Galen: The Most Important Greek Physician After Hippocrates

Galen, the pioneering Greek doc who influenced Western medicine done the 1700s. Portrait by Pierre-Roch Vigneron. Credit: Public Domain

Galen of Pergamon was the astir influential ancient Greek doc aft Hippocrates and is considered the begetter of pharmacology.

He developed aesculapian tools for country and dissection and wrote galore volumes of his discoveries and observations, and was 1 of the starring thinkers successful medicine.

Galen was the archetypal to effort to formulate a classification of diseases and symptoms with a beardown ground successful anatomy. He was besides the archetypal to supply experimental impervious of ureteric function.

Among his discoveries, helium distinguished 7 pairs of cranial nerves, described the valves of the bosom and observed the structural differences betwixt arteries and veins.

Early life

Also known arsenic Aelius Galenus oregon Claudius Galenus oregon Galen (Γαληνός, 129-216 AD), the Roman-Greek doc was calved successful Pergamon, a Greek metropolis successful Anatolia. He was a physician, writer and philosopher whose enactment influenced greatly the aesculapian satellite until the mid-17th century, enjoying the respect of Europeans and Arabs alike.

His father, Nicon, was a good to bash architect. He had planned for his lad to survey doctrine oregon politics, the accepted pursuits of the cultured governing people into which helium had been born.

However, While inactive successful his teens c. 144-145, Galen became a therapeutes oregon ‘attendant’ of the healing deity Asclepius, whose sanctuary was an important taste halfway not lone for Pergamon, but besides for the full Roman state of Asia.

Galen said that successful a dream, Asclepius told Nicon to let his lad to survey medicine, and for the adjacent 4 years Galen studied nether the distinguished physicians who gathered astatine the sanctuary of the deity of medicine successful Pergamon.

His begetter died successful 148 oregon 149 and Galen astatine 19 recovered himself affluent and independent. He chose to question and further his aesculapian acquisition astatine Smyrna, Corinth and Alexandria. In 157 helium returned to his autochthonal metropolis with a prestigious appointment: doc to the gladiators.

From autumn 157 to autumn 161 the Greek doc gained invaluable applicable acquisition successful trauma and sports medicine, and helium continued to prosecute his studies successful theoretical medicine and philosophy.

By 161 Galen, present 32, decided that adjacent though prosperous, Pergamon was inactive a provincial metropolis that could not connection the opportunities his talents and ambition demanded. He near for Rome wherever helium forged a glorious vocation successful medicine.

Galen’s enactment successful medicine and anatomy

Once successful Rome, Galen practiced medicine and erstwhile a plague broke out, helium recovered himself successful the tribunal of Marcus Aurelius with the emperor and his lad Comodus arsenic his astir illustrious patients.

Treating terrible injuries of the gladiators, helium enhanced his cognition of anatomy, physiology, trauma and sports medicine. But portion quality dissection was not considered during his time, Galen performed dissections connected animals assuming that quality organs were identical.

Galen regarded anatomy arsenic the instauration of aesculapian cognition and helium often dissected and experimented connected specified animals arsenic the Barbary ape, pigs, sheep and goats. Even though his comparisons to quality anatomy often failed, galore of them were accurate. He wanted to experimentation connected quality corpses but that was taboo successful his time.

However, the inferences helium made astir quality anatomy based connected his dissections of animals often led him into errors. His anatomy of the uterus, for example, is mostly that of the dog’s. According to Galen, humor is formed successful the liver and is past carried by the veins to each parts of the body, wherever it is utilized up arsenic nutriment oregon is transformed into soma and different substances.

His precise descriptions and studies of neurological functions and anatomy besides led to large breakthroughs. He utilized dissection to research the anatomy of the encephalon and spinal cord, including the spinal nerves.

Galen besides demonstrated the functions of nerves, on with galore different aspects of the quality body, including the eyes, tongue, larynx, and reproductive organs. In addition, his experiments with the kidneys showed that they were functionally related to the bladder.

Galen viewed the assemblage arsenic consisting of 3 connected systems: the encephalon and nerves, which are liable for sensation and thought; the bosom and arteries, liable for life-giving energy; and the liver and veins, liable for nutrition and growth.

The conception of disease

The Greek physician’s explanation of illness was the impairment of bodily activities. This was the instauration of pathology, combining physiological and anatomical constituent of view.

Galen made advancement successful the anatomy of the oculus by distinguishing the cornea, the sclera, the choroid, the capsula of the lens and the retina, arsenic good arsenic the operation covering the muscles of the oculus and joining the idiosyncratic elements of the oculus with the orbital cavity and the skull.

As for the vision, helium assumed the beingness of a circumstantial beingness unit called pneuma, which reaches the oculus from the encephalon done tiny channels successful the optic nerve.

He besides made strides successful orthopedics and peculiarly successful his observations connected the spine. Based connected his observations, derived from dissection and vivisection of animals, Galen established a pioneer exemplary for the survey of quality spine. His probe ended successful an close statement of the vertebral file and the spinal cord. He besides described the people and the organisation of the nerves emerging from the spine.

Another 1 of Galen’s large pioneering works was his treatment connected however to attack and dainty intelligence problems.

This was Galen’s aboriginal effort astatine what would aboriginal beryllium called psychotherapy. He wrote connected however is publication contained directions connected however to supply counsel to those with intelligence issues to punctual them to uncover their deepest passions and secrets, and yet cure them of their intelligence deficiency.

A large assemblage of texts

Galen whitethorn person produced much enactment than immoderate writer successful antiquity.

His surviving texts correspond astir fractional of each the extant lit from past Greece. It has been reported that the Greek physician employed 20 scribes to constitute down his thoughts. He whitethorn person written arsenic galore arsenic 500 treatises, and what has survived is thought to correspond little than a 3rd of his implicit writings.

All of the extant Greek manuscripts of Galen were copied by Byzantine scholars.

After 750, Arab Muslims began to beryllium funny successful Greek technological and aesculapian texts for the archetypal time, and had immoderate of the Greek physician’s texts translated into Arabic, often by Syrian Christian scholars.

As a result, immoderate texts of Galen beryllium lone successful Arabic translation, portion others beryllium lone successful medieval Latin translations of the Arabic.

It is successful Galen’s words that Greek medicine was handed down to consequent generations, making Greek aesculapian signifier known to the world.