Wednesday, October 14, 2015

1483: The King uses his allergies to kill Lord Hastings

Figure 3 -- King Richard III (1452-1485)
Legend has it that King Richard III (1452-1485) knew he had an allergy to strawberries, and in 1483 he used this wisdom to kill his arch enemy, Lord William Hastings. (2, page 4)

The King purposely ate some strawberries and blamed his allergic reaction on a curse from Lord Hastings. For his punishment Lord Hastings was beheaded, and his head was served on a platter. (2, page 4)

The king was able to get away with this because nobody knew about allergies other than those who suffered from them.  Other than the king, most allergy sufferers were hard working men and women who had little time to let minor suffering slow them down.

And even when they did report their symptoms to physicians, they were generally brushed off as something minor, like a cold. Physicians had better things to worry about, such as deadly plagues.

References:
  1. Cantani, "Pediatric Allergy, Asthma and Immunology," 2000, New York, page 724
  2. Ehrlich, Paul M., Elizabeth Shimer Bowers, "Living with Allergies," 2008

Monday, October 12, 2015

1316: Mundinus publishes book of anatomy

Figure 1 -- Title page of Mundinus:
 "Anathomia," Leipzig, 1493
(1, page 151)
So we know that the School of Salerno was a great medical institution from the 10th to 13th centuries, and physicians from all over the world flocked there to get the best medical instruction.  Yet most historians will acknowledge that while it was a great learning place, there were few medical advancements made there. 

One of the great exceptions occurred in 1316 when Mundino de'Luzzi, or Mundinus of Bologna (1270-1326), who wrote a book called "Anathomia," which translates to "Dissection."  Still, while he wrote it while teaching at Salerno, it was first published until 1487 at Padua, and 1493 at Leipzig by Martin Pollich-von Mellerstadt. (see figure 1) (1, page 150-151)

Mundino was professor of medicine and anatomy at the University of Bologna, and he was one of the few physicians "to turn his eyes from the pages of Galen to the book of nature, and to learn for himself, by actual dissection of the human body, how this body was constituted." (5, page 199)

It was, therefore, from his own observations that he compiled his book.  (4, page 199)

The book was basically an account of how to perform an autopsy beginning with the abdominal cavity, which contains the perishable viscera, and then moving to the chest, where he provides a description of the heart, and to the skull where he describes opening it.  (4, page 376) (1, page 150-151)

However, because of the dogmatic nature of the Church, he was not able to sway far from the teachings of Galen, said D. Kerfoot Shute in 1910.  "The all-powerful Church still taught the sacredness and the inviolability of the human corpse and was alert and ready to punish as a sacrilege the use of the anatomist's scalpel; and what Mundinus did was done in the face of this powerful opposition." (5, page 199)

Perhaps this is why Garrison said:
In intention, this work was really a little horn-book of dissecting, rather than a formal treaties on gross anatomy.  (1, page 150)
He said the book was full of...
...Galanic errors in regard to the structure of the human frame, preserving the old fictive anatomy of the Arabists, with the Arabic terms, this book was yet the sole textbook on anatomy for over a hundred years in all the Medieval schools." (1)
The book would be the "universal textbook" of anatomical dissection for the next 200 years at all medieval schools, passing through "39 separate editions and translations." (4, page 376) (1, page 151)

His work was continued by his pupil Niccolo' Bertuccio (died 1347), said Garrison.  He said:  "After this time, dissecting gained a firmer foothold as a mode of instruction." (1, page 151)

However, Shute said that, perhaps due to the opposition of the Church, "Mundinus had no disciples carry on his work.  All that remained of him was his very inadequate book which was used in schools merely as an introduction or help to Galen.  At best he became little more than a later and smaller Galen." (5, page 199)

While there were little or no advancements in medicine as a result of his book, it helped to preserve medicine during the dark ages of medicine.  It would be over 200 years after Mundinus (at the beginning of the 16th century) that the Church would finally start to lose its grip and influence over medcine.   (5, page 199)

Jacobus Berengarius da Capri, who lived from 1460-1530, was an Italian physician who continued the work of Mundinus.  Shute said:
But he had his struggles with the church. He was driven to desert Bologno, where he had long been a teacher, and to live in exile in Ferrara.
Yet this was a time when the Church learned to appreciate anatomy, although trough paintings more so than medicine.  Shute said
In the sixteenth century the ruling powers of the church not only sanctioned but even favored the pursuit of that branch of anatomy which is indispensable to sculpture and painters. In 1525 Albert Durer published a work illustrating the symmetry of the body—but as an artist and not anatomist. Under the protection of the Popes, Julius II and Leo X, Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Angelo, and Raphael copied from nature the superficial muscles. (5, page 199)
This was the state medicine was in when two of the most significant figures in our medical history were born: Jacobus Sylvius and Andreas Vessalius.

References:
  1. Garrison, Fielding Hudson, "An introduction to the history of medicine," 1922, Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Company
  2. The John Hopkins Hospital bulleton," (volume XV 1904), "from the epoch of the Alexandria School (300 B.C.)"
  3. "The Ancient Medical School of Salerno," associazioneermes.it, http://www.associazioneermes.it/MedicalSchoolSalerno.htm, accessed 12/4/12
  4. Frampton, Michael, "Embodiments of Will: Anatomical and Physiological Theories of Voluntary Animal Motion from Greek Antiquity to the Latin Middle Ages, 400 B.C. - A.D. 1300," 2009, Berlin, VDG Verlag
  5. Shute, D. Kerfoot, "The life and works of ndreas Vesalius," Old dominion journal of medicine and surgery, Tomkin, Beverly R. Tucker, Douglas Vanderhoof, Murat Willis, R.H. Wright, editors, 1910, Richmond Virginia, The Old Dominion Publishing Corporation, pages 195-211
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Friday, October 9, 2015

1281-1348: Xi defines asthma for China

InZhu Dan Xi (1281-1348)
The next person to make a significant impact on the "flow" of asthma wisdom through Ancient China was InZhu Dan Xi (also known as Zhu Zhenheng). 

He lived from 1281-1348 A.D, and was born to a medical family.  He believed his family received poor medical care when he was young, and therefore became determined to learn about medicine.  (1)

He believed over indulgence depleted the essence of yin and caused chronic diseases.  His most significant recommendation was temperance. (2)

He continued to describe diseases as an imbalance of the humors as was described in the Nei Ching some 2,000 years earlier, and as described in Ancient Egypt and Western Civilizations.

Xi is often regarded as the first Chinese physician to provide a modern description of asthma. He combined chuan and Xiao to come up with chuan xiao, which many historians believe is similar to the Western world's description of asthma. (3, page 41)


From this time on Chinese physicians believed Chuan xiao was caused by an imbalance of yin and yang, which are polar opposites, and "obstruction to the flow of Qi by phlegm in the airways, said asthma historian Mark Jackson.

Ma Huang continued to be a common therapy for the treatment of any respiratory ailments along with "Qi supporting" liquorice and gypsum decoction, "Yin syndrome asthma was treated with Yin Returning elixer."  (3, page 41)

Since Ma Huang was a much better bronchodilator than any western treatment for asthma, Chinese asthmatics had it at least a little better off than their contemporaries in the rest of the world, or so one might imagine.

References:  
  1. Beijing Medical Museum of TCM
  2. "Chu Tan-chi [Zhu Danxi/Zhu Zhenheng; 1280-1358 A.D.," Chinese Medicine History,  http://www.taijichinesemedicine.com/zhudanxi.htm
  3. Jackson, Mark, "Asthma: The Biography," 1998, New York, page 41
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1950s: Asthma at national Jewish Hospital

Figure 1 -- National Jewish Hospital today.  You can see the Goodman bulding
on the right.  It was there, on the 7th floor, where I was a patient in 1985.
The boy's ward looked out in this direction.  On the 7th floor was where kids
12-18 lived, and on the 8th floor was home to younger kids.  I stayed
on 7 Goodman for 3 months, andthen I was a patient of 2-May for 3 months
(another building not seen here).  The treatment greatly helped me.
So by the 1880s about 1 in 4 residents of Denver were patients with lung diseases, and many of them were literally dying in the streets.  It was for this reason the Jewish community came together and donated money to open the doors of National Jewish Hospital for the Treatment of Consumptives.  

It was not the only such sanatorium in the area, nor was it the only one in the United States.  In fact, many had opened both in the U.S. and in Europe, and all had about equal success.  What made National Jewish stand out over time was it's effort in 1914 to open the first building outside of a university with the specific goal of researching a cure for a disease.  

It also became the first such institution to open a ward specifically to treat children with a disease in the 1920s. So by the 1930s National Jewish had the capacity to take care of hundreds of tuberculosis patients of all ages, plus it was a leader in the attempt to find a better treatment and a possible cure.  

And partially through the efforts of this hospital, the number of people getting tuberculosis saw a steady decline beginning at the turn of the 20th century, and then a steep drop off after the discovery of an effective treatment in the 1940s and 1950s. So while the goal of the hospital was to treat consumptives, consumptive patients were slowly disappearing.

When the hospital was opened in 1899 the president of the institution said, "that its doors may never close again until the terrible scourge is driven from the earth." It probably appeared that was exactly what was going to happen. The disease was never driven from the earth, although it's one that is readily controlled, for the most part, in modernized nations of the world, particularly in the United States and Europe.
Yet there were other respiratory disease that continued to plague the west, and we must not forget that these patients were also welcome at National Jewish. So as tuberculosis declined as a leading cause of death, and is now at the bottom of the yearly list, other disease saw a steady rise and deserved the attention of the world's leading lung experts, particularly those at National Jewish Hospital.

Due the the rise of people smoking cigarettes following WWI the incidence of chronic bronchitis and emphysema was on the rise. Likewise, with the modernization of the west, asthma was also on the rise. These folks, mainly adults with COPD and children with asthma, needed a place where they could find help. And that place was National Jewish.

During the 1940s various centers for asthma were opened in the United States, yet National Jewish was already an option for them. Yet the 1940s saw a rise in the number of asthma patients at the hospital. Many asthmatics were taken away from the stress of their home lives, with their parents and doctors that had little knowledge of the disease, and admitting them to these asthma and research centers. (2, page 29)

During the 1960s various discoveries, such as the IgE antibody and cortisone, allowed for better methods of treating asthmatics. Although cortisone worked to trmeat asthma, there were some pretty significant side effects to taking it long term. So this brought about the corticosteroid inhaler, although the fear of side effects prevented physicians from using it as a daily preventative medicine. This fear persisted until the 1980s when studies proved the benefits far outweighed the side effects.

When I was a child in the 1970s with asthma my physicians treated me only when I was symptomatic with rescue medicine like Alupent solution via a nebulizer or epinephrine or susphrine, both when I was admitted to the emergency room. I have discharge papers telling me to use my inhaled corticosteroid inhaler (Vanceril) only until I felt better, and then to only use it when I was having trouble.

But this was the normal accepted means of treating asthmatics back then, so it wasn't that my doctors were not good doctors. Yet the physicians at hospitals like National Jewish were participating in the research, and were privy to the latest techniques in treating the disease. And it's for this reason kids like me with "high risk" asthma were being admitted for long-term treatment, control, and education to hospitals like National Asthma Center/ National Jewish Hospital.

So as the medical needs of society changed through the years, so to did the name of the hospital.  
  • 1899 — National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives
  • 1925 — National Jewish Hospital at Denver
  • 1965 — National Jewish Hospital and Research Center
  • 1978 — National Jewish Hospital / National Asthma Center
  • 1985 — National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine
  • 1997 — National Jewish Medical and Research Center
  • 2008 — National Jewish Health
was a patient of the hospital in 1985, and was there when the name was changed. That was also the year the address was changed from Kolfax Avenue to Jackson Street. I think the main reason for the name change at that time was to show that the hospital wasn't just for asthma and COPD patients.

In 1990 it was proven that inhaled corticosteroids were safe for asthmatics, or at least the benefits outweighed the side effects. It was also proven that all asthmatics have a certain degree of inflammation always in their lungs. This proved that asthma was a chronic disease that should be treated on a daily basis to prevent symptoms, as opposed to treating only acute symptoms.

By 1997 the children's wards that I lived in were closed mainly because asthma had run its course. Surely there still exists the disease, although back in 1985 regional doctors weren't privy to the latest asthma treatment and the physicians at National Jewish were.

Today, however, partially thanks to the various asthma guidelines, and even while asthma rates continue to rise, asthma is much easier to control. Part of the reason is better medicine, but another reason is the efforts of National Jewish Health physicians making an effort to better educate regional physicians.

Today, under the name National Jewish Health, the hospital's doors are still open. I would imagine COPD patients are still treated on the 2nd or 3rd floors of the Goodman Building as they were back in 1985. Yet asthmatics are no longer living there.

Floors like 7-Goodman, where I stayed for three months, and 2-May, where I stayed for 3 months, and 8 Goodman, where younger kids stayed, are now closed. Replacing this type of long term treatment are very effective outpatient programs.

Why did the hospital wards end? Well, I would imagine homesickness and dealing with teenage boys was a major problem. Yet I think another main reason was that physicians at National Jewish Health, along with other asthma experts, made a major initiative to educate regional doctors to focus on asthma control and prevention, as opposed to simply treating acute symptoms.

Another major reason for the change was the initiative to create asthma guidelines in the late 1990s. These guidelines are created by the worlds most prolific asthma physicians and experts. The goal is to provide a guide for asthmatics all over the world, and the physicians treating them.

So the need to use a hospital like National Jewish Health has greatly diminished for both the tuberculosis and asthmatic patient. However, both those diseases are still present, asthma more so than tuberculosis.

And, when needed, the hospital is still around, and still looking for better ways of treating, and, perhaps more important, curing these disease. Plus, when needed, hospitals like National Jewish provide a way to help hardluck asthmatics gain better control of their disease, so that they can live life more like a normal person.  (3)

References:
  1. Dobozin, Bruce S, Stuart H. Young, "Allergies: The complete Guide to Diagnosis, Treatment, and Daily Management," 2011
  2. Bjorklund, Ruth, "Asthma," 2005, China, Marshall Cavendish Corporation0
  3. In 2008 I interviewed the Public Relations Representative for National Jewish Health and she provided me with an interview where I obtained up to date information about the NJH children's asthma program.  

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

1200-1600: Asthma in ancient Korea

If you were an asthmatic living in Ancient Korea you would have had to wait until the 13th century before you had any options available to you other than folk medicine handed down by word of mouth.  

Folk medicine was basic philosophies and treatments of various disease processes handed down from generation to generation to anyone interested in learning them. Remedies usually consisted of simple things such as concocting herbal remedies, applying ointments, drinking teas, or soothing massages.  

It was around the 12th and 13th centuries when medical philosophies of Traditional Chinese Medicine started to influence Korean physicians, which were recorded in various Chinese texts.  

It was in 1236 that all the folk medicine of the day was compiled into one treaties called "Hyang-yak kugup  pang" or "Emergency Remedies of Folk Medicine."  It's the oldest medical texts written by a Korean. (1, page 171)

At about the same time several other such treaties were compiled, including "Samhwaja hyangyak pang," or "Folk Remedies of Samhwaja."This was mainly a diagnostic guide.  (1, page 171)

All the medical wisdom from these books were compiled in 1433 into "Hyangyak chipsong pang," or "Compilations of Native Korean Prescriptions."  (1, page 171)

Two centuries later, in 1610,  Korean philosopher Ho Chun compiled all the medical wisdom up to his time in "Tongui pogam," or "Exemplar of Korean Medicine."  (2, page 43)

Korean physicians believed asthma-like symptoms or coughing were caused by excessive eating, fear and shock.  While folk medicine was the original treatment for any ailment, various remedies from Chinese medical texts worked their way into Korean medicine. (2, page 43)

While Traditional Chinese Medicine influenced Korean medicine, Korean texts were likewise respected in China.  It would not be until the 18th century that Eastern and Western civilizations shared medical wisdom.  
  1. Lee, Ki-baik, "A New History of Korea," 1984, Korea, page 171
  2. Lee, ibid, page 171
  3. Lee, ibid, page 171
  4. Jackson, Mark, "Asthma: The Biography," 2006, New York, page 43
  5. Jackson, ibid, page page 43
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Monday, October 5, 2015

1200: John Gaddesden describes asthma prognosis

John Gaddesden (1280-1361) was perhaps the most popular of the Medieval physicians.  He was an Englishman who obtained his medical education at the university at Montpelier in France sometime around 1200 A.D.  John Forbes said the he gave us our most accurate description of the prognosis of asthma when he said: (1, page 111)(2, page 196)

Et primo sciendum est, asthma in senibus non recipere curationem, nee in alia eetate nisi difficulter, maxime si sit antiquum. (2, page 196)
While we have to question the accuracy here, I allowed these words to be translated by Google Translate.
In the first place it must be known, not to receive the treatment of asthma in the elderly, nor in any other age except a very difficult task, especially if it is old. 
Bradford said he became the first Englishman to become physician in ordinary to the king, was professor at Merten College, and wrote a book called "Rosa Anglica" that, as noted by Bradford, "professed to embrace the whole practice of medicine; this was taken mostly from the Arabians, but with some original additions." (1, page 111)

While he probably used many ancient Greek and Arabic herbal remedies in the treatment of disease, he also was known to use "mystical remedies" and "superstition," said Bradford.  (1, page 111)

References:
  1. Bradford, Thomas Lindsley, writer, Robert Ray Roth, editor, “Quiz questions on the history of medicine from the lectures of Thomas Lindley Bradford M.D.,” 1898, Philadelphia, Hohn Joseph McVey
  2. Forbes, John, "Encyclopedia of Practical Medicine," volume I, 1832, London, Paternoster-Row
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Friday, October 2, 2015

1138 -1204 A.D.: Maimonides writes asthma book

Maimonides (1138-1204 A.D.)
While few may know this, the Muslums may be credited as saving ancient Greek and Roman medical theories for modern times. This is because while the Western world was engulfed in the dark ages, the Eastern world was full of rising societies.

Europeans were so busy feuding amongst themselves and destroying towns and libraries, the Muslims were growing a society in Arabia and Spain.  In essence, through their travels, the Muslums brought Greek and Roman medical wisdom to Spain.

Maimonides, born Abu Imran Musa ibn Maimun, was not a Muslim but a Jew who lived from about 1138 to 1204 AD. He was among the most famous writers, physicians and philosophers of his day.

He was born in Muslim controlled Cordova, Spain, and learned from his father, who was a Jewish teacher and Rabbi.  His mother died in childbirth, and so he was raised by his father.  Little is known of his childhood, although, as Fred Rosner notes in his book "The medical legacy of Moses Maimonides."

However, Rosner said it is expected he was an avid reader "since his medical writings show a profound knowledge of ancient Greek authors in Arabic translation and of Moslem medical works.  Hippocrates, Galen, and Aristotle were some of his Greek medical inspirations, and Rhaze's of Persia, al-Farabi, and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), the Spanish-Arabic physicians, are Moslem authors frequently quoted by Maimonides." (1, page 4)

He was born during an ideal time during the crusades where Christians traveled to the Holy land to free the city of Jerusalem from the Muslims, who captured the Holy lands from the Bryzantines in 638 A.D.

In order to avoid religious persecution in Spain, Maimonide's family fled Spain and ended up in Fez, Morocco, said Barry Brenner.  Here, "he devoted himself to the study of medicine and Judaism."  The family then moved to Egypt, and it was here where Maimonide's career in medicine took off.  (3, page 4)

However, Rosner said, Maimonides turned to medicine only after the death of his father and brother in 1166.  Having the responsibility of caring for his brother's wife and child.  He was sick for a year, and then turned to medicine. (1, page 4)

Rosner said:
He was appointed court physician to Vizier al-Fadil, regent of Egypt during the absence of the sultan, Saladin the Great, who was fighting in the Crusades, is reported to have invited Maimonides to become his personal physician, an offer which Maimonides declined. His reputation as a physician grew in Egypt and neighboring countries, and his fame as a theologian and philosopher grew worldwide. (1, page 4)
So he became physician to Saladin and his son, the prince al-Afdal Nur al-Din Ali.  When Saladin died and his son succeeded him, Maimonides had an easier time studying medicine.  (1, pages 4-5)(3, page 4)

He became a "prolific writer."  However, despite all his writings, he left very little along the lines of opinions about everyday life, so we know little about his life and personality. (1, page 6) (2, page 3)

Rosner said he often cited the following parable:
A patient who puts his life in the hands of a physician who has practical experience but lacks scientific training is like a mariner who places his trust in good luck, relying on the sea winds, which sometimes blow in the direction he desires but sometimes spell his doom. (1, page 27)
Rosner said that by this parable he was "obviously cautioning against consultation with and treatment by quacks." (1, page 27)

Maimonide's wrote a lot during his lifetime, and most of his books were written to someone who requested some type of medical advice.  For example, in the last 14 years of his life he was asked by the Prince to provide some advice on how to live with his asthma.  Maimonide wrote to him that asthma was usually started with a cold and advanced to shortness of breath.

Maimonides ended up writing his "Treaties on Asthma," where he recommended against trying any magical cures for any ailments, and any such remedies should treat the cause as opposed to just the symptoms.  Treatment should also be based on age of the patient and the season, as the disease might be seasonal. (3, page 4)

He wrote that ultimately during the course of (an asthma attack) the patient later gasped for air and coughed up a wad of phlegm.

Rosner said Maimonides might have been the first to describe psychosomatic medicine when he wrote how a patient who is "mentally agitated" causes his physical well-being to suffer and eventually he becomes physically ill. (1, page 25)

Rosner sad that Maimonaides also adds that...
...gaiety and joy gladden the heart, and stimulate the blood and mental activity.  Excessive indulgence in the pursuit of pleasure, however, is injurious to one's health.  The avoidance of illness induced by such excesses is by conducting oneself according to ethical and moral principles. (1, page 25-26)
Maimonides said asthma usually starts as a cold during the rainy season. He also might have been the first to describe how city air pollution may cause asthma.  He said:
"Town air is stagnant, turbid, and thick; it is the natural result of its big buildings, narrow streets, and garbage... Air winds carry stealthily inside the houses and many become ill with asthma without noticing it. Concern for clean air is a foremost rule in preserving the health of one's body and soul." (1, page 28)
As remedies, he recommended the inhalation of many herbs.  He may also have been the first to recommend chicken noodle soup as a cure for breathing trouble, as it assists in the expectoration of phlegm (1, page 27-28).

Some of his basic remedies included: (1, pages 24-28)
  • Clean air
  • Healthy eating (he recommends eating certain foods and avoiding others)
  • Healthy drinking
  • Controlling emotion (was this an early reference to psychosomatic asthma?)
  • Exercise
  • Rest
  • Excretion
  • Retention of wastes
  • Bathing
  • Massaging
  • Avoid gas producing foods (causes bloating)
  • Chicken soup (acute asthma only and only if patient is afebrile)
  • Moderate exercise prior to eating
  • No exercise right after a meal
  • Dry months
  • Small quantities of wine
  • Enemas to cleanse the bowels (induce bowel movement and to drain thick juices)
  • Aromic herbs (to fortify the brain and dry out any humidity therin)
  • Emetics to cleanse the stomach (cause vomiting)
  • Sleeping after bathing is good, yet bath water should be warm and contain salt
  • Various compound remedies (1, pages 24-28)
  • Travel to dry regions 
For severe cases of asthma, he recommended: (1, pages 27-28)
  • Emetic should be used 
  • The patient should sleep as little as possible, and in a sitting position.
  • Excessive exercise and strenuous physical exercise should be avoided 
  • Opiates should be used in severe cases only (1, pages 27-28)
He advises against the following common "excessive" remedies from other physicians because they "involve strenuous physical and emotional exercise.": (1, page 24)
  • Sexual intercourse
  • Blood letting
  • Hot baths
  • Urine stimulation (such as diuretics)
  • Purgation (never on healthy people because it doesn't preserve health)
  • Sleeping immediately after meals is harmful
  • Washing with cold water after meals is harmful
  • Excessive bathing during acute attacks (due to wet climate created)
  • Opiates (except in severe cases (1, page 24, 27-28)
Possible triggers:
  • Wet seasons
  • Excessive drinking
  • Pollution (1)
He told the prince he would reference Galen and Hippocrates often.  However, he later wrote that Galen observed Hippocrates to be wrong in many areas of his writings.  But instead of saying, "Hippocrates was wrong," he would cover for Hippocrates, even to the point of changing Hippocrate's meaning, or crediting the error to other writers and not Hippocrates himself. (1, pages 75-77)

As a side note here, while Maimonides' did write a treaties on asthma, and while he did write it to the Prince, modern experts are not sure whether the disease he wrote about was actually asthma as it is defined today, or some other malady with asthma-like symptoms.

Rosner said Maimonides died on December 13, 1204, cremated, and "legend relates that Maimonide's body was placed upon a donkey and the animal set loose.The donkey wandered and wandered and finally stopped in Tiberias.  That was the site where the great Maimonides was buried." (1, page 5)

References:
  1. Rosner, Fred, "The medical legacy of Moses Maimonides," Chapter 2, "A Treaties on Asthma,"   page 13
  2. Yellin, David, "Maimonides," IsraĆ«l Abrahams, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1903, page 3
  3. Brenner, Barry E, editor, "Emergency Asthma," 1998, New York, page 13
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