Jirsa Franz, Winiwarter Verena
Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Universität Wien, Wien, Österreich.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2010 Oct;122 Suppl 3:14-8. doi: 10.1007/s00508-010-1433-y.
Galen was undoubtedly one of the most important physicians in antiquity. He left a voluminous work which was edited by numerous scholars. The most capacious edition was done by Karl Gottlob Kühn between 1821 and 1833, which is, besides other more recent editions, the major source for this work. Galen deals in his works with all aspects of medicine and with philosophy. The texts on intestinal helminths are spread over the whole works of Galen and give a deep insight of the understanding of parasitic diseases due to intestinal helminths in Antiquity. Intestinal helminths "vermes intestinales" are also subsumed as "lumbrici" of which three species are distinguished: "lati", "teretes" and "ascarides". Galen inherits the descriptions of these worms from the Corpus Hippocraticum and even indicates this once. Well defined amongst the "teretes" or "lumbrici rotundi" appears to be the roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides of today. Less clear are the descriptions of the other "smaller worms", so-called "ascarides". Due to the described symptoms it is possible to identify the threadworm Enterobius vermicularis "that infests mainly children". If Galen distinguished other "small" worm species could not be clarified from this text. The third "species" "Lumbrici lati", today's tape worms, are described separately and also the hunger they cause is mentioned. With his model of explanation for the genesis of the worms Galen combines medicine, philosophy and the Doctrine of the Four Humours which was valid at his time: intestinal worms originate from "putridity and warmth" and therefore stand opposite the life forms that evolve from semen. In addition to the descriptions of the parasites Galen gives advice how and by which means parasites can be fought. Their successful expulsion can be achieved using substances that have the properties "cool" and/or "dry" following the Doctrine of the Four Humours. Some of the medicines described are still used as drugs in our society amongst others: mint, cardamom or myrrh.
盖伦无疑是古代最重要的医生之一。他留下了大量著作，众多学者对其进行了编辑。最全面的版本是卡尔·戈特洛布·屈恩在1821年至1833年间完成的，除了其他更新的版本外，这也是本文的主要资料来源。盖伦在其著作中探讨了医学和哲学的各个方面。关于肠道蠕虫的文本散布在盖伦的全部著作中，深刻展现了古代对肠道蠕虫所致寄生虫病的理解。肠道蠕虫“vermes intestinales”也被归入“lumbrici”，其中区分出三种：“lati”、“teretes”和“ascarides”。盖伦从《希波克拉底文集》继承了对这些蠕虫的描述，甚至还提及过一次。在“teretes”或“lumbrici rotundi”中，如今明确的似乎是蛔虫（Ascaris lumbricoides）。对其他“较小蠕虫”，即所谓“ascarides”的描述则不太清晰。根据所描述的症状，可以识别出主要感染儿童的蛲虫（Enterobius vermicularis）。从这段文本中无法明确盖伦是否区分出了其他“小”蠕虫种类。第三种“种类”“Lumbrici lati”，即如今的绦虫，有单独描述，还提到了它们引发的饥饿感。盖伦用他对蠕虫起源的解释模型，将医学、哲学与当时有效的四体液学说结合起来：肠道蠕虫源自“腐烂和温暖”，因此与由精液发育而来的生命形式相对。除了对寄生虫的描述，盖伦还给出了如何以及用何种方法对抗寄生虫的建议。根据四体液学说，使用具有“凉”和/或“干”特性的物质可以成功排出寄生虫。他所描述的一些药物如今在我们的社会中仍作为药物使用，其中包括薄荷、豆蔻或没药。
