Phthisiatry
Encyclopedia
Phthisiatry is the study of tuberculosis
. The term is used primarily in Eastern European and Russian science.
It dates back to The Canon of Medicine
written by Ibn Sina
(Avicenna) in the 1020s. He was the first physician to identify pulmonary tuberculosis as a contagious disease
, the first to recognise the association with diabetes, and the first to suggest that it could spread through contact with soil
and water
. He developed the method of quarantine
in order to limit the spread of tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. The term is used primarily in Eastern European and Russian science.
It dates back to The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine
The Canon of Medicine is an encyclopedia of Galenic medicine in five books compiled by Ibn Sīnā and completed in 1025. It presents a clear and organized summary of all the medical knowledge of the time...
written by Ibn Sina
Avicenna
Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
(Avicenna) in the 1020s. He was the first physician to identify pulmonary tuberculosis as a contagious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
, the first to recognise the association with diabetes, and the first to suggest that it could spread through contact with soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
and water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. He developed the method of quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
in order to limit the spread of tuberculosis.
Notable phthisiatrists
- Ibn SinaAvicennaAbū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
(980-1037) - Alfred SokołowskiAlfred SokołowskiAlfred Marcin Sokołowski was a Polish pulmonologist and professor of the University of Warsaw. He specialised in the field of Phthisiatry and he was one of the pioneers of modern treatment to diseases of the respiratory system.In 1908 founded the Towarzystwo Przeciwgruźlicze...
(1849 -1924) - Ioseb AbakeliaIoseb AbakeliaIoseb Abakelia was a pioneering Georgian physician and medical scholar, specializing in the field of phthisiatry .-Biography:...
(1882-1938)