Epilepsy in the Graeco-Roman World: Hippocratic Medicine and Asklepian Temple Medicine Compared

The rational system of medicine distinct from magical or religious practices originated with Hippocrates. This revolutionary change established diseases with natural causes and treatments. Epilepsy with its prominent physical and psychic features was regarded in ancient times with superstitious awe and given the name “Sacred Disease.” Hippocratic authors distanced themselves from the prevailing supernatural views but were careful not to oppose the traditional medicine especially the cults of Asklepios. This analysis of the practices of Hippocratic and Temple medicine in relation to epilepsy reveals some clear differences and also some overlapping features.     

Herophilus of Chalcedon and the Hippocratic tradition in early Alexandrian medicine

Herophilus of Chalcedon (c. 330-250 BC) is famous as one of the leading figures in the development of medicine in Ptolemaic Alexandria around the first half of the third century BC. However, his medical science seems to have intrinsic continuity of thought with Hippocratic medicine. Herophilus followed the medical principle formulated in the Hippocratic treatise "On the Nature of Man," when he made his methodological pronouncement to the effect that primary parts of the human body should be perceptible by the senses. Herophilus rejected cardiocentrism, introduced by his teacher Praxagoras into the medical school of Cos, and returned to Hippocratic encephalocentrism, as represented by the author of the Hippocratic treatise "On the Sacred Disease." Herophilus differentiated between the faculties of the soul and the ones attributed to the nature. In his differentiation between these two faculties, Herophilus probably had in mind the Hippocratic conception of nature as specifically applied to the domain of the human body, as distinct from the soul. Herophilus' commitment to Hippocratic medicine is confirmed by his literary works on some of the Hippocratic texts. It is probable that Herophilus regarded himself as a more faithful successor than his teacher to the tradition of Hippocratic medicine. His anatomical research on the structure and function of the brain, motivated by his loyalty to the Hippocratic tradition, led him to innovative contributions to the development of medicine.     

The Hellenic and Hippocratic origins of the spinal terminology

Numerous Hellenic terms have been gradually adopted during the development of modern medical science. Moreover, there are a significant number of words that derive directly from the Hippocratic texts. Hippocrates (ca. 460-ca. 377 BC), revered as the father of medicine, and his followers left behind a valuable heritage of medical knowledge that, practically, laid the foundations of Western medicine. Their theories, collected in Corpus Hippocraticum, transformed medicine by adding, mainly, clinical observation and inductive reasoning as significant parts of medical diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, Hippocratic writings have provided an invaluable heritage of medical terms for all medical fields. The present article examines the Hellenic and Hippocratic terminology referring to the spine and how this vocabulary has influenced and dominated upon modern spinal onomatology.     

Eugenio Tanzi (1856–1934) and the beginnings of European neurology

Numerous Hellenic terms have been gradually adopted during the development of modern medical science. Moreover, there are a significant number of words that derive directly from the Hippocratic texts. Hippocrates (ca. 460–ca. 377 BC), revered as the father of medicine, and his followers left behind a valuable heritage of medical knowledge that, practically, laid the foundations of Western medicine. Their theories, collected in Corpus Hippocraticum, transformed medicine by adding, mainly, clinical observation and inductive reasoning as significant parts of medical diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, Hippocratic writings have provided an invaluable heritage of medical terms for all medical fields. The present article examines the Hellenic and Hippocratic terminology referring to the spine and how this vocabulary has influenced and dominated upon modern spinal onomatology.     

Neurology in Tulp's Observationes medicae

The beginning of the seventeenth century marked the start of a scientific revolution, which had consequences for medicine. Vesalius in anatomy, and Harvey in physiology, were important figures who gave the Hippocratic and Galenic traditions new impulses. In this period of change in medical thought, Nicolaas Tulp (1593-1674) wrote his 'Observationes Medicae' (Tulp, 1641). A controversy existed in The Netherlands, concerning the circulation, with many doctors still adhering to the Galenic tradition. The following analysis discusses some of the neurologic cases from Tulp's book, seen in the light of modern medical thought.     

Next Emperor,Please! No End to Retrospective Diagnostics

Abstract

The beginning of the seventeenth century marked the start of a scientific revolution, which had consequences for medicine. Vesalius in anatomy, and Harvey in physiology, were important figures who gave the Hippocratic and Galenic traditions new impulses. In this period of change in medical thought, Nicolaas Tulp (1593–1674) wrote his ‘Observationes Medicae’ (Tulp, 1641). A controversy existed in The Netherlands, concerning the circulation, with many doctors still adhering to the Galenic tradition. The following analysis discusses some of the neurologic cases from Tulp's book, seen in the light of modern medical thought.     

From medicine to psychotherapy: the placebo effect

If placebos have been squeezed out of medicine to the point where their official place in in clinical trials designed to identify their own confounding effect, the placebo effect nevertheless thrives in psychotherapy. Not only does psychotherapy dispose of placebo effects that are less available to medicine as it becomes increasingly technological and preoccupied with body parts, but factors of the sort inhibiting the use of placebos in medicine have no equivalent in psychology. Medicine today is disturbed by the placebo effect in a way psychotherapy is not. Psychotherapy does not have to grapple with such a disconcerting paradox as successful sham surgery, and unlike those physicians who once pretended to treat the patient's body while actually attempting to treat the mind, the psychotherapist can treat the mind in all frankness. Perhaps it is because psychotherapy is less burdened by doubts about the placebo effect that it was able to come to its aid when it was orphaned by medicine. It is vain to expect something with so long a history as the placebo effect to disappear from the practices of healing.     

Rationalizing medicine and the social ambitions of physicians in classical Greece

Political and social circumstances in the late Classical period increased upward social mobility in Greece and provided some doctors with an opportunity to improve their social status. By adopting rational medical theories and prescribing an upper-class oriented regimen, these doctors appealed to the elites who favored the teachings of natural philosophers and sophists at that time. These doctors' goal was to be accepted into circles of the social elite as intellectual companions. Their ambitions contributed to the fact that rational medicine in the Classical period did not become an empirical science. Instead, speculative theories were selectively used to explain the causes of health and disease and to guide these doctors' practices, because natural philosophical speculation was considered a "superior" form of knowledge by the Greek elites. Eryximachus provided an illustrative example of this strategy by attaining acceptance into the highest social circle of a Classical Greek city.     

Between clinical medicine and the laboratory: medical research funding in France from 1945 to the present

By focusing on funding methods, this paper considers the way in which medical research eventually led to the science-based medicine that is prevalent in France today. This process seems to have taken place in three stages during the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1940s and 1950s, two major events occurred. The first was the creation of a national health insurance fund in France, which opened up new reasons for, and ways of, funding medical research. The second was the development of antibiotics, which triggered a revival of clinical medicine. In the 1960s and 1970s, a proactive government science policy allowed the life sciences and medical research to come together in the wake of a burgeoning new science: molecular biology. Thus, in 1964, the creation of the National Health and Medical Research Institute (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale or INSERM), destined to "molecularize" medical research, was seen as the fulfillment of the government's ambitious research policy. Today, with medicine irreversibly embedded in scientific and technical rationality, health has become a major issue in modern societies. This paper therefore touches on some of the key features of biomedical research, including the revival of funding systems for clinical research and the development of a system of research grants that was made possible by patient organizations and the creation of new funding agencies.     

The pearls and pitfalls of skull trephination as described in the Hippocratic treatise "On Head Wounds"

The purpose of our current study is to describe the guidelines regarding trephination as suggested in the Hippocratic writer's book, "Peri ton en cephali traumaton" ("On Head Wounds"). The ancient Greek text was reviewed as well as two English translations. The Hippocratic author described the indications, timing, and techniques of trephination for patients with head injury. He emphasized that attention should be paid to the details of the employed technique. He also commented on the difference of skull thickness at different anatomical sites and also between different age groups. The Hippocratic recommendations provided details for the performance of trephination by the ancient Greek physicians that are still considered important in modern neurosurgery.     

Material Culture and Indigenous Spiritism: the Katamansu Archaeological “Otutu” (Shrine)

Through the integration of oral history and ethnographic and historical data with archaeological evidence, attempts have been made to understand and reconstruct the settlement history of Katamansu, a late eighteenth-century historic town located on the Accra Plains of Ghana. Two seasons of archaeological excavations at the Koowule site of the town yielded some evidence of the 1826 Battle of Katamansu, a battle that was fought on the site between the Asante and the Ga and their coastal allies of the Gold Coast. The excavations also yielded two spectacular features, whose configuration and content appear to be the remains of a shrine of the Ga people. The features correlate well with ethnographic parallels described by Margaret Field, an anthropologist, in her research on the religion and medicine of the Ga in the 1930s. This paper presents the historical and material evidence of the 1826 battle as well as the analysis of the shrine contents. The shrine features provide insights into an archaeological shrine's mundane materiality. They also expose how local (Neolithic and historic) and European artifacts were recrafted and imbued with medicinal, magical, and spiritual properties to possibly cure and impress patients and supplicants in shrine ritual practices.     

Approaches in Post-Experimental Science. The Case of Precision Medicine**

In the introduction to his Spalt und Fuge, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger points to the possibility that we are currently experiencing a new turning point regarding forms of experimentation, which is characterized by the growing importance of high-throughput methods and big data analytics. This essay will explore the thesis that data-intensive research indeed constitutes a form of post-experimental research by interrogating research practices in precision medicine. Section 1 will introduce this thesis and highlight salient features of precision medicine as an example of post-experimental research. Section 2 suggests approach as a category that is broader than experimental system, as discussed by Rheinberger, and can serve to analyze and compare diverse forms of research, including experimental and post-experimental practices. The essay concludes with a reflection on how categories developed for the historiography of recent science might require an update when the science or its context changes (section 3).     

弃中择西：清人吴汝纶医学观的转变及原因分析

西医是近代西学东输的重要内容之一.在自觉接受西学的过程中,吴汝纶对传统中医的态度逐渐发生变化,由相信走向怀疑,最终转向西医.这一转变是在特定历史环境下完成的,是与晚清中国对西洋医学的认同过程和认识水平相一致的.它既是历史推力的结果,更是吴汝纶比较、权衡后的理性抉择.     

Sleepwalking through history: medicine, arts, and courts of law

Somnambulism, or sleepwalking, has always been of interest to theologians, writers, philosophers, physicians, and others fascinated by unusual behaviors. This parasomnia, which was defined less precisely in the past than it is today, has long been featured in medical dissertations and books of medicine. Further, Shakespeare, Bellini, and Brown, among others, incorporated it into their plays, operas, and novels. Because some somnambulists turned violent and committed other acts detrimental to society, sleepwalking also demanded attention from legal systems, and guidelines were set for whether somnambulists could be held responsible for their actions. This historical review focuses on these developments pertaining to somnambulism through the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.     

上海高级服务性公寓经营管理初探

本对酒店公寓行业特点作了较为全面的论述,并结合特定公寓酒店的管理实践,论述了高级服务性公寓经营管理特点,为如何推动酒店公寓行业的发展提供了第一手素材。     

The new Hippocratics

In this guest editorial the authors look at the association of four blood types with four Hippocratic personality types in Japan and in matching lovers through dating services in the West.     

Medicine,health and medical practice in precolonial Khoikhoi society: An anthropological‐historical perspective 1

Summary

This paper explores the role and function of medicine, and medical practices in precolonial Khoikhoi society, South Africa. It argues that medicine and medical practice was deeply imbedded in Khoikhoi society at the time of colonization, proving that a sound culture of medicine and health existed for centuries.     

A geographic assessment of 'total' health care supply in Ontario: complementary and alternative medicine and conventional medicine

Shortages of family physicians, specialists and other personnel working within the realm of conventional medicine (CM) concern citizens in many regions and municipalities in Canada. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches (such as chiropractic, holistic, homeopathic, naturopathic, massage and acupuncture) are increasingly used in conjunction with, or in some cases as replacements for, conventional medicine. Thus, to get an idea of 'total' health care supply in a jurisdiction and to draw comparisons between locations, it is useful to understand the spatial tendencies of both CM and CAM offices. With the use of a sample that contains the location, employment and sales of 4,955 CAM and 8,709 CM offices, this study details the spatial patterns of health care supply in the Canadian province of Ontario. The analysis comprises three main parts. First, the geographic tendencies of CAM and CM office activity are revealed in per capita terms and while regional differences are detectable, the main contrast is that CAM displays a much more even distribution across the urban-rural continuum in comparison to CM. Second, through the use of location quotients and a local spatial autocorrelation analysis, it is shown that certain municipalities (especially in Ontario's southwest and south-central regions) specialize in CAM and the most outstanding spatial feature is an '81 municipality CAM cluster' that represents arguably the pinnacle of CAM activity in the province. CM specialization is rarer and is biased towards the more populated municipalities. Third, a Spearman's correlation analysis suggests that CAM and CM health care supply are associated with community well-being indictors and urban density measures.