Gerocomy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gerokomie (of gr. Dt. , Elderly care ', Engl. Gerocomy ) was from the 2nd century AD to the middle of the 18th century, a branch of medicine.

description

The Greek doctor Galenus von Pergamon coined the term gerokomie (also gerontokomia or gerokomikon ; "care for the elderly") in the 2nd century . He made it a branch of medicine, which was supposed to alleviate the signs of aging - at the time according to humoral pathological principles. As a teaching she dealt mainly with the age-physiological conditions and the lifestyle adapted to it, mainly dietetics . Added to this were the etiology and physiology of aging as well as therapeutic approaches. Galenus viewed the aging associated with old age as a lack of perfection, but not a disease . In 1594 a gerontological work was published by the French anatomist, university professor and court doctor André du Laurens, dedicated to the Duchess of Uzès, which contains advice on healthy aging and has more than 20th editions. From 1620, gerocomy was also taught at universities. 0.5 to 1% of the medical publications written in Latin at universities dealt with gerocomy. Gerocomy was later replaced by gerontology ( geriatric and aging science) and geriatrics ( geriatric medicine).

literature

  • John Floyer : Medicina gerocomica, or the Galenic art of preserving old men's health. London 1724.
  • Daniel Schäfer : Gerocomies - a forgotten specialist literature of the early modern era. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 20, 2001, pp. 7-17.
  • D. Schäfer: That senescense itself is an illness ... Concepts of Age and Aging in Perspective. In: Medical History. Volume 46, 2002, pp. 525-548.
  • JT Freeman: The sociologic aspects of aging: gerocomy. In: The West Virginia medical journal. Volume 50, No. 3, (March) 1954, ISSN  0043-3284 PMID 13136983 , pp. 73-76.
  • JT Freeman: Aging, its history and literature. Human Sciences Press, 1979, ISBN 0-87705-251-4 , pp. 9-16.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniel Schäfer: Long-lasting examples. Reflections on the function and design of historical examples for old age in the dietary literature of the early modern period. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 22, 2003, pp. 188-203, here: pp. 190 f.
  2. ↑ Denny Wöhler: Age (s) in the Roman Empire. In: The uncertain old age? Age (s) and images of old age from the perspective of (in) security in historical and cultural comparison. Edited by Helga Pelizäus-Hoffmeister, Springer, Wiesbaden 2014, pp. 73–85; here: p. 76
  3. ^ André du Laurens: Discours de la conservation de la vue; des maladies mélancholiques; des catarrhes; et de la vieilesse. Paris 1594.
  4. ↑ Barbara I. Tshisuaka: Laurens, André du. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Encyclopedia of medical history. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 829.
  5. ^ Daniel Schäfer, Ferdinand Peter Moog: Gerokomie - Gerontologie - Geriatrie. History of geriatric medicine as reflected in its names. In: Dtsch Med Wochenschr. Volume 130, 2005, pp. 2719-2722. doi : 10.1055 / s-2005-922062