Antiquity. Applied medicine of Galena

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Galen has given the description of many details of a structure of a human body, has given names to many bones, joints and the muscles, remained in medicine till today. In detail and, in general, truly it has described nervous system of the person, having specified, in particular, in an optic nerve, and has correctly established that this nerve passes in an eye retina. Galen wrote about functions of separate bodies, but its sights at blood circulation much, digestive and respiratory systems were erroneous. He has devoted a lot of attention hypothetical ' pnevme ' which as if penetrates all matter and recovers a human body.

In the works of Galen takes away a lot of place to applied medicine. It has given the description of illnesses of a great number of members of the body, has in detail described eye illnesses, has given a number of a practical advice on medical gymnastics, learnt, as it is necessary to put compresses, to apply leeches, to operate wounds. Has resulted a number of recipes on powders, ointments, tinctures, extracts and pills. Its recipes - though and in a little changed kind - are applied till now and carry the name ' galenovyh preparations ', that is such which prepare directly in drugstores, unlike the medicines which are let out by factory methods at the enterprises of a pharmaceutical industry.

In particular, Galen has developed a compounding of cosmetic means used till now ' koldkrema ' which consists of essence, wax and pink water. Irrespective of Gippokrata, Galen has created own theory about a structure of a human body and about human characters, and as a basis for it not so much research, how many philosophical conclusions have served. He considered that live beings consist of four elements: the earths, waters, air and fire which, in turn, give rise to four liquids (limfam): blood, bile, slime and black bile.

If lymph are in a correct proportion, also health of the person normally, uravnoveshenno. If one of these elements starts to prevail, balance is broken that causes deviations in organism activity. It allowed Galenu to assert that illness seizes an organism only in case of damage of this or that body. This statement has not lost the importance till today.