Galen Meaning: Physician, Surgeon and Philosopher

Galen was born in September 129 CE in Pergamum, a bustling and vibrant city during those times. The city was particularly famous for its statue of Asclepius. Galen’s father, Nicon, was a prosperous and affluent architect. Galen’s education was divided into a host of different subjects directed by his father. Galen studied subjects such as mathematics, English grammar, logic and philosophy, which included research on the four major schools of that time-  The Platonists, The Peripatetics, The Stoics, and The Epicureans. Galen started his study of medicine at the age of sixteen. Galen travelled to Smyrna and Corinth to study with both a rationalist and an Empiricist. Galen studied in Alexandria. He taught the physicians the aid of autopsy. Galen was later engaged in comparative anatomy by dissecting monkeys. Galen then returned to his hometown to become a surgeon for all the gladiators. Now let’s learn about Galen Contribution to medical science.

Galen Contribution to Medical Science

Galen contributed substantially to the Hippocratic understanding of Pathology. Under Hippocrates’ theory, the difference in human moods is caused by the imbalance in any of the four body fluids – blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Galen instituted the theory and the various types of human temperament, symbolical to sanguine for blood, black bile for melancholic, yellow bile for choleric, and Phlegm for Phlegmatic. Galen’s principal interest was human anatomy, but Roman law prevented dissections.

Due to the prohibitions, Galen performed anatomical dissections on living and dead animals, which mostly focused on pigs and primates. The work turned out to be useful because the anatomical structure of these animals closely mirrors those of humans. Galen understood the trachea’s complicated anatomy, highlighting that the larynx was the part of the anatomy that generated the voice. Galan understood the importance of artificial ventilation because, in his experiments, he used bellows to inflate the lungs of a dead animal. But Galen’s major contribution to medical science was his work on the circulatory system. He found the theory that venous blood was generated in the liver and later distributed and consumed in all body parts.

Galen’s anatomical experiments led him to completely understand the circulatory system, nervous system, respiratory system, and other structures. Galen was of the opinion that the circulatory system consisted of two separate one-way systems rather than a single unified circle of distribution. His theory was that venous blood was generated in the liver. He stated that the blood was either regenerated in the heart or the liver. He also believed in the occurrence of a group of blood vessels, which he termed the rete mirabile, located in the back of the human brain. These contributions are termed Galen facts. Galen explained the difference between the motor and the sensory nerves. He performed surgical experiments on patients.

Galen operated on patients’ eyes and brains, and to correct cataracts in certain patients, he performed an operation that was similar to contemporary ophthalmologists. Galen meaning has been termed “calm”, appropriately characterised for accurately and perfectly performing sensitive operations. Now, let’s learn about a few of Galen facts.

Facts Related to Galen

A few facts related to Galen are as follows:

• Galen was the personal physician to Rome’s Emperors. In 169 AD, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius asked Galen back from Pergamon to become his personal physician. Marcus Aurelius admired Galen for his work in medical science

• Galen was considered the master of medicine. He was a compiler, consolidator, and critic as well as a discoverer

• Galen’s 1500 years of domination in medicine. Galen moulded a medical doctrine that dominated medicine in Europe and Arab countries for 1500 years. Although some practitioners in Persia and Arab countries noticed some problems related to Galen’s work, nobody had the confidence or the required authority to overturn Galen’s principle in medical science

• Galen’s flawed anatomical research portrayed that although he used to treat wounded gladiators, dissections were banned in Rome so he used to experiment on apes and pigs, both living and dead

• Galen was so influential that his works and methods came to be known as Galenism. Galenism would require a long book to completely describe all the methods and works completely.

These were some of the facts about Galen. Galen died in 216 AD in Rome, leaving behind an enormous contribution to the field of medical science.

Conclusion

In this blog, we learned about Galen’s meaning, his contribution to medical science, and certain facts related to him. Still, some doubts may remain, and to solve them, here is a dedicated FAQ section to make the readers well-versed about Galen.