The innovation in anatomy, brought about by Andreas Vesalius1, particularly by means of hisFabrica, has had an important influence on the practice of surgery2. Various surgeons of the16th and the 17th century have implemented different approaches in operative techniques,based on the anatomical knowledge drawn upon the Fabrica.Examples are given in this paper concerning Pierre Franco, Ambroise Paré, Giovanni Andreadella Croce, Girolamo Fabrici d’Acquapendente, Wilhelm Fabry von Hilden and Paul Barbette,who all, in one way or another, have proposed surgical techniques that required preciseanatomical understanding, which was provided by the new Vesalian anatomy of the humanbody.The concept, adopted by many medico-historical scholars, that the anatomy of Vesalius hadonly limited repercussions on Modern Surgery, therefore needs reconsideration.
At the end of the Middle Ages, in 1492, the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris was still and establishment of charity intended to receive thepoor which came there to find a shelter and some food. Three centuries later, just before the French Revolution, it became an establishment of care mainly destined to receive the patients, to feed them, take care of them and if possible cure them. This medicalization of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris is related to the progressive emergence of the medical function, which resulted in the creation and the development of a doctor's and surgeon's profession, but also in the development of the apothecary and its drugs. In this context, the diet plays a central part, because it happens to supplies. It would not be until the eve of the French Revolution that it would be integrated in the doctor's prescription and became a dietetic item.
This passages of this discussion are related tot he VIIth book of the Metamorphoses. In the first extract Ovid illustrates the scientific method by which Medea rejuvenates Aeson, her father-in-law; in the second episode, Medea applies the same "treatment" to Baccus' nurturers, with a similar result. Then there's a famous hoax against Pelias: Medea, pretending to rejuvenate the old tyrant, kills him. The sham uses an accurate simulation of medicine's professional gestures and actions, that are similar to the ones of the previous episode to all the appearances: reflection and diagnosis, prognosis, patient;s anaesthesia, administration of the medications, surgery, etc. The restitution ad integrum belongs to the field of magic, but the described therapeutic procedure belongs to the medicine, and it adheres to the rules of the theory of the humors. The intentional reversal of the outcome in Pelias; mockery leads to an ethical issue about the mistrust against the doctors, a problem that was very rooted in Roman culture.
Savoy, annexed by the French Revolution from 1792 to 1815, became again Sardinian within the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia until 1860, the year of annexation to France. These changes have not prevented many students from Savoy to come to France for their medical studies, mostly in Paris. While disorganized by the Revolution, medical training and education systems were put in order as of 1803. The Theses of 142 Savoy students (found largely thanks to foreign students in Paris file prepared by Pierre Moulinier) could be consulted in the archives of the Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de santé de Paris. Accordingly, were studied the geographical origin of candidates, thesis topics, age of the students, the philanthropic Savoisienne society of Paris, the Savoy students who exercised in Paris, the students who were former militaries and the doctors who had a local or national political mandate. A similar study at the Faculty of Turin would allow to better understand the migratory flows of these students.
At the end of the Middle Ages, in 1492, the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris was still and establishment of charity intended to receive thepoor which came there to find a shelter and some food. Three centuries later, just before the French Revolution, it became an establishment of care mainly destined to receive the patients, to feed them, take care of them and if possible cure them. This medicalization of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris is related to the progressive emergence of the medical function, which resulted in the creation and the development of a doctor's and surgeon's profession, but also in the development of the apothecary and its drugs. In this context, the diet plays a central part, because it happens to supplies. It would not be until the eve of the French Revolution that it would be integrated in the doctor's prescription and became a dietetic item.
Based on a study of the history of exploration and settlement in North Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries, I became particularly interested in the concept of a 'good port' in the tropics and how in time this concept shifted. The threat of fevers played a significant part in these shifts. In this overview, I examine how similar shifts in the concept of a good port occurred in the maritime silk and spice routes of South and Shout East Asia.
Harry Goldblatt (1891-1977) was an American pathologist whose research and experiments on renovascular hypertension were an important contribution to understanding and treating this disease. His life and his legacy are discussed in this paper.
In this paper we present a review of Mexican medical literature in the 16th and 17th centuries,analyzing the presence of Vesalius anatomical contributions and the conservation of Galenteachings in the official circles. We start with the anecdotal identification of don Carlos, son ofPhilip II, with Gregorio López, a hermit living in New Spain in the second half of the 16thcentury, as a legendary possibility of being a celebrated patient of Vesalius.After a short review of the birth and early diffusion of Vesalius anatomy in Spain, we analyzethe early anatomical and surgical books written and published in New Spain; those of AlonsoLópez de Hinojosos (1578, 1595), Agustín Farfán (1592), Juan de Barrios (1607), GerónimoBezerra and Diego Osorio y Peralta (1685), identifying their acceptance or negation of thevalidity of Vesalius’ discoveries and the tensions existing between those two intellectualpositions. In the following pages we will present and discuss the nature, dimensions andimpact of Vesalius’ Fabrica knowledge in the medical thought of Colonial Mexico.
The practice of medicine is a complex situation from an ethical point of view in the modern Western societies. But some very simple principles could help the immediate and effective response, at least to a percentage of the problems encountered. Such assistance can be derived from the writings of the Hippocratic Corpus, not only from the so-called ethical or theoretical texts. In this direction, the book titled De arte contains remarks about the right way of practicing medicine and the skills needed by the doctor.
The rapid technological progress of these last decades has brought refined instruments toneuroradiologists and consequently to anatomists, physiologists, neuroscientists. A shortoutline is given on recent advancements in the field. Looking at these wonderful images wemust not forget the works of our predecessors, to whom we owe an inextinguishablegratitude.
A search for the intimate relationship between art and science in the study of the human body inevitably leads to the beautiful pictures of Vesalius’ Fabrica. Medical artists and scientific researchers alike discover the enhanced power of text and iconography in transmitting knowledge as well as beauty of expression. Pursuing this goal, a facial reconstruction was made of Vesalius’ portrait in the Fabrica. Final proof of the correctness of this reconstruction will be given when Vesalius’ s grave and remains may be found on the island of Zakynthos where Vesalius died and was buried. Meanwhile medical artists continue to give their vision on anatomy, the human body and its intangible soul.
One of the winners of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine drew inspiration for her research from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Beginning with a brief history of such a research, some remarks are offered on the event. It is argued that two (however interacting) streams of TCM seem to coexist today in China: one that has embraced modernization and another one that has striven to preserve its distinctiveness with respect to entitled to contribute to medical pluralism.
The purpose of this study was to confirm the locations in the United States of America (USA) of the first (1543) and second edition (1555) of the De humani Corporis Fabrica authored by Andreas Vesalius. Contacts were made at institutions of higher learning, museums, libraries and an update of locations of previous studies in 1943 and 1984. A total of 64 copies of the 1543 Fabrica and 58 copies of the 1555 Fabrica were recorded in University and Institutional Libraries in the USA. Twenty-Six (54%) out of 48 locations having both editions. The majority of locations recorded by Cushing in 1943 and subsequently by Horowitz and Collins in 1984 are still in their original collections. Location and dual ownership in private collections were more difficult to locate.
The discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen transformed our understandingof both the physical world and our understanding of ourselves. Traditional anatomy as shownby Andreas Vesalius was learnt from dissection of the supine deceased body. Radiologyshowed anatomy in the living in a manner previously not possible, and has transformed ouranatomical understanding, particularly of human growth and variation.
The publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859 is widely suppose to have initiated a revolution in science. In 1837, he broke with dogmatic fixism and argued that the adaptation of populations to their local environment was the cause of transmutation. Some contributors helped him start his reasoning: he indeed expressed his indebtedness to Samuel Rowley for having called his attention to Charles Wells' notions of natural selection. Darwin was certainly not the first to suggest the idea of evolution as an alternative to the creation of species by God. We report on a medical thesis published in 1837 being concluded by an unexpected and important statement related to the appearance of mammals on Earth. It remained unknown but it constitutes a link between the transformative thought of Lamarck and Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, and Darwin's work.
The anatomist whose name became a trademark for all that is high standard in medicine was more engaging and nuanced than his portrait suggests. Padua was the epicenter of the Italian Renaissance in the XVI century, a place of unparalleled artistic and intellectual attainments where Vesalius started the revolutionary road towards the development of medical knowledge.
Andreas Vesalius’s popularity increases with every anniversary. The commemorations in 2014/2015, the quincentenary of his birth, were no exception and may mark the turning point in Vesalius research. Hoaxes surrounding the life and death of this famed anatomist, some of which have survived despite strong counter-evidence published some fifty, and even one hundred, years ago are finally dying out, while new myths are swiftly nipped in the bud thanks to today’s speed of publication and communication.
This paper reviews the ancient traditions about Colchis. It considers the legends of the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, of Medea and the plant lore which is well established in Georgia. Many remedies and poisons are native to the area. Hippocrates is said to have visited Colchis to study local healing traditions, describing the country, with its rich flora and fauna as well as its diseases. Thus, Medea can be considered a pioneer of cosmetics, haematology, surgery and toxicology leading the way for the development of modern medicine.
If youth and body appearance enhancement is as old as Homo Sapiens, reliable medical technology for such activities is only about 100 years old. At the dawn of the 20th century, surgical operations performed under the Voronoff's treatment plan (monkey gonads' tissue grafting into humans) or the Steinach's technique (vasoligation) offered a promise of longevity, beauty and therefore youth restoration. The many links with a newly recognized discipline, endocrinology, offer a critical insight on the strong interactions between medicine and surgery in the promise of successful antiaging. On the front-line of scientific research, the Institute of Experimental Endocrinology's primate station in Sukhumi (West Georgia, now Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast) developed a leadership role in the medical research, including rejuvenation with testis' tissues. Authors focus their attention to the everlasting commitment to experimental and clinical research as developed by Sukhumi scholars and the related moral, practical and ideological implications.
In all art forms, Medea is mainly represented as the tragic witch from Colchis (contemporary Georgia), who slaughtered her sons and killed her erotic rival Glauke and her father, King Creon of Corinth, by offering an elaborate poisonous nuptial garment. Euripides described the victims' symptoms as a sudden extreme inflammation, leading anyone coming into contact with the garment to death. In other version, the inflammation is described as pure fire. The symptoms resemble what current medical knowledge describes as an immune contact sensitivity reaction. The passages with medical interest from the opera based on this tragedy are presented in the original musical form as well as some similar film and theater scenes. Magnified images of harmful insect's Medea's nuptial gifts are shown and their action is discussed.
