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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Medical practice and manuscripts in Byzantium.

Scholars, past and present, have belittled Byzantine medicine for its perceived static and derivative nature. Applied to the medicine of the centuries immediately before and after the year 1000, these criticisms, though apparently sustainable, fail to recognize its underlying vigour. It was a practical craft medicine, and one which used elements of magic and religion to compensate for the intractability of the many diseases that were not amenable to medicine. These centuries were a time when hospitals flourished in Byzantium, and this paper assembles and describes some of the manuscripts that can be associated with them. The influence of islamic medicine, which had hitherto borrowed from Byzantium, is also examined. If the Byzantine medicine of this period could not claim great originality or innovation, it had none the less distilled what was best and most useful from the long and often complex medical writings of antiquity, ensured its transmission, and preserved much from earlier times that would otherwise now be lost.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1996

Terms used in Byzantium for nursing personnel.

It has been long recognised that Byzantium was the cradle of hospital care. Most of the hospitals, called Xenones, were annexed to monasteries. The nursing staff were either volunteers or paid personnel. Professional nursing personnel were used for the first time in Byzantium hospitals. Many terms were used to describe the personnel in these hospitals and this paper identifies these nursing personnel from Byzantine sources and provides definitions of their duties: deaconesses (diakonisses), ministers (ypourgoi) and ministresses (ypourgisses), nurses (nosokomoi-nosileftes), auxiliary nurses (paranosokomoi), hoteliers (xenodochoi), excubitors (exkoubitores), phlebotomists (phlebotomoi), parabolani (parabolaneis or parabalaneis), scribones and deputati (skrivones and depotatoi), and midwives (maies). The paper further demonstrates that for the first time hospital personnel were divided into categories; hospital administration was exercised by specialist personnel, the nosokomoi.

Byzantium↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nursing homes for the old ('Gerocomeia') in Byzantium (324-1453 AD).

BACKGROUND: Research into the welfare institutions for the elderly, which were established in the Byzantine Empire. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is the research into the texts of the Byzantine chroniclers and the contemporary historical sources so as to determine the social policy of the Byzantine State regarding the homes for the aged. METHODS: The histories and chronicles of the Byzantine writers, written in the original Greek language, were studied and analysed, so as to locate the extracts in the texts concerning the interest shown by the Byzantine State to establish institutions for old and ailing people. RESULTS: The care for the elderly in Byzantium was undertaken in special infirmaries, called 'gerocomeia', which operated all over the empire mostly in or near the monasteries. All these nursing homes were highly esteemed and the governor of the institution seems to have been a person of high importance. The most important nursing home was located in Constantinople and was established by Emperor John II Comnenus in the 12th century in the famous monastery and hospital of the Pantocrator. CONCLUSION: The study and analysis of the historical texts of the Byzantine period (324-1453 AD) prove that human-oriented behaviour, which derived from the intervention of religion, contributed to the foundation of many welfare institutions for the elderly by the Byzantine emperors, the church and some individuals who showed great interest in them.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Uroscopy in Byzantium.

Macroscopic examination of the urine has been used since time immemorial for the diagnosis and prognosis of nearly every disease. Although the great fathers of antiquity, such as Hippocrates and Galen, were involved in the practice, it reached its heights during the Middle Ages. This article divides the Middle Ages into three periods--early, middle and late--and studies the use of the method and the contributions of its particular practitioners in the eastern part of the former east Roman Empire (Byzantium). Uroscopy achieved there a more scientific status than in Western Europe, at least during the first two periods of the Middle Ages, and it also influenced heavily Arabic and Jewish medicine. However, Byzantine urosocopy was mainly based on ancient Greek knowledge and was open to progressive influences by medical progress in all its neighboring countries.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1998

Working conditions and duties of nurses in Byzantium.

From the beginning of the Christian Era, nurses in Byzantium were female and belonged to the Church. These women were called deaconesses and received no payment. Later on, there were professional nurses; the men were called hypourgoi and the women hypourgisses. Their main duties were: Psychological support of patients, everyday care of patients' bodily needs and elementary comfort, cleaning of patients and providing them with proper food, the administration of medicines according to a doctor's instructions, supervising wards when the physicians were not present, the performance of enemas, cuppings and bloodletting, the main therapeutic means used at that time, the placing of patients on the operating table and the performance of minor operations. In the present study details are also given about woking hours and the nourishment and payment of nurses.

Byzantium↗
PubMed2003

[Ill-conditioned rules on the throne of Byzantium].

Author presents and analyses informations of non-medical texts of Byzantine historians and chroniclers concerning diseases of Byzantine emperors, concluding that diseases were implicated in certain political and military difficulties. Only one third of the emperors died due to natural causes (i.e. illnesses). Some historians, such as Anna Comnena and Michael Psellos had studied medicine, both of them had excellent knowledge of medical theories of their times. Some diseases in Byzantium were widespread and had high morbidity. This material gives an indication that arthritis (resembling gout) tyrannised a great number of emperors. Contemporary historians maintain that the main causes of gout were overconsumption of alcoholic drinks and food. Other very serious conditions were acute and chronic pyelonephritis and urolithiasis. Relatively frequent conditions of the emperors included pestilential diseases (dysentery, typhoid fever, etc.), psychiatric disorders, epilepsy and arteriosclerosis.

Byzantium↗
PubMed2005

[Ophthalmology in Byzantium between the 4th and the 7th century].

The article presents the state of development of medicine and ophthalmology in Byzantium in the period between the 4th and the 7th century. It discusses the life and work of Oribasius, Alexander of Tralles, Aëtius from Amida and Paullus from Aegina. It underlines the contribution of Oribasius into the dissemination of knowledge of Galen's works. It was this physician and Alexander of Tralles as well as Aëtius from Amida that did not recommend the surgical treatment of cataract (e.g. hypochyma). Paullus from Aegina was an exception in this respect as he provided a detailed description of couching of cataractous lens (e.g. hypochyma). His description is more detailed and precise than the one provided 600 years earllier by Celsus.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1991

Ophthalmological therapy in hospitals (xenones) in Byzantium.

Based on the typikon of the Imperial Monastery of the Pantocrator of Constantinople (12th century) and the manuscripts used in the Byzantine hospitals as well as the published Lives of the Saints and other related sources, it is undeniable that special ophthalmological departments existed in the xenones of Byzantium. It is also proven, that specific ophthalmological therapy was practised here including surgery and particularly in the cataract operation. This last operation is attested to, not only by the medical writings of Byzantine writers but also from the therapies of the physician-saints Cosmas and Damian.

History, Ancient↗
PubMed2002

A tragic case of complicated labour in early Byzantium (404 A.D.).

OBJECTIVES: Presentation and comment on the problematic delivery of the Byzantine empress Eudoxia's stillborn child. STUDY DESIGN: The original Greek language Byzantine histories, chronicles and hagiographical sources were investigated. Comparisons were then made of the knowledge of obstetrics among contemporary and ancient physicians. RESULTS: The case of Eudoxia's delivery is described in various literary sources with details regarding the fatal clinical picture of the parturient after the embryo's death. The study of early and contemporary medical texts proves that in similar cases conservative treatment was preferred but embryotomy was followed in the event of failure. CONCLUSIONS: Eudoxia's labour represents a characteristic paradigm of the difficulties involved in the confrontation of complicated deliveries in mediaeval times, often resulting in the death of both the mother and embryo. The treatments follow the ancient Hippocratic, Hellenistic and Roman traditions and influence medieval European medicine, thus constituting significant roots of obstetrics.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1996

Otorhinolaryngological diseases in Byzantium (A.D. 324-1453): information from non-medical literary sources.

The knowledge of the Byzantine physicians in the field of otorhinolaryngology and especially of the eminent ones, Oribasius, Aetius of Ameda, Paul of Aegina and Alexander of Tralles is noteworthy. They knew an adequate number of diseases of the ear, nose and throat and treated them with a plethora of drugs and some of them, especially tonsillitis and tonsillar abscess, with operations. The writer, based on the texts of the Byzantine historians and chroniclers, presents information previously unknown. This includes analysis of cases of an epidemic of angina, speech defects, instances of otitis, epistaxis, ulcer of the mouth, acute laryngitis or pharyngitis and psychogenic aphonia. Most cases concern emperors and other prominent figures of the State and Church. This information complements, from the historical point of view, the scientific knowledge of the medical writers in the field of otorhinolaryngology.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1998

Cases of stroke on the throne of Byzantium.

The authors describe the fatal illnesses of three Byzantine emperors, Alexander, Michael IX Palaeologus and Manuel II Palaeologus, who may have died of a stroke. From the texts of Byzantine historians and the indications of chroniclers, it was found that Alexander died of a stroke (possibly cerebral hemorrhage); Michael IX Palaeologus died of what seems to have been the same disease and the the last of these emperors, Manuel II Palaeologus, of hemiplegia. This paper provides the opportunity to see how the non-medical texts of historians and chroniclers adopt and express the scientific Byzantine terminology of the medical writers of the period, which is used differently today.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1998

Plastic surgery of the face in Byzantium in the fourth century.

Oribasius was an eminent Byzantine physician who lived in the fourth century. His greatest contribution to medical history was his anthology of all important medical works of his time, entitled Synagogue Medicae. This complete medical encyclopedia of his era consisted of more than 70 volumes. A significant part of this work has been lost. What remains, however, allows us to glimpse the surprising richness and knowledge of ancient medicine. Chapters 25 and 26 of the original 42nd book of Oribasius are of specific interest to the plastic surgeon, because they deal with reconstruction of facial defects. Reconstructive procedures for defects in the eyebrows, forehead, cheeks, nose, and ears are described. Advancement flaps are suggested for the reconstruction, and recommendations are made about debridement, flap design, and thickness of flaps. It becomes obvious from these texts that Greek, Roman, and Byzantine surgeons had the knowledge and experience to perform several reconstructive procedures of the face and nose. This knowledge was passed to the Arabs and then to Western Europe in the 15th century and became part of the foundation for modern plastic surgery.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1995

'Arthritis' in Byzantium (AD 324-1453): unknown information from non-medical literary sources.

OBJECTIVE--To compile and analyse information contained in non-medical texts of the Byzantine historians and chroniclers concerning arthritis, and to clarify the first use of Colchicum autumnale in the treatment of gout by the fifth century physician, Jacob Psychristus. CONCLUSIONS--This material gives an indication of the problem of arthritis and, in particular, a disease resembling gout that tyrannised a great number of the population in the Byzantine Empire (AD 324-1453). Contemporary historians and chroniclers maintain that the main causes of gout ('podagra') were the over-consumption of alcoholic drinks and food. Most relevant texts include anxiety and heredity among the aetiological factors of the disease. The incidence of this group of diseases among the Byzantine Emperors (it is certain that 14 of a total of 86 had a form of arthritis) and other officials of the State indicates that these diseases were a possible factor in certain political and military difficulties of the Empire.

Arthritis↗