Lecture 1: Medicine and Pharmacology in Europe Flashcards
Ebers Papyrus
Earliest extant record of medicinal plant use in Nile Valley of Egypt
When was Ebers Papyrus written?
3500 ya but contents are older because reference to VI Dynasty (4500 ya)
How bid is the Ebers Papyrus and how many remedies/treatments
Scroll is 20.3 m and 700 recipes for treatments of diseases and symptoms
Example of remedies from Ebers Papyrus that is still used?
Castor oil as a laxative
Who recovered the Ebers Papyrys and who purchased?
Recovered by Erwin smith in 1862 and purchased by George Ebers in 1873
Hippocrates
460-377 BCE
“Father of Medicine”
400 healing plants in his writings
many have been described in earlier writings
Dioscorides
40-90 CE
Greek physician and pharmocoligist
What did Dioscorides write?
On medical Matters in 77 CE - used egyptian and early greek sources
- named ~600 medical plants and uses
Theophrastus
Ancient greeks "Father of Botany' - wrote Equiry into Plants in 300BCE - first book to note similarities among plant sp. and used to classify plants - expanded on aristoles work
Galen
Roman
131-200 CE
- repeated and expanded earlier greek works (Dioscorides)
- encyclopedic work of greek medicinal teachings
paid greater attention on pharmacology including careful notes on plant drug and uses
Famous and innovative medical schools
-Salerno - Italy
- Montpellier - France
- Oxford University - england
- University of Paris - France
- university of Bologna - Italy
primary repositories of past knowledge not new discoveries
Constantine
1010-1087
The African
- translated a number of imported islamic medicinal texts into latin for the Salerno school
How did Constantines translations have influence on European medicine
reintroduced ancient greek and roman knowledge (which had been lost in Europe)
- Greatly expanded on the greek-Roman knowledge base by introducing new innovative ideas from islamic medicine
Renaissance Period
1470-1670
- advances in european medicine
What caused the advancement in european medicine?
invention of the printing press and movable type in 1450 by Joahnnes Gutenberg
Incunabula
Books printed during the early or ‘Cradle” years of printing (1450-1500) - often known as herbals
What is the renaissance period also called?
Age of herbals
Herbal
Book concerned with the material of medicine and in particular materials of plant origin
Medical herbals that appeared during the renaissance period
- De Historica Stirpium
- Commentarii
- The New Herbal
- Book of Herbs
- Phytognomonica
De Historica Stirpium
By Leonhar Fuch (1542) - in Basel
- based on early greek and roman texts (particularly Dioscorides and Galen) but updates and new info too
- included wool cut illustrations of excellent quality and high botanical accuracy
Commentarii
Pier Andera mattiolo - 1544, venice
- translated of Dioscordes but with number of updates and expanded text
- originally had no illustrations and therefore had limited use to most readers
- many additions and translated into many languages
The New Herball
William Turner (london, 1551)
- First to describe the medicinal plants used in England
- Included detailed commentaries on the efficiency of various herbal remedies
Book of Herbs
Rembert Dodoens (Antwerp, 1554)
- 800 accurate and beautiful woodcuts
- the herbal by John Gerard printed in England in 1597 is generally considered a plagiarized translation of the works of Dodoens
Phytognomonica
Naples , 1588
- Promoted the idea of “Plant indicators” - an elaboration of the Doctrine of Signatures
Doctrine of Signatures
Paracelsus (Swiss 1493-1541)
- states that plants take on the appearance of the organ or ailment that they cure. eg. heart shaped leaves cure the heart
