and other sources this article provides an assessment of medicine in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries.

Hippocratic concepts of acute and urgent respiratory diseases still relevant to contemporary medical thinking and practice: a scoping review

BackgroundThe collected works of Hippocrates were searched for concepts on the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of acute and urgent respiratory diseases, with the objective to trace their origins in the Hippocratic Collection.MethodsA scoping review was performed to map out key concepts of acute and severe respiratory diseases in the entire Hippocratic Collection. The digital library Thesaurus Lingua Graeca (TLG) was researched for references in the entire Hippocratic Collection regarding the epidemiology, pathophysiology, prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of acute respiratory diseases; then, the relevant texts were studied in their English translation by the Loeb Classical Library.ResultsHippocratic physicians followed principles of treatment for pneumonia and pleurisy, still relevant, such as hydration, expectoration, analgesia and prompt mobilisation. Other approaches, including the inhalation of “vapours through tubes” in angina, can be considered as forerunners of modern medical practice. Thoracic empyema was diagnosed by shaking the patient and direct chest auscultation after “applying your ear to his sides”. In case of an emergency from upper airway obstruction, urgent insertion of primitive airway equipment, such as a small pharyngeal tube, was applied.ConclusionsThe main Hippocratic concepts on four still common acute and urgent respiratory diseases −pneumonia, pleurisy, thoracic empyema and upper airway obstruction− were identified and most of them were found to be in agreement with contemporary medical thinking and practice.

Cataract couching and the goat's eye.

At the start of the third century, a story told by Claudius Aelianus, Leonidas of Alexandria and pseudo-Galen held that couching originated when a goat with cataract punctured its eye with a thorn. The significance of this story is unknown. We reviewed Graeco-Roman texts to identify the relevance of the goat to the eye. In the works of Hippocrates, Aristotle and Galen, the goat's eye was an eye with intermediate brightness or colour. A dark brown eye with a black pupil was healthy and required no treatment. A bright glaukos eye, with extensive corneal edema or scarring, was not amenable to couching. An eye with a white cataract behind an undilated pupil would appear to have an intermediate brightness and was potentially amenable to couching. The origin myth probably arose when an instructor explained that couching works best for a goat's eye, that is, an eye with intermediate brightness.

Patients Are Our Teachers.

In the patient-physician encounter, physicians hone their skills while alleviating the patient's suffering. Both benefit. Leaning on the work of Hippocrates, Darwin, and William Osler, the authors sketch out the case for honoring patients as indispensable teachers of the art and science of medicine. They argue that this tradition of Hippocratic medicine both anticipates modern precision medicine and reawakens a focus on public health medicine, each a benefit to the patients and communities served by physicians. A community that compromises the learning relationship of physician to patient and population undermines quality of care.

The origins of oral medicine in the Hippocratic collected works.

The collected works of Hippocrates describe for the first time in a systematic way a large number of oral diseases, such as ulcers, inflammations, abscesses and tumours from the epiglottis, mouth, tongue, palate, uvula and the sublingual area. Several of these case reports are remarkable for the accurate observation of clinical symptoms and signs, the aetiology, the pathogenesis and their therapeutic approach in relation to prognosis. The Hippocratic authors report cases of aphthae as part of a polysystemic disease, described many centuries later by Behçet and Adamantiades, while they associate features of splenomegaly from endemic malaria with gingivitis (ulitis). Benign lip ulcers, caused by sharp teeth bites, were distinguished from the difficult to treat herpes labialis (herpes) and from the necrotising nomae. Although staphylitis and angina (kynanche) were attributed to phlegm accumulation, they were recognised as true emergencies when they were associated with a swollen tongue and uvula. Several cases of kynanche with forward displacement of the first cervical vertebrae, atrophy of the uvula and oedema of the jaws are illustrated. A fatal outcome was anticipated in cases of phagedaenic ulcers of the teeth, causing necrosis and abscess formation. The therapeutic approach of oral diseases proceeded step by step, starting with simple regimens and progressing to invasive techniques, such as phlebotomy, surgical incisions for fluid drainage, and cauterisation. With the aim to avoid adverse events, special attention was paid to the correct timing of surgery and the maintenance of a patent airway with the insertion of small pharyngeal tubes.

Ambroise Paré (1510-1590): on the diagnosis and treatment of shoulder dislocations.

This article aims to summarize the treatment methods for shoulder dislocations supported by Ambroise Paré, and his clinical and academic contribution to this subject. Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) was one of the most prominent surgeons of his time, and one of the most significant innovators of the Renaissance in the fields of military operation, bandages, wound healing, bloodletting, close blood vessels techniques and cesarean section. For many, he is considered "the Father of Modern Surgery". In our search we went through the literature in Pubmed and Google Scholar as well as the works of Hippocrates and Galen and several other ancient and medieval authors. His work on shoulder injuries and dislocations is outstanding. In this work, he uses the classifications of Hippocrates (460-377BC) and Galen (130-201BC). He also uses the reduction techniques, ointments, bandages, cooling creams and treatment options described by the ancient medical authors. Paré is heavily based on the work of previous authors on shoulder dislocations. He uses the work of Hippocrates and Galen as well as the additions made in the Cannon of Medicne of Avicenna. Ambroise Paré in his excellent work on shoulder dislocations uses the classifications of Hippocrates and Galen and the reduction techniques, cooling ointments, bandages and post-reduction management options as previously described by Hippocrates himself.

Geotherapeutics: the medicinal use of earths, minerals and metals from antiquity to the twenty-first century

Abstract In antiquity, therapeutic empiricism attributed medicinal properties to animal products, plants, minerals and metals, including the soil of specific geographical locations. The therapeutic use of certain earths and metals is thoroughly documented in the works of Hippocrates, Dioscorides and Galen and was still practised in the eighteenth century by eminent physicians such as Sir Hans Sloane. Mercury and arsenical compounds have also been widely used since antiquity, the latter finding application in our times in the successful treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Emergencies and acute diseases in the collected works of Hippocrates: observation, examination, prognosis, therapy.

The collected works οf Hippocrates include a wealth of references to emergencies and acute conditions; if the physician could treat these, he would be considered superior to his colleagues. Works most relevant to current Emergency Medicine are presented. They indicate Hippocrates' remarkable insight and attention to the value of close observation, meticulous clinical examination, and prognosis. Hippocrates and his followers disdained mystery and were not satisfied until they had discovered a rational cause to diseases. They assigned great significance to distressing signs and symptoms - the famous Hippocratic face, the breathing pattern, pain, seizures, opisthotonus - pointing to a fatal outcome, which they reported to their patient. The principles of treatment of emergencies, such as angina, haemorrhage, empyema, ileus, shoulder dislocations and head injuries, are astonishingly similar to the ones used nowadays.

Corpus Hippocraticum: historical source of treatment of craniomaxillofacial trauma

The works of Hippocrates known in the Western World as the Corpus Hippocraticum have dominated medical thought and surgical practice for centuries. A substantial part of the Hippocratic Collection is dedicated to the description of injuries pertinent to Cranio-maxillofacial surgery and their management. Hippocrates has reached this level of surgical skill despite the limited pre-recorded knowledge and the restriction of post-mortem dissections.

La "malattia sacra" di Cambise: una diagnosi erodotea?

Cambyse’s ‘sacred disease’: a herodotean diagnosis? The author analyses Herodotus’ choice of his sources in order to ‘strike a balance’ between two recent publications which define Herodotus’ text as almost exclusively ‘religious’ or ‘scientific’. The case study is the description of the figure of Cambyses in the third book of the Histories. There are historical grounds for the narrative of Cambyses’ infamous deeds in Egypt. The traditional thesis of the deprivation of economic privileges for the Egyptian temples by Cambyses as the only cause of his negative fame in ancient historiography should be rejected. It is likely that at least the first part of Cambyses’ reign in Egypt was marked by violent and dramatic changes – which anyway do not include Cambyses’ alleged murder of the bull-god Apis. The influence of Hippocratic medicine on Herodotus’ depiction of Cambyses’ madness should not be overestimated. Although Herodotus is familiar with some ideas and notions shared by contemporary physicians, his narrative of Cambyses’ actions is not strongly conditioned by them, and certainly has no connection with the main thesis of the author of the Hippocratic work named On the sacred disease. The sources and opinions collected by Herodotus do not aim at a ‘scientific’ narrative of a madman’s deeds, but rather at a moral vision of a Persian monarchic power. simone.rendina@sns.it

FLAXSEED/TUKHM-E-KATAN (LINUM USITATISSIMUM LINN.): A REVIEW

Flax/Katan ( Linum usitatissimum Linn.) an annual herb and a founding crop belongs to the family Linaceae. Flaxseeds are smoot h, shiny and dark brown in colo r with mucilaginous, oily and slightly bitter taste. It is a native of Egypt but also cultivated in India, Holland, Russia and Britannia mainly for the purpose of its oil and fiber and is best adapted to fertile, fine textured, clay soils. Flax was valued in Ancient and Early Modern times as both a food and medicine . The medicinal applications of linseed are mentio ned in the works of Hippocrates and Dioscorides as well as in medieval books on medicinal herbs in both Asia and Europe. In Unani system of medicine it is used as an anti - inflammatory, phlegm expectorant, c hest cleanser, vesicant, analgesic, lithotriptic and calculus removal, aphrodisiac, spermatogenesis, demulscent and laxative, general tonic , galactagogue, emmenagogue etc . The present review the traditional uses, therapeutic actions and pharmacological pro perties of the linseed in light of current scientific research.

Describing the Clinical Phenotypes of Crohn’s Disease: Lessons from the Past

Although there remains some confusion regarding the original description of the clinical entity that is currently termed Crohn’s disease, medical historians have cited clinical portrayals of what is likely the disease in the works of Hippocrates, Giovanni Batista Morgagni (1682–1771), John Abercrombie (1780–1844), Charles Combe (1743–1817), and William Saunders (1743–1817) [1–3]. In 1912, T.K. Dalziel of Glasgow described a disease of the intestine termed ‘‘chronic interstitial enteritis’’ in which chronic inflammatory changes associated with characteristic episodes of abdominal pain simulating intestinal obstruction were present [4]. Preceding its seminal description in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) [5], and references therein, a heterogeneous group of tumor-like inflammatory masses were documented by Tietze in an encyclopedic article in 1920 [6]. By 1923, Moschowitz and Wilenski from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York had described four cases of benign intestinal granuloma, with one having similarity to the original report of regional ileitis [7]. In the first of two presentations in May 1932, Leon Ginzburg presented, before a meeting of the American Gastro-Enterological Association and later published in an expanded form, a description of 52 cases of a granulomatous disease of the intestines without evidence of recognized diseases, including tuberculosis, syphilis, or actinomycosis [7]. A second presentation by Burrill Crohn entitled ‘‘Terminal Ileitis: Its Clinical Manifestations,’’ was delivered to the Section on Gastro-Enterology and Proctology of the American Medical Association in New Orleans, describing 14 patients, predominantly young adults, with stenosis of the distal ileum and fistulous disease to the large intestine or abdominal wall. Clinical symptoms resembled the known entity ulcerative colitis, while pathology demonstrated subacute or chronic necrotizing inflammation beginning abruptly at the ileocecal valve and extending orally for 8–12 inches (c. 20–30 cm), involving the distal ileum alone. In short order, the presentation, entitled ‘‘Regional Ileitis,’’ was published by Crohn, Ginzburg, and Oppenheimer to a wide audience in JAMA on October 15, 1932 [3, 5]. The original description of regional ileitis was timely and accepted by the medical community with immediate additions to the 14 original cases. J.A. Bargen from the Mayo Clinic offered the term ‘‘regional’’ as opposed to ‘‘terminal’’ ileitis, recalling similar cases and recognizing the ‘‘agonal’’ connotation of the descriptor ‘‘terminal’’ [5]. Julius Friedenwald of Baltimore and Louis Hirschman of Detroit added anecdotal cases similar to the descriptions of Crohn, with the addition of a relationship between a previous diagnosis of ulcerative colitis and granulomatous pathology of the terminal [5]. In Volume 1 of the American Journal of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition (and reprinted in part in this issue), Crohn describes in detail three cases of regional ileitis in his publication ‘‘The Broadening Conception of Regional Ileitis,’’ in an attempt to revise and expand the initial concepts of the diagnosis in the face of growing clinical experience [8]. The original article The broadening conception of regional ileitis by Burrill B. Crohn published in American Journal of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, April 1934, Volume 1, Issue 2, pp. 97–99. Springer.

Alkannins and Shikonins: From ancient codes to modern medicine

There are few natural products with histories as rich as those of the enantiomeric naphthoquinones alkannin and shikonin (A/S). Their story can be traced back many centuries, where extracts from the roots of Alkanna tinctoria (A.t.) in Europe and Lithospermum erythrorhizon (L.e.) in the Orient have been used independently as natural red dyes and crude drugs with the magic property of accelerating wound healing. The first recorded use of A.t. roots is found in the works of Hippocrates and Dioscorides for the treatment of ulcers. Since then, the medicinal properties of the plant either have drifted into folklore, or been forgotten. In 1976 V.P. Papageorgiou revived the study of these plants and discovered the science behind ancient codes. The results of his experiments confirmed the wound healing, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of A.t. root extracts and was the first to identify alkannin derivatives as the active components. He developed several pharmaceutical preparations, the clinical trials of which proved their outstanding efficacy in patients with indolent ulcers, burns, wounds. These were approved by the National Organization for Medicines (Greece) (Histoplastin Red®, HELIXDERM®). Since then, our research focuses on chemistry, biology and technology of A/S. The discovery of oligomeric A/S brought new extensions in chemistry of naphthoquinones. The significant antioxidant activity and anti-Leishmanial action of A/S were confirmed. New clinical trials of HELIXDERM® on diabetic and indolent ulcers present impressive results. Drug delivery systems for A/S (microcapsules, liposomes, hyperbranched polymers, chimeric systems, nanofibers) have been formulated. The ancient medicinal properties claimed for A.t. and L.e. have been confirmed by scientific experimentation the last 35years. A/S are considered a class of medicines that greatly augment the modern therapeutic arsenal, confirming that natural products can be promising for the development of new pharmaceuticals.

Vitex agnus castus -An overview

Vitex agnus castus was already in ancient medicinal art as an official medicinal plant and is named in the work of Hippocrates, Dioskurides, Theophrastus and others. This review attempts to encompass the available literature on Vitex agnus castus with respect to its pharmacognostic characters, traditional uses, chemical constituents and summary of various pharmacological activities and clinical effects. Other aspects such as toxicology and precautions are also discussed.