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Biomedical subjects

S Marketos

Publications and source records attributed to S Marketos.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Obesity in byzantine and in modern era from a public health perspective.

Obesity is one of today's most serious and amplified public health problems. Surprisingly, obesity constituted a health problem through the Byzantine Empire (3rd to 15th century AD) as well; the extent of the problem was then very much alike to that one seen in modem industrialized and developing countries of today. In this report we perform an historical throwback in Byzantine years in order to explore the link regarding the aspects of obesity in these years and in modem era.

Feeding Behavior↗
PubMed1999

The Conners-28 teacher questionnaire in clinical and nonclinical samples of Greek children 6-12 years old.

It is accepted practice in child psychiatry to use more than one source of information in assessing behavioural problems in children and adolescents. Employing standardized tools for these assessments allows cross-cultural comparisons and better interchange of the findings. Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher's Report Form (TRF) are two widely accepted instruments that were standardized in Greece within the framework of the European Network for the Study of Hyperkinetic Disorder. We studied the Conners-28 teacher questionnaire in a Greek community sample of primary schoolchildren aged 6-12 years. The factor structure showed to be similar to that originally reported from the USA. Discrimination between the referred and nonreferred sample was high, especially for the Inattentive-passive scale. Conners-28 scores were highly correlated with the TRF (scored by the same informant), much less so with the CBCL (scored by a different informant). Our study demonstrates the usefulness and applicability of the Conners-28 item questionnaire.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Abandonment of terminally ill patients in the Byzantine era. An ancient tradition?

Our research on the texts of the Byzantine historians and chroniclers revealed an apparently curious phenomenon, namely, the abandonment of terminally ill emperors by their physicians when the latter realised that they could not offer any further treatment. This attitude tallies with the mentality of the ancient Greek physicians, who even in Hippocratic times thought the treatment and care of the terminally ill to be a challenge to nature and hubris to the gods. Nevertheless, it is a very curious attitude in the light of the concepts of the Christian Byzantine physicians who, according to the doctrines of the Christian religion, should have been imbued with the spirit of philanthropy and love for their fellowmen. The meticulous analysis of three examples of abandonment of Byzantine emperors, and especially that of Alexius I Comnenus, by their physicians reveals that this custom, following ancient pagan ethics, in those times took on a ritualised form without any significant or real content.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1999

Intestinal obstruction: a paradigm of earlier influences on the medicine of late Byzantium.

The study and analysis of aetiology, symptomatology and treatment of intestinal obstruction, based on the texts of Byzantine physicians from the early until the late epoch, prove that the way in which this illness is conceived is substantially unchanged throughout this period. The texts of Byzantine historians and chroniclers present three fatal instances of this disease (ileus or chordapsus, according to the terminology of Byzantine medicine). These are the cases of the Emperor Tiberius I Constantine (578-582), Patriarch Anastasius (730-754) and Empress Theodora (1042 and 1055-1056); the causes of their death remained unknown in the broader medical and historical bibliography. Intestinal obstruction is one of the diseases which probably supported earlier researchers in their opinion of a substantially 'static condition' of Byzantine medicine.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1997

Unknown ancient Greek ophthalmological instruments and equipment.

Discoveries of some ancient medical instruments and equipment found in the Hellenic world have been published in magazines of general interest and in a rare Greek medical journal, yet none caught the attention of ophthalmologists. Among these instruments are two forms of the famous 'Kenteterion', dating from the Hellenistic period, used for the couching of cataract. These were found on the island of Milos in the last century. Two magnifying lenses of the Archaic period from the recent Cretan excavations gave us the opportunity to discuss the problem of their medical use. The two drop-bottles from the excavations on Cyprus and at Tanagra, which are also described, seem to be of medical, and possible ophthalmological, use.

Greece, Ancient↗
PubMed1997

The fatal disease of the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341 AD).

The Byzantine Emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus (1328-1341 AD) died at age 45 from a disease the nature of which is unknown. However, light is thrown on this by the texts of the Byzantine historians John Cantacuzenus (who became Emperor under the name of John VI) and Nicephorus Gregoras, both of whom belonged to the immediate entourage of the Emperor. From their descriptions of the symptoms it appears that Andronicus suffered from malaria for 20 years (1321-1341). The coma that preceded the Emperor's death was probably a cerebral manifestation of chronic malaria.

Byzantium↗
PubMed1997

The survival of the ritualistic over the 'scientific' element of hydrotherapy in Greece.

In this paper we present some elements of the history of 'scientific' psychiatric hydrotherapy and, moreover, of a particular form of the water-purifying ritual--that is, foot washing--among the populations living in Greece and in Orthodox communities in the Balkans. We speculate on the reasons that caused the virtual disappearance of the former, while the latter still flourishes.

Greece↗
PubMed1995

[Bladder surgery and the Hippocratic oath].

Referring to the famous prohibition "I will not cut persons laboring under the stone but will leave this to be done by practitioners of this work", which appears in the hippocratic oath, the authors attempt an explanation of the real meaning of this phrase. They come to the conclusion that through this prohibition Hippocrates favoured the birth of urology, protecting his students from the danger of professional defamation.

Ethics, Medical↗
PubMed1994

Didymus the blind: an unknown precursor of Louis Braille and Helen Keller.

The present study presents the case of Didymus the Blind, worthy author, philosopher and theologian of the 4th century AD. Blinded by ophthalmia at the age of four years, Didymus succeeded in achieving great learning in the philosophical and natural sciences. He began his education by using a system which was remarkably like Braille, that is reading letters engraved into the surface of wood by touch and subsequently furthering his knowledge by listening. This learning process of Didymus the Blind appears as the precursor of Louis Braille who invented the educational system of reading embossed dots by touch. Like Didymus, Braille lost his vision in infancy (at three years of age). Another parallel of Didymus' career and written works is found in the example and achievements of Helen Keller.

Blindness↗
PubMed1994

[Sexuality in Ancient Egypt].

The present article explores the sexuality in ancient Egypt. In particular in this article are presented the ways of concubinage (marriage, concubinage, adultery), the incest, loves of the pharaohs and of the common people, the freedom of choice in garments, the status of the hetairas and of the whores, the sexual perversions (male and female homosexuality, necrophilia, sodomism, bestiality, rape, masturbation, exhibitionism), the operations of the genitals (circumcision, excision, castration) and finally the level of knowledge in gynaecology, fertility, contraception and obstetrics that even today demands our admiration.

Castration↗