Today, teamwork characterizes medicine due to a greater specialization of diseases. Individual achievements are rarer and the most difficult discoveries are related to a single person.
Ancient origins of the most common ailments …
However, we know that this was not always the case and to remind you of the above, we now project the ancient origins of 4 modern diseases that today afflict the contemporary world.
Diabetes
Diabetes dates back to ancient times. Ancient scholars, however, were confused by the disease due to limited knowledge of anatomy and pathophysiology. As well as the lack of diagnostic tools.
“Ancient Egyptians, Indians, Chinese and Arabs tried to describe the clinical signs and symptoms of diabetes mellitus.” The authors of a review published in the World Journal of Diabetes wrote.
“However, few are the major players in the history of diabetes mellitus who have contributed significantly. Not only to its diagnosis and treatment, but also to the development of our current notions about the secondary diseases that this disease triggers. Paving the way for future studies and establishing a new medical subspecialty, diabetology ”.
Rodent boils and ulcers
From the 8th century onward, doctors reported that diabetic patients developed skin infections such as rodent boils and ulcers. As well as vision problems.
In the eleventh century d. C., the Muslim physician Avicenna mentioned gangrene and sexual dysfunction as complications in his seminal work El-Kanun (that is, Canon of Medicine). In the years that followed, medieval Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides built on the description of diabetes by pointing out the symptoms of acidosis.
Drop
In 2640 a. C., Egyptians first called the condition podagra, now more widely recognized as gout. They identified that it affected the metatarsophalangeal joint.
Like diabetes, many early scholars pointed out that gout often weighed down the wealthy. This perception lasted well into modern times. Hippocrates called this type of disease “arthritis of the rich” in the fifth century, according to information provided by the Arthritis National Research Foundation.
The “unattainable” disease
He also referred to it as the “unattainable” disease and linked it to the intake of foods rich in alcohol. The Arthritis National Research Foundation also referred to it as the “unreachable” disease. In addition, he related it to the intake of foods rich in alcohol and alcohol.
Interestingly, in past centuries, the association of gout with wealth and power has had important political and social consequences. For example, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, known for his gluttony, developed gout in 1528.
As the gout worsened, severe joint inflammation led to a disability that rendered him unable to direct his forces into battle. His inability to undertake the necessary military actions led him to relinquish his supervision of the army and abdicate the throne.
In another example, British statesman William Pitt the Elder missed a session of Parliament in 1773. His absence opened the door for other members of Parliament to impose a heavy tax on tea imports from the American colonies. This bitterly opposed tax resulted in the “Boston Tea Party,” which served as a prelude to the American Revolution. In other words, one could argue that we owe the creation of the United States to an acute attack of gout.
Diseases of rich and poor?
Syphilis
While diabetes and gout were perceived as conditions of the rich in the ancient world, syphilis has affected all social strata.
According to the authors of a review published in the Journal of Medicine and Life, “From the beginning, syphilis has been a stigmatized and shameful disease. Every country whose population was affected by the infection blamed neighboring (and sometimes enemy) countries for the outbreak.
So, the inhabitants of present-day Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom called syphilis ‘the French disease’. On the other hand, the French called it ‘the Neapolitan disease’, the Russians gave it the name ‘Polish disease’. The Poles called it ‘the German disease’, the Danes, the Portuguese and the inhabitants of North Africa called it ‘the Spanish / Castilian disease’. Finally, the Turks coined the term ‘Christian disease’.
Furthermore, in northern India, Muslims blamed Hindus for the outbreak of affliction. However, the Hindus blamed the Muslims and in the end everyone blamed the Europeans. “
Interestingly, the history of the origin of syphilis is highly debated. Some scholars hypothesize that around 3000 BC. C. A form of sexual transmission emerged from Southwest Asia. This emergence was due to lower temperatures during the post-glacial era.
The disease then spread to Europe and the rest of the world, evolving from mild to severe disease.
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