Human and ape: the legend, the history and the DNA

A vast amount of papers is published every year about species evolution, the most interesting being those recently published in the journal "Nature", concerning the human-ape relationship. The results and the new theories generated from this research are sometimes astonishing, raising not only biological, but also social, religious and cultural questions. One of the new questions concerns the role of species interbreeding as a means of evolution. In the subject of species interbreeding between human and ape we found some interesting historical and mythical information that sort of back-up this theory of interbreeding, with a historical and cultural side view.

The late Greco-Roman and Byzantine contribution towards the evolution of laboratory examinations of bodily excrement. Part 2: sputum, vomit, blood, sweat, autopsies

Although the establishment of medical laboratory institutions was a continuous process that matured only after the 16th century, several attempts had already been made to attain a diagnosis by investigating bodily excrement. In the first part of our work, published in a previous issue of this journal, we presented data on urine, sperm, menses and stools. In this paper we present data on sputum, vomit, blood, sweat, and autopsies, thus completing the list of human materials used for laboratory examinations. All the data used are extracted from codices of Late Antiquity and Byzantium and translated by us. We did not study medical texts from the other great ancestors of Western medicine, namely Arabic and Jewish writings. From the texts cited, it is apparent that the lack of technological means was no obstacle for the doctor to create an "examinational" mind, i.e., to try to correlate the macroscopic findings in the excrement with the pathophysiological mechanism that induced them, solely with the use of the senses. This not only applies to the examination of urine, as is commonly assumed, but also to many other excrements of the upper and lower orifices of the body, as well as the human body as a whole.

HPRT deficiency as the cause of ESRD in a 24-year-old patient: a very rare presentation of the disorder

A 24-year-old male with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and disproportionately high uric acid plasma concentration was admitted to our unit. After studying the patient's medical history, as well as that of the entire family, hyperuricemia was discovered in his brother, while microscopic examination of his brother's and mother's urine revealed abundant uric acid crystals. After performing purine metabolic studies, it was determined that the two siblings suffered from partial hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficiency (Kelley-Seegmiller syndrome). This report highlights the importance of clinical awareness and a thorough examination of the patient's medical history for establishing an early diagnosis and commencing treatment for such rare inherited metabolic disorders to prevent renal failure.

The late Greco-Roman and Byzantine contribution to the evolution of laboratory examinations of bodily excrement. Part 1: Urine, sperm, menses and stools

It is a common belief that laboratory investigation processes were developed after the 16th century and that before that time no attempts were made to attain a diagnosis by investigating material coming from the human body. In this paper we present data extracted from Byzantine codices that support the following thesis: The idea of examining human excrement for diagnostic purposes has its roots in the Roman and Byzantine eras. The lack of technological means was no obstacle for the doctor to create an "examinational" mind, i.e., to try to correlate the macroscopic findings in the excrement with the pathophysiological mechanism that induced it, using only the human senses.

The human skin: a meeting ground for the ideas about macrocosm and microcosm in ancient and Medieval and Greek literature

We have been interested in the cleansing capacity of skin during the recent years. In a paper of ours (1) we presented a few references to Hippocrates' and Galen's ideas on the subject, while the main body of the article was based on the 17th-20th centuries' relative practices. In a second paper (2), we were mainly testing the ancient and Medieval Greek ideas on skin catharsis against some clinical work of ours. In this paper we now present the ideas of the pagan and Byzantine Greek authors (5th cent. BC - 10th cent. AD) on the relationship of the human body to the natural and man-made world. Special emphasis is given to the relationship between purification through the skin and world purification. Based on the similarity of the Empedokles' concept of the four elements and Hippocrates' thesis concerning the four humours, the Earth itself was personified and became a living organism that felt cold, perspired and became dry. Man started to seek a natural explanation for his diseases and alterations of his body functions. Hence, perspiration, fever, urination, headache, stroke, were explained in cosmological terms. Extracts from many medical and non-medical writers, like Empedocles, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, the Fathers of the Church, Meletius latrosophista, Theophilus Protospatharius, Michael Psellus and other sources are presented, in order to show the close relationship between an abundance of diseases and an array of natural phenomena.

Substitution of renal function through skin catharsis: evidence from the classical period to the Middle Ages

The skin's cleansing capacity has been known for centuries and has been used therapeutically and extensively for a great number of diseases. We studied the historical evolution of the methods used for catharsis through the skin, particularly for those in renal failure, by reviewing most of the existing ancient Greek and Byzantine codices dealing with the skin's cleansing capacity. From the fragments cited in this article, it is evident that the ancient medical writers were well aware of the mechanism of perspiration, and through this process the excretion of several body toxins, they knew about renal failure as well as the influence of environmental temperature on blood purification via the skin. To validate their views, we reviewed the seasonal variation of the average values for blood urea, creatinine, and electrolytes for 161 regular dialysis treatment (RDT) patients in four dialysis units in southern Greece. The estimations were carried out during the winter/summer 1997, 1998, and 1999 terms and included three winter months and three summer months. We traced an unexpectedly large number of references in the ancient and medieval Greek medical literature concerning detoxification through the skin, mainly regarding patients in renal failure. This seasonal variation hypothesis is supported by the results of our retrospective study: there was a difference of 16 mg/dL in the average blood urea (mean winter urea 182 mg/dL, mean summer urea 166 mg/dL). We suggest that the ancients had a vivid idea about the substitution of renal function by the skin's cleansing ability in renal failure. The previously mentioned phenomenon may be due to the elimination of blood urea through excessive perspiration. Our clinical results seem to verify their notions, and hence, the skin (like the peritoneum) may be considered a natural membrane for dialysis. We were unable to trace a similar report in the literature on the seasonal fluctuation of blood urea in dialysis patients.

Nephrology, a newly rich speciality, is looking for an illustrious ancestry: what about a famous grandfather?

Nephrology is a newborn speciality compared to the other medical specialities. However, the study of the urinary tract's physiology and pathology had begun simultaneously with the birth of medicine. The scientific revolution of the renaissance and enlightenment eras caused an intense contestation of earlier theories and methods as if all knowledge had evolved suddenly from parthenogenesis after the dark (?) medieval years and human intellect suddenly exploded to huge intelligence quotients after the 15th century while before that humans were mentally deprived. Indeed most of the scientific knowledge did evolve impressively during renaissance and enlightenment years but not through parthenogenesis. Some observations, discoveries and inventions of this era were actually reobservations, rediscoveries and reinventions. Such an example is that of the experiments of Sanctorius Santorii of the 16th century AD and of Erasistratus of the 3rd century BC. Sanctorius and Erasistratus carried out an experiment with the same basic principles, similar methodology and proportional results with an almost 2000 years lag phase. With our paper we wish to give credit to earlier researchers of physiological and medical knowledge who, despite the lack of technological support, often concluded in extremely accurate observations.

A neolithic case of Down syndrome

The aim of the study is to draw attention to the existence of a Neolithic figurine from Greece with characteristics compatible with Down syndrome. We have reviewed the relevant medical and archaeological literature, and we have compared photographs of the figurine with photographs of a patient with typical Down syndrome (DS). From the above data we conclude that the 7000 years old artefact may well be the most ancient representation of the disease in Western civilisation.

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.

A history of natural membranes in dialysis

Nature uses various natural membranes to eliminate toxic substances from the blood, mainly in renal failure. The membranes used for this purpose are predominantly those of the gastrointestinal system and the skin. Humans tried to imitate nature, and employed the same membranes for blood purification in patients with renal failure. The beginning of the practice can be dated to at least 4,000 years ago. However, the initiative for such clearing maneuvers was given by the human mind's conception for purifying the cosmos, the polis and the soul. This article traces similarities between such metaphysical tactics and procedures of the applied sciences. It also describes the historical evolution of the use of natural membranes for medical reasons in nephrological patients.

Four different ways of philanthropic aid to the blind in medieval eastern Christendom

The care of the blind, either as medical treatment or as divine therapy, has probably been the most ancient form of help for ill people. However, it was during the Byzantine Empire (325-1453 AD) that the state organized a 'blindness relief' plan as part of a widespread public health system. Our sources for the subject include medical writings, state decrees, Saint's 'vitae' and representations of relevant works of art. Based on the above data we classify the health care for the blind in Byzantium as: (a) support of ophthalmological education as evidenced by an abundance of medical writings on the subject; (b) establishment of charitable institutions exclusively or partially for the blind, where there was not only medical care but also provision for a wide range of social aid - the most advanced being specially trained escorts for each blind person; and (c) support by the state of an extended chain of religious institutions where miraculous help for the blind was promised. We conclude that the public health policy in Byzantium made adequate and very early provision for the blind.

Supernumerary eyes and man's search for hyper-vision: a historical review of relevant representational arts

In this paper we present examples of man's identification of superiority with visual hyper-efficiency. From Babylonian, Egyptian, Minoan and Biblical times, the eye was the symbol of the master or the inspector. Similarly, a being or deity that was endowed with multiple eyes--with or without multiple heads--was considered to be extra powerful. An example is the crest of the British College of Optometrists, which is surmounted by a bird with three heads and hence supernumerary eyes, linking it to the College's motto 'aequis oculis videre' denoting equal vision. We present here photographic and textual data from several historical periods extending from the fourth millennium BC to the sixteenth century AD; and from different religious sources, both Christian and non-Christian, to support this thesis. However, these are only a few examples, selected from a larger on-going study of the subject.

Endogenous cell-mediated immunity, blood transfusion, and outcome of renal transplantation

The cell-mediated immunity (CMI) of a group of patients on regular dialysis was measured by a quantitative dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) skin test, the reaction being graded 0--15. The score in these patients varied widely, although the mean was much lower than that occurring in a group of 15 healthy subjects. 55 cadaveric renal allografts were subsequently done in 51 of these patients, and graft survival was assessed at 6 months. The 39 patients with weak DNCB skin reactions had a much higher graft survival (71%) than did the 12 with strong reaction (15%) (p less than 0.01). The weak DNCB reactors also had more pre-transplant blood transfusions. The findings suggest that the CMI of the recipient as measured by the DNCB test has an important influence on subsequent graft survival. This influence may partly be related to pre-transplant blood transfusion.