The emergence of Applied Physiology within the discipline of Physiology.

Despite the availability and utilization of the physiology textbooks authored by Albrecht von Haller during the 18th century that heralded the modern age of physiology, not all physicians or physiologists were satisfied with its presentation, contents, or application to medicine. Initial reasons were fundamental disagreements between the "mechanists," represented by Boerhaave, Robinson, and von Haller, and the "vitalists," represented by the faculty and graduates of the Montpellier School of Medicine in France, notably, Bordeu and Barthez. Subsequently, objections originated from Europe, United Kingdom, and the United States in publications that focused not only on the teaching of physiology to medical and secondary students, but on the specific applications of the content of physiology to medicine, health, hygiene, pathology, and chronic diseases. At the turn of the 20th century, texts began to appear with applied physiology in their titles and in 1926, physician Samson Wright published a textbook entitled Applied Physiology that was intended for both medical students and the medical profession. Eleven years later, physicians Best and Taylor published The Physiological Basis of Medical Practice: A University of Toronto Texbook in Applied Physiology Although both sets of authors defined the connection between applied physiology and physiology, they failed to define the areas of physiology that were included within applied physiology. This was accomplished by the American Physiological Society (APS) Publications Committee in 1948 with the publication of the Journal of Appplied Physiology, that stated the word "applied" would broadly denote human physiology whereas the terms stress and environment would broadly include work, exercise, plus industrial, climatic and social factors. NIH established a study section (SS) devoted to applied physiology in 1964 which remained active until 2001 when it became amalgamated into other SSs. Before the end of the 20th century when departments were changing their titles to reflect a stronger science orientation, many established laboratories and offered degree programs devoted to Applied Physiology. We concluded that Applied Physiology has been an important contributor to the discipline of physiology while becoming an integral component of APS.

Career perspective: Charles M Tipton.

This invited autobiographical article pertains to 52 years as an exercise physiologist of which 16 years were devoted to being an active emeriti. Although the career pathway was circuitous in nature, once resolved, it included preparation of future exercise physiologists; reducing the health hazards associated with the "making of weight" by scholastic wrestlers; using animals (rats and dogs) as the model system with a myriad of experimental procedure for obtaining insights and understandings of various exercise training mechanism in one-G environments, and in simulated µG environments. From the results, we have concluded that (a) inactivity, as represented by immobilization, is the most undesirable physiological state an animal should experience and (b) movement, as represented by training, will have an intrinsic adaptive influence on select biological tissues that, in some situations, can be independent of autonomic and hormonal influences.

The history of "Exercise Is Medicine" in ancient civilizations.

In 2007, the American College of Sports Medicine, with endorsement from the American Medical Association and the Office of the Surgeon General, launched a global initiative to mobilize physicians, healthcare professionals and providers, and educators to promote exercise in their practice or activities to prevent, reduce, manage, or treat diseases that impact health and the quality of life in humans. Emerging from this initiative, termed Exercise Is Medicine, has been an extensively documented position stand by the American College of Sports Medicine that recommended healthy adults perform 150 min of moderate dynamic exercise per week. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the foundation for this global initiative and its exercise prescription for health and disease prevention has roots that began in antiquity more than two millennia ago. Individuals and concepts to remember are that Susruta of India was the first "recorded" physician to prescribe moderate daily exercise, Hippocrates of Greece was the first "recorded" physician to provide a written exercise prescription for a patient suffering from consumption, and the global influence of Galen from Rome combined with his recommendation on the use of exercise for patients in the management of disease prevailed until the 16th century. Historically intertwined with these concepts was exercise being advocated by select physicians to minimize the health problems associated with obesity, diabetes, and inactivity.

Recognition of American Physiological Society members whose research publications had a significant impact on the discipline of physiology.

Society members whose research publication during the past 125 yr had an important impact on the discipline of physiology were featured at the American Physiological Society (APS)'s 125th Anniversary symposium. The daunting and challenging task of identifying and selecting significant publications was assumed by the Steering Committee of the History of Physiology Interest Group, who requested recommendations and rationales from all Sections, select Interest Groups, and active senior APS members. The request resulted in recommendations and rationales from nine Sections, one Interest Group, and 28 senior members, identifying 38 publications and 43 members for recognition purposes. The publication recommendations included 5 individuals (Cournand, Erlanger, Gasser, Hubel, and Wiesel) whose research significantly contributed to their selection for the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, 4 individuals who received multiple recommendations [i.e., Cannon (3), Curran (2), Fenn (3), and Hamilton (2)], and 11 members who had been APS Presidents. Of the recommended articles, 33% were from the American Journal of Physiology, with the earliest being published in 1898 (Cannon) and the latest in 2007 (Sigmund). For the brief oral presentations, the History of Physiology Steering Committee selected the first choices of the Sections or Interest Group, whereas rationales and representation of the membership were used for the presentations by senior members.

Living history: Elsworth R. Buskirk.

In 2005, the American Physiological Society (APS) initiated the Living History of Physiology Archival Program to recognize senior members who have made significant contributions during their career to the advancement of the discipline and the profession of physiology. Subsequently, the leadership of the APS Section of Environmental and Exercise Physiology selected Prof. Elsworth R. Buskirk of Pennsylvania State University to be profiled in Advances in Physiology Education.

Living history: G. Edgar Folk, Jr.

In 2005, the American Physiological Society (APS) initiated the Living History Project to recognize senior members who have made significant contributions during their career to the advancement of the discipline and profession of physiology. During 2007, the APS Section of Environmental and Exercise Physiology selected Prof. G. Edgar Folk, Jr., of the University of Iowa to be profiled in Advances in Physiology Education.

Susruta of India, an unrecognized contributor to the history of exercise physiology.

When considering the history of exercise physiology, authors begin with Hippocrates and the "Golden Age" of Greece before mentioning Galen and the contributions from Rome. However, this approach has omitted the information from the ancient civilizations of India which flourished before and during the emergence of Mycenaen cultures. Specifically ignored have been 1) the tridosa doctrine (humoral theory), which as early as 1500 B.C., emphasized that disease occurred because of a displacement of one or more of the three humors, with health being achieved when the humors were in equilibrium and 2) the perspective of Susruta (Sushruta) who was a 600 B.C. physician who included exercise in his prescriptions to prevent and treat diseases. Susruta not only advocated exercise to maintain equilibrium among the humors, notably kapha, he promoted exercise to minimize the consequences of obesity and diabetes. To be effective, exercise had to be daily and moderate in intensity and never excessive or to exceed the half-maximum limit for exhaustion, because disease or even death could ensue. It is concluded that Susruta's concepts pertaining to chronic exercise and to the health benefits of exercise were "remarkably modern" and that future authors on the history of exercise physiology should include contributions from ancient India.

Angelo Mosso and muscular fatigue: 116 years after the first Congress of Physiologists: IUPS commemoration.

At the first International Congress of Physiologists in Basel, Switzerland, the Italian physiologist Angelo Mosso (1846-1910) discussed his findings on muscular fatigue while demonstrating the functioning of an ergograph (work recorder). One hundred sixteen years later, Mosso's career, scientific accomplishments, and legacy in the study of muscular fatigue were commemorated at the 2005 International Congress of Physiological Sciences. After receiving his degree in Medicine and Surgery from Turin, Italy, in 1870, Mosso was able to study and interact with renowned physiologists as Wilhelm Ludwig, Du Bois-Reymond, Hugo Kronecker, and Etienne Marey. By 1879, he was Professor of Physiology at the University in Turin, where he conducted research pertaining to blood circulation, respiration, physical education, high-altitude physiology, and muscular fatigue. Using tracings from the ergograph (concentric contractions of the flexor muscles of the middle finger that were volitionally or electrically stimulated), he was able to characterize muscle fatigue and to associate its occurrence with central or peripheral influences. He demonstrated that exercise would increase muscular strength and endurance while prolonging the occurrence of fatigue, which he postulated was a chemical process that involved the production of toxic substances such as carbonic acid. The phenomenon of contracture was described, and his collective studies led to the formulation of laws pertaining to exhaustion and to the 1891 publication of La Fatica (Fatigue). Besides La Fatica, Mosso will be remembered as a scientist with a love for physiology, a concern for the social welfare of his countrymen, and as one who sought to integrate physiological, philosophical, and psychological concepts in his experimental studies.