A medical report from the stone age?

Dorfer, Leopold; Moser, M.; Bahr, Frank R.; Spindler, Konrad; Egarter-Vigl, Eduard; Giullén, S; Dohr, Gottfried; Kenner, Thomas

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(98)12242-0

Cited by 123 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…6 An elaborate philosophical and medical system evolved, and needles were used to influence the flow of vital energy or 'Qi' via 'meridians' or 'channels' . Acupuncture is now used in medicine as a technique informed by neurophysiological principles following an orthodox diagnosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary medicine: evidence base, competence to practice and regulation

et al. 2003

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-This paper describes the current status and evidence base for acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal and manipulative medicine, as well as the regulatory framework within which these therapies are provided. It also explores the present role of the Royal College of Physicians' Subcommittee on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in relation to these developments. A number of CAM professions have encouraged the Royal College of Physicians Subcommittee to act as a reference point for their discussions with the conventional medical profession and the subcomittee believes that they are able to fulfil this function.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complementary medicine: evidence base, competence to practice and regulation

et al. 2003

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“…Perhaps the first tattoos were accidental, with the skin being pierced by a sharp burned stick coated with charcoal soot. 42 Ötzi, a 5,300-year-old mummy found frozen in the Ötztal Alps, had 39 tattoos, many located at acupuncture sites, and correlated with evidence of disease, such as arthritis, for which use of those acupuncture sites could have been beneficial. Other prehistoric frozen mummies from Siberia, Peru, and Chile have been discovered with decorative tattoos.…”

Section: Spiritual Aspects Of Skinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other prehistoric frozen mummies from Siberia, Peru, and Chile have been discovered with decorative tattoos. 42 The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian word "tatu" that means to mark something. In Tahitian mythology, one of the sons of the creator taught humans the art of tattooing.…”

Section: Spiritual Aspects Of Skinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual and religious aspects of skin and skin disorders

2015

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

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Psychology Research and Behavior Management DovepressAbstract: Skin and skin disorders have had spiritual aspects since ancient times. Skin, hair, and nails are visible to self and others, and touchable by self and others. The skin is a major sensory organ. Skin also expresses emotions detectable by others through pallor, coldness, "goose bumps", redness, warmth, or sweating. Spiritual and religious significances of skin are revealed through how much of the skin has been and continues to be covered with what types of coverings, scalp and beard hair cutting, shaving and styling, skin, nail, and hair coloring and decorating, tattooing, and intentional scarring of skin. Persons with visible skin disorders have often been stigmatized or even treated as outcasts. Shamans and other spiritual and religious healers have brought about healing of skin disorders through spiritual means. Spiritual and religious interactions with various skin disorders such as psoriasis, leprosy, and vitiligo are discussed. Religious aspects of skin and skin diseases are evaluated for several major religions, with a special focus on Judaism, both conventional and kabbalistic. Keywords: skin, skin disorders, spiritual, religious Spiritual and religious aspects of skin and skin disordersSkin and skin disorders have had spiritual and religious aspects since ancient times. The shamans who helped our ancestors to survive and who even today in many areas of the world help to treat skin disorders in part through spiritual means believed that negative spiritual effects could help produce illness and that positive spiritual effects could help alleviate illness. The shamans often employed trance-like states known as altered states of consciousness (ASC) to access the spiritual. There is much still to be learned from the time-tested shamanic approach to the spiritual through ASC. Spiritual effects on skin, skin disorders, and healing of skin disorders occur through mechanisms that medical science is just beginning to understand. Psychoneuroimmunology of the skin is elucidating how the mind can influence the skin and skin disorders.1 The modern Western approach to ASC through hypnosis can be used to produce significant improvement or resolution of many skin disorders.2 As Dr David Spiegel 3 has said, "It is not all mind over matter, but mind matters". Spirit, mind, emotions, and body are one holistic unit and each aspect influences skin, skin disorders, and healing. In this paper the focus will be on how spiritual experiences, often in ASC, and religious beliefs, rituals, and prayers can affect various aspects of skin and skin disorders. Several relevant topics will be discussed to help clarify how such spiritual and religious effects on skin and skin disorders can occur.

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“…However, this perhaps also meant that the focus of the autopsy was sometimes very mummy-centric, in that the autopsy, and subsequent histology, and radiography, was seen as a way to establish the personal medical history of the deceased person. In more recent times, as a result of new diagnostic techniques, especially DNA, it is now being realized that the mummies yield much information not just about their own medical history (e.g., Dorfer et al, 1999), but also in a much broader sense, on the natural history itself of diseases. Coupled with the emergence of ''new'' infectious diseases such as AIDS, avian flu, etc., many scientists have realized that prehistoric and historic mummies may hold the key as to how such diseases have developed and changed.…”

Section: Mummies and Paleopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mummies

Lynnerup

2007

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

169

115

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Mummies are human remains with preservation of nonbony tissue. Mummification by natural influences results in so-called natural mummies, whereas mummification induced by active (human) intervention results in so-called artificial mummies, although many cultures practiced burial rites, which to some degree involved both natural and artificial mummification. Since they are so uniquely well-preserved, mummies may give many insights into mortuary practices and burial rites. Specifically, the presence of soft tissues may expand the scope of paleopathological studies. Many recent mummy studies focus on the development and application of nondestructive methods for examining mummies, including radiography, CT-scanning with advanced three-dimensional visualizations, and endoscopic techniques, as well as minimally-destructive chemical, physical, and biological methods for, e.g., stable isotopes, trace metals, and DNA. This article discusses mummification and gives a presentation of various key mummy finds and a brief history of mummy studies. A description of the extant key technologies of natural and medical science that are applied in mummy studies is given; along with a discussion of some of the major results in terms of paleopathology. It is also shown how mummy studies have contributed much to the knowledge of the cultural habits and everyday life of past populations. Finally the impact of mummy studies on analyses of mortuary practices and cultural history is discussed. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 50: 162-190, 2007. V

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A medical report from the stone age?

Cited by 123 publications

References 4 publications

Complementary medicine: evidence base, competence to practice and regulation

Complementary medicine: evidence base, competence to practice and regulation

Spiritual and religious aspects of skin and skin disorders

Mummies

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