Information AboutGalen |
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Claudius Galenus of Pergamum ( 129 - 200 AD), better known in English as '''Galen''', was an Ancient Greek Physician . His views dominated European Medicine for over a thousand years. LIFE Galen was born in Pergamum (modern-day Bergama , Turkey ), the son of Nicon , a wealthy architect. His interests were eclectic - Agriculture , Architecture , Astronomy , Astrology , Philosophy - until he concentrated on Medicine . By the age of twenty he had become a ''therapeutes'' ("attendant" or "associate") of the god Asclepius in the local temple for four years. After his father's death in 148 or 149 he left to study abroad. He studied in Smyrna and Corinth and at Alexandria . He studied medicine for a total of twelve years. When he returned to Pergamum in 157 , he worked as a physician in a Gladiator school for three or four years. During this time he gained experience of Trauma and Wound treatment. He later regarded wounds as "windows into the body". From 162 he lived in Rome where he wrote extensively, lectured and publicly demonstrated his knowledge of Anatomy . He gained a reputation as an experienced physician and his practice had widespread clientele. One of them was the Consul Flavius Boethius who introduced him to the court where he became a court physician to Emperor Marcus Aurelius . Later he also treated Lucius Verus , Commodus and Septimius Severus . Reputedly he spoke mostly Greek , which was a more respected language of medicine than Latin at the time. He briefly returned to Pergamum during 166 - 169 . Galen spent the rest of his life in the Imperial court, writing and experimenting. He performed Vivisection s of numerous animals to study the function of the Kidneys and the Spinal Cord . His favorite subject was the Barbary Ape . Reportedly he employed twenty scribes to write down his words. In 191 , fire in the Temple of Peace destroyed some of his records. His exact date of death has traditionally been placed around the year 200 , based on a reference from the 10th Century Suda Lexicon . Some, however, have argued for dates as late as 216 ,on the basis that his last writings seem to be as late as 207 . WORK AND IMPACT Galen transmitted Hippocratic Medicine all the way to the Renaissance . His ''On the Elements According to Hippocrates '' describes the philosopher's system of Four Bodily Humours , blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm, which were identified with the four Classical Element s, and in turn with the seasons. He created his own theories from those principles, and much of Galens work can be seen as building on the Hippocratice theories of the body, rather than being purely innovative. In turn, he mainly ignored Latin writings of Celsus , but accepted that the ancient works of Asclepiades had sound theory. Amongst Galen's own major works is a seventeen-volume ''On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Human Body''. He also wrote about philosophy and Philology , as well as extensively writing on anatomy. His collected works total twenty-two volumes, and he wrote a line a day for most of his life. Galen's own theories, in accord with Plato 's, emphasized purposeful creation by a single Creator ("Nature" - Greek ''phusis'') - a major reason why later Christian and Muslim scholars could accept his views. His fundamental principle of life was ''pneuma'' (air, breath) that later writers connected with the Soul . These writings on philosophy were a product of Galen's well rounded education, and throughout his life Galen was keen to emphasise the philosohical element to medicine. ''Pneuma physicon'' (animal spirit) in the Brain took care of Movement , Perception , and Senses . ''Pneuma zoticon'' (vital spirit) in the Heart controlled Blood and Body Temperature . "Natural spirit" in the Liver handled Nutrition and Metabolism .however, he did not agree with the Pneumatist theory that air passed through the veins rather than blood. Galen expanded his knowledge partly by experimenting with live animals. One of his methods was to publicly dissect a living pig and cut its Nerve bundles one at a time. Eventually he cut a Laryngeal Nerve (now also known as ''Galen's Nerve'') and the pig stopped squealing. He tied the Ureter s of living animals to show that Urine comes from the Kidney s. He severed spinal cords to demonstrate Paralysis . As well as working with pigs he also experimented with Barbary Apes and goats, and emphasised that he practised on pigs because of their similarities in some ways to the human anatomy. crucially, he never dissected humans in public, as this Alexandrian tradition had not reached Rome, and Galen was always keen to distance himself from the more manual, artisan element to medicine. Public dissections were also highly valuable ways of disputing and disproving others theories, and was one of the main methods of academic medical learning at Rome, as many medical students would often attend these public gatherings, which could turn into debates. From the modern viewpoint, Galen's theories were partially correct, partially flawed. He demonstrated that Arteries carry Blood , not air and made first studies about nerve functions, and the Brain and Heart . He also argued that the mind was in the brain, not in the heart as Aristotle had claimed. However, much of Galen's understanding is flawed from the modern point of view. He did not recognize Blood Circulation and thought that Venous and Arterial systems were separate. This view did not change until William Harvey 's work in the 17th Century . Since most of his knowledge of anatomy was based on dissection of pigs, dogs, and Barbary Ape s, he also assumed that '' Rete Mirabile '', a blood vessel plexus of Ungulates , also existed in the human body. He also resisted the idea of Tourniquet s to stop bleeding and vigorously propagated Blood Letting as a treatment. Galen's authority dominated medicine all the way to the 16th Century . Experimenters' disciples did not bother to experiment and studies of Physiology and anatomy stopped - Galen had already written about everything. Blood Letting became a standard medical procedure. Vesalius presented the first serious challenge to his hegemony. Much of medieval Islamic medicine drew on the works of the ancient Greeks, especially those elucidated by Galen, such as his expanded Humoral Theory . Most of Galen's Greek writings were first translated to the Syriac Language by Nestorian monks in the university of Gundishapur , Persia . Muslim scholars primarily in Baghdad translated the Syriac manuscripts into Arabic , along with many other Greek classics. They became some of the main sources for Arabian Scholars such as Avicenna , Rhazes , and Maimonides . Galen was known in Arabic as Jalinos, and many people with that name today are considered to be descendents of him. EXTERNAL LINKS
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