Medicine at The Bedside

Dr. Kıymet Saniç

Medicine at The Bedside
 Galen
(c.129 AD - c.210 AD)

 There were more than 500 years between

Hippocrates and Galen.
 Much of the Hippocratic legacy (heritage)
was actually transmitted to the West
through the writings of Galen.
 Galen (c.129 AD - c.210 AD)

 Galen was a physician, writer and

philosopher who became the most famous
doctor in the Roman Empire
 Galen (c.129 AD - c.210 AD)

 Claudius Galen was born in Pergamum

(modern-day Turkey) of Greek parents.
 He studied in Pergamum, in Smyrna
(modern İzmir, Turkey), in Greece and
finally at Alexandria in Egypt, which was
the greatest medical centre of the ancient
world.
 Galen

 Galen returned home to

became chief physician to
the gladiator school in
Pergamum, gaining much
experience of treating
wounds.
 In 160s AD, Galen moved to
Rome. He became physician
to the Roman emperor
 Galen

 Galen
dominated
medical thinking
for more than a
millennium.
https://www.youtu
be.com/watch?
v=vXbf1i1NyiQ
 Galen
 Galen established many believes and
practices:
 Imbalance in the humours resulted in
illness.
 Studied infectious diseases and
described symptoms of inflammation.
 Galen

His most important contributions

were in anatomy.
He dissected animals and
determined function of muscles,
kidney and bladder.
 Galen

 His descriptions of bones and muscle

were notable (important, famous).
Galen was the first to observe that
muscles work in contracting pairs,
Galen was the first to observe that

described the heart valves,

Galen was the first to observe that

the structural
differences between
arteries and veins.
 He used
experiments to
demonstrate
paralysis
resulting from
spinal cord
injuries
 Galen
 The passage
of urine
from
kidneys to
bladder.
 Galen

Some of Galen's ideas were incorrect:
Because he did not dissect a human body,
nor did the medieval (the middle ages)
lecturers.
Galen expertly dissected and accurately
observed all kinds of animals, sometimes
mistakenly applying what he saw to the
human body.
 Galen pioneered diagnostic
use of the pulse rate
 Galen

 In his extensive
travels, Galen also
collected plants with
healing properties and
explained their uses.
Galen 2:59 – 4:20

https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?
v=9tx1zlbtHAw&frags
=pl%2Cwn
 Ancient Medical Systems
 Hittite
 Mesopotamia
 Egypt
 India
 China
 Africa
 Kygyzstan
Ancient Medical Systems
 Ancient Medical Systems

Indian medicine influenced modern

medicine through the medicine of
Mesopotamia, Greek and Islamic
civilization.
Ancient Medical Systems
Silk Road ------ Spice Road ------
 Ancient Medical Systems

Some ingredients reached

Greek doctors with Spice
Road starting from South
India.
Hippocrates' gynecology
knowledge and drug
formulas prove it.
 Ancient Medical Systems

B.C. VIII-V. The centuries-old

clay tablets show that
Mesopotamia and Indian
medicine was in shopping.
 Ancient Medical Systems

Islamic medicine was also influenced by

Indian medicine and the works of Jaraka,
Susruta and Canakya were translated into
Arabic.
 Ancient Medical Systems

 Egyptian medical thought

influenced later traditions,
including the Greeks.
 Ancient Medical Systems

 Egyptian medical thought

influenced later traditions,
including the Greeks.
 Ancient Medical Systems

China has one of the world’s oldest medical

systems.
Acupuncture — one of the oldest forms of
medical treatment in continuous use in Asia
for more than 5,000 years — has gained
general acceptance in the West in recent
decades.