From the Clinic of Nephrology, University Hospital of Larissa, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece.
Exp Clin Transplant. 2023 Jun;21(Suppl 2):53-56. doi: 10.6002/ect.IAHNCongress.13.
Hildegard von Bingen (Hildegardis Bingensis; Saint Hildegard), the Sibyl of the Rhine (AD 1098-1179), was a Benedictine abbess, musician, poet, writer, counselor, and healer. As an influential personality of the 12th century, she was advisor of kings, princes, and bishops. Her medical work is collected in 2 books (AD 1152-1163): Physica and Causae et Curae. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of the nephrology-oriented remedies in Physica and compare these with the respective remedies in De Materia Medica (AD 1st century) by Dioscorides Pedanios Anazarbeus.
Physica is a collection of 9 volumes with an inventory of plants, trees, elements, stones, animals, and metals and describes the associated natural therapeutic properties. We studied all 293 plants (230 herbaceous plants, and 63 trees) in this treatise and recorded all nephrology-related remedies. In addition, we recorded the treatment indications of the same remedies in De Materia Medica. Nephrology-oriented material was defined as any item with nephrology-related pharmacological action (diuretic) or indication (eg, dysuria, nephritis, stones, sand, dropsy). Our findings are presented as simple descriptive statistics.
Among all plants, there were 15 (5.1%) of nephrological interest (11 herbaceous plants and 4 trees). Only some of the natural ingredients mentioned in Physica were found with the same indication in the ancient text, De Materia Medica (9 of 15). The nephrological treatment indications described in Physica included dysuria, nephritic pain, and lithiasis in 87% and dropsy (edema) in 13.0%, which is comparable with 10% in De Materia Medica.
Physica provides a reliable account of medicine in the 12th century as it was practiced by the clergy for generations. It also incorporates Hildegard's personal observations and contemporary folk remedies. This fact is supported by the limited similarity of nephrological remedies in Hildegard's Physica with the respective remedies in De Materia Medica.
希尔德加德·冯·宾根（Hildegardis Bingensis；圣希尔德加德），莱茵河畔的女预言家（公元 1098-1179 年），是本笃会修女、音乐家、诗人、作家、顾问和治疗师。作为 12 世纪的一位有影响力的人物，她曾担任过国王、王子和主教的顾问。她的医学著作收录在 2 本书中（公元 1152-1163 年）：《物理学》和《病因与疗法》。我们旨在研究《物理学》中肾脏病导向疗法的特点，并将这些特点与 Dioscorides Pedanios Anazarbeus 的《药物学》（公元 1 世纪）中的相应疗法进行比较。
《物理学》是一部由 9 卷组成的著作，其中包含了植物、树木、元素、石头、动物和金属的清单，并描述了相关的自然治疗特性。我们研究了该论文中的所有 293 种植物（230 种草本植物和 63 种树木），并记录了所有与肾脏病相关的疗法。此外，我们还记录了《药物学》中相同疗法的治疗适应症。肾脏病导向材料被定义为具有肾脏病相关药理作用（利尿）或适应症（如排尿困难、肾炎、结石、沙、水肿）的任何项目。我们的发现以简单的描述性统计数据呈现。
在所有植物中，有 15 种（5.1%）具有肾脏病学意义（11 种草本植物和 4 种树木）。只有《物理学》中提到的一些天然成分在古代文献《药物学》中具有相同的适应症（15 种中的 9 种）。《物理学》中描述的肾脏病治疗适应症包括排尿困难、肾炎疼痛和结石，占 87%，水肿（水肿）占 13.0%，与《药物学》中的 10%相当。
《物理学》提供了 12 世纪教会几代人实践医学的可靠记录，其中还包含了希尔德加德的个人观察和当代民间疗法。这一事实得到了希尔德加德《物理学》中肾脏病疗法与《药物学》中相应疗法之间有限相似性的支持。
