Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Persia

  • Democedes, “the most skillful physician of his time”

    The renowned Greek physician Democedes of Croton is remembered for his expertise and influential role in the courts of ancient rulers. His father was Calliphon, a priest, physician, and of such savage temper that he caused Democedes to leave Croton and sail away to the island of Aegina. There he set up a medical practice…

  • The global journey of variolation

    Mariel TishmaChicago, Illinois, United States Humanity has eliminated only one infectious disease—smallpox. Smallpox is a very old disease and efforts to prevent it are almost as old. They included a technique called variolation, also known as inoculation or engrafting, in which individuals were infected with live smallpox virus to produce a milder form of the…

  • A brief history of kidney transplantation

    Laura Carreras-PlanellaMarcella FranquesaRicardo LauzuricaFrancesc E. BorràsBarcelona, Spain We may think of renal transplantation as routine therapy today, but this procedure has taken centuries to develop and is marked by important events in the history of science. An ancient description of the kidneys is found in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, dated to 1550 BC and discovered…

  • The medical university of Jundi-Shapur

    Andrew C. MillerBethesda, Maryland, United States With the exception of the hospital at Jundi-Shapur, hospitals and medical centers as we know them are not known to have existed before AD 400.1 In the late Sassanid period, a considerable scientific movement grew in Persia.2 Jundi-Shapur (Genta Shapitra in Pahlavi, Gondi Shapur in Farsi, Beth Lapat in…