ABSTRACT
Cancer of the breast, seen by Galen as the commonest cancer of his time, was probably first mentioned by Hippocrates in the 5th century BC. A single case history was described but no specific treatment mentioned. For centuries no further cases were described, until Cato, 2nd century BC, advocated cabbage poultices for all tumours and breast cancer in particular. Aëtius of Amida probably first described Paget's cancer of the nipple. By the 2nd century AD treatment comprised a variety of local applications, systemic medicaments, venesection and surgery. Surgical resection first described by Celsus and subsequently by Leonidas (usually combined with cautery) proved curative when applied early in the disease.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/history , Female , History, Ancient , Humans , Medicine in Literature , Reference BooksABSTRACT
Akhenaten was a unique pharaoh in more ways than one. He initiated a major socio-religious revolution that had vast consequences for his country, and possessed a strikingly abnormal physiognomy that was of note in his time and has interested historians up to the present era. In this study, we attempt to identify the developmental disorder responsible for his eunuchoid appearance.
Subject(s)
Eunuchism/history , Famous Persons , Mummies , Egypt, Ancient , History, Ancient , Humans , PhysiognomyABSTRACT
The didactic letters prefacing Marcellus's On Drugs are examined. It appears that one reason for writing such didactic letters was to equip the addressee with sufficient knowledge to enable him to avoid consulting a doctor, since there was great dissatisfaction with the quality of service rendered and the fees charged by doctors. The letters in the collection will be shown to represent various levels of healers, from the professional city doctor, to the army doctor, to the educated layman. They will also be scrutinized for evidence of the level of expertise of doctors in the late fourth and fifth centuries. Finally, the evidence will be compared with the criteria set some two centuries earlier by Galen in his blueprint for the examination of physicians.
