Biomedical subjects

N T Economou

Publications and source records attributed to N T Economou.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

The Byzantine physicians on epilepsy.

The aim of this study is to present epilepsy according to the most famous and representative Byzantine physicians throughout the whole period of the Byzantine empire. Mainly Byzantine medical texts were used as sources. The Byzantine physicians considered epilepsy to be a serious medical problem and followed the Hippocratic tradition as far as the etiology of this disease is concerned. Their pathophysiological theories of epilepsy identified the brain as the site of the problem, but, based on the Hippocratic humoral theory, emphasized causes such as an excess of humors or insufficient circulation of phlegm in the brain. It is surprising to note the accuracy of the details they provide regarding the clinical description of the disease, especially the seizures; many of these are still accepted today. It is also surprising that there was a concurrent opinion during all this medieval period that epilepsy was strictly an organic disease of the brain and the demonic origin of it a prejudice of uneducated people.

Byzantium↗

PubMed2004

Restless legs syndrome and pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To perform a large and detailed epidemiologic study on restless legs syndrome (RLS) during pregnancy and the puerperium. METHODS: A structured clinical interview, assessing symptoms since the beginning of pregnancy, was performed to a population of 642 pregnant women at the time of delivery and at follow-up evaluation (1, 3, and 6 months after delivery). Main hematologic tests were also evaluated. A woman was considered affected if she met the International RLS Study Group criteria for RLS diagnosis. RESULTS: Twenty-six percent of women were affected by RLS during their pregnancy. The disease was strongly related to the third trimester of pregnancy and tended to disappear reaching the time of delivery. Affected women presented lower values of hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume compared with healthy subjects (both groups received the same supplemental iron and folate therapy). CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy is associated with transient restless legs syndrome.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Theories and cures of the rheumatic diseases during the byzantine period (330-1453 a.D.)].

Most Byzantine medical texts described the rheumatic diseases. The Byzantine physicians, based on the ancient Greek texts, explained the causes of rheumatic diseases, described their symptoms and proposed certain treatments. The Byzantine medical sources described various types of rheumatic diseases, as inflammatory arthritis, chronic deformans polyarthritis, and gout. As it can be concluded by the available medical sources, during the Byzantine period rheumatic diseases constituted a serious medical and social problem, representing a remarkable cause of disability, and this complaint was part of the epidemiological interest of the Byzantine physicians.

Arthritis, Gouty↗