迈克尔四世皇帝（帕夫拉戈尼亚人，公元1034年 - 1041年）的癫痫症：拜占庭历史学家和医生的记载 - Suppr

Lascaratos J, Zis P V

Department of History of Medicine, Medical School, National Athens University, Athens, Greece.

Epilepsia. 2000 Jul;41(7):913-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1157.2000.tb00264.x.

PURPOSE

Presentation of epilepsy suffered by Byzantine Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagon (who reigned from 1034 to 1041 A.D.) and the attitude of his contemporary society to his disorder.

METHODS

Research into the accounts of Byzantine historians and chroniclers referring to the case of the emperor and Byzantine medical texts revealing the opinion of official medicine about the disorder.

RESULTS

Byzantine historians and chroniclers provide detailed clinical descriptions of the seizures of Emperor Michael IV. Nearly all, expressing popular opinion, considered his disease to be demonic possession that constituted a form of divine punishment for the emperor's adultery and act of murder; his royal entourage continually attempted euphemistically to present this condition as a psychic disease. On the contrary, research into Byzantine medical texts reveals that the physicians, already from the 4th century, following Hippocratic tradition, believed that epilepsy was primarily a brain-related disorder and based their treatment on this etiological principle.

CONCLUSIONS

From the study of the Byzantine histories and chronicles, it can be deduced that Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagon, suffered from generalized tonic-clonic epileptic seizures. Despite the concept then held by well-educated Byzantine doctors, who considered epilepsy a brain disorder, information indicates the deep prejudices of his social environment.

目的

介绍拜占庭皇帝米海尔四世·帕夫拉戈尼亚（公元1034年至1041年在位）所患的癫痫以及他所处时代的社会对其病症的态度。

方法

研究拜占庭历史学家和编年史家关于该皇帝病例的记载，以及拜占庭医学文献中官方医学对该病症的看法。

结果

拜占庭历史学家和编年史家对米海尔四世皇帝的癫痫发作进行了详细的临床描述。几乎所有人都表达了大众观点，认为他的病是被恶魔附身，这是对皇帝通奸和谋杀行为的一种神罚形式；他的皇室随从不断委婉地试图将这种情况描述为一种精神疾病。相反，对拜占庭医学文献的研究表明，从4世纪起，医生们遵循希波克拉底传统，认为癫痫主要是一种与大脑相关的疾病，并基于这一病因原则进行治疗。