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The Roman Empire
Published in Scott M. Jackson, Skin Disease and the History of Dermatology, 2023
However, Galen did make several important modifications. He linked the four humors to the four elements, thus creating “a highly metaphysical theory of disease.”78 His choice of treatment was usually a remedy with attributes that would oppose the qualities of the disease, e.g., the application of a warming salve to the abdomen of the patient with a bellyache from ingesting too much cold food. He promoted the practice of bloodletting to correct surpluses of humors, particularly in fevers, which were deemed to be caused by an excess of blood or other humor type. Galen developed an elaborate “pulse lore”; he wrote at least 16 books on the pulse, which he considered the most important aspect of the physical exam.79 He erroneously furthered the concept that certain types of pus indicated healing and were, therefore, “laudable” (see Chapter 7). Galen disregarded the concepts of contagion and miasma, the latter an idea that bad air could cause disease. While not outwardly opposing supernatural interventions, he did not promote them or write about them. Dreams of the patient mattered to Galen; they could change the course of treatment.80 He advanced Hippocrates' work on stress-induced disease and even addressed the topic of malingering. He disagreed with the use of human and animal excrements and secretions, a practice that saw a decline in late antiquity and the medieval period. He described close to 500 plant, animal, and mineral medicaments; of these, Galen's theriac is the most famous.
The history of circulation
Published in Dinker B. Rai, Mechanical Function of the Atrial Diastole, 2022
According to the teachings of Galen, blood flowed away centrifugally in the veins to various parts of the body and was diffused into the tissues and never returned. The arteries and veins are thought to be end vessels and separate circulatory systems. An imbalance in the humors and the flow of blood was thought to be the main cause of many ailments, specifically the contagious and infectious components. Bloodletting was the common treatment of the time. A circulatory system powered by a pumping mechanism of the heart was never contemplated. During the next 1,500 years these theories and concepts went unchallenged and were upheld even after the deaths of Galen as well as that of Sir William Harvey. It is intriguing to me how generation after generation almost for the next 1,500 years were the blind followers of this system. Going through the historical events of first 1500 AC we can put out various theories that played a role that is not relevant and is a separate subject.
Interleukin-1
Published in Jason Kelley, Cytokines of the Lung, 2022
Timothy R. Aksamit, Gary W. Hunninghake
Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a member of a group of polypeptides, collectively called cytokines (Aarden et al., 1979). It has diverse effects on a wide variety of cells and tissues that are triggered by binding of IL-1 to a specific receptor (the IL-1 receptor; IL-1R). Interleukin-1 is released during infections, other types of inflammation, and other nonspecific stresses, and it can mediate its effects in an autocine, paracrine, or endocrine fashion, or a mixture thereof. Our present understanding of the functions of IL-1 is, in an almost philosophical way, reflective of the basic dogma developed by the ancient Greeks in which the mechanisms of disease were based on the principle of “humors.” The basic premise of this “humoral” model was that in a normal, disease-free state there exists a delicate balance of humors within the body and that, with disease, an excess or deficiency of one or more humors leads to illness. Many current models for the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases postulate an excess of IL-1 activity, and recent therapeutic approaches to these diseases are based, in part, on the principle of reestablishing a balance of IL-1 activity. Although there is evidence that excessive amounts of IL-1 may play a role in some disease states, the role, if any, of IL-1 in the healthy, disease-free state is not well defined. Moreover, in vivo IL-1 does not mediate its effects in isolation, but instead, it interacts with a wide variety of other mediators that, as an aggregate, mediate a disease process or normal tissue development and repair.
The roles of mental illness disclosure and disclosure strategies on well-being among college students
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2022
As expected, humor predicted poorer PWB (i.e., lower self-esteem and higher distress) and greater self-report illness symptoms. Disclosure using humor may create ambiguity and lesson recipient’s understanding of the discloser’s experience. Because this strategy may lead the recipient to feel unsure of whether the discloser desires support, the recipient may be unable to provide the support the discloser needs. The lack of appropriate social support can harm the discloser’s well-being.24 Given the popular idea that humor and laughter have a beneficial impact on psychological and physical health, some may find it surprising that this study found negative effects of humor on well-being outcomes. It is important to recognize that not all humor is the same: certain humor styles (e.g., affiliative humors) are adaptive and are associated with better psychological and physical well-being.61 In contrast, other humor styles (e.g., aggressive humors) are considered maladaptive,62 and are linked to poorer health.63,64 The link between humor and greater illness symptoms in this study may be because the humor items used in this study captured maladaptive kinds of humor. Future research examining the role of disclosure using humor should identify if different types of humor are associated with different well-being outcomes.
Respiratory health in Canada before 1800
Published in Canadian Journal of Respiratory, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, 2021
In the 17th and 18th centuries in France, as everywhere in Europe, teaching of medicine was based on the theory of humors formulated by Hippocrates and taken up by Galen, a concept according to which the disease is a manifestation of a disorder of the equilibrium of one or several components of the body: blood, lymph (phlegm), yellow bile, and black bile. To achieve healing, it was enough to restablish the balance of humors. Interestingly, these concepts were in line with Native American Aboriginal concepts of health and healing, which aimed for a balance of mind, body, spirit, and soul. To achive this goal, many treatments were proposed including diets, fortifiants, bleeding, emetics, sweating, purgatives, and enemas. These treatments were widely used in New France during this period.9,15,19
Stephanus Bisius (1724–1790) on mania and melancholy, and the disorder called plica polonica
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2021
Eglė Sakalauskaitė-Juodeikienė, Paul Eling, Stanley Finger
Melancholic and maniac patients were treated with antiphlogistic methods throughout the eighteenth century. These agents were initially tied to humoral theory—the ancient belief being that it is necessary to restore balance by reducing those humors that seem overabundant or by increasing humors that appear to be diminished. Hence, a person with a fever and flushed skin might be bled by venesection or with leeches, whereas another with pale skin might be prescribed liver, an organ food rich in blood. The strongest measures became known as “heroic therapies,” and they did not die out as humor theory went out of favor (Sullivan 2008). Purging, clysters, blistering, bloodletting, and other heroic therapies continued to be prescribed well into the nineteenth century, either because they were now thought to affect the nerves and other solid parts of the body, or because patients expected them, or because they sometimes seemed to work, even if this was no more than nature running its course. For example, in a 1785 address to the directors of some French hospitals, Francois Doublet (1751–1795) recommended that if bleeding, purges, baths, and showers did not cure mania, the use of “cauters, setons, superficial abscesses, inoculation of scabies” would (Colombier and Doublet 1785; Foucault 1965). Even Philippe Pinel (1745–1826), the physician best remembered for his more humane therapies (traitement moral) with psychiatric patients in Paris during the 1790s, reverted to purgatives, emetics, and other heroic therapies when kindness, exercise, better foods, and the like failed to work (Pinel 1800/1809; 1806/1962).