Where did asthma originate?

Answer 1

• It was Hippocrates (460-357 BC), the Greek physician, who first described Asthma and its resulting "spasms". Galen (130-201 BC), a Greco-Roman doctor, discovered that asthma was due to bronchial obstruction. He treated it with owl's blood in wine.

• The term asthma comes from the ancient Greek word for panting or gasping.

• Camel and crocodile droppings were the asthma treatments of choice in ancient Egypt.

• The ancient Chinese used ephedrine to ease the symptoms of asthma thousands of years before Western physicians introduced it as a treatment.

• Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini described a link between his patient's asthma and their jobs as far back as the early 1900s.

• Rene Laennec invented the stethoscope, basically a rolled up piece of paper, to place his ear on his female patient's naked chest.

• Until the late 1800s, the most popular method of delivering asthma medication into the lungs was smoke.

• In 1864, Dr. Henry Hyde Salter identified animal dander as an asthma trigger.

• The secret ingredients of the popular 19th century asthma cures were usually alcohol, cocaine or morphine. In the late 1800s, atropine derived from the deadly nightshade plant was added to cigarettes to help treat asthma.

• In 1901, a Japanese scientist, Jokici Takamine, purifies adrenaline, found in the suprarenal glands of sheep (discovered in 1898) and develops the first effective bronchodilator.

• In the 1960s, asthma researchers discovered that asthma is an inflammatory disease, not just constriction of the airways, and that asthma sufferers have a sensitive immune system which reacts to airborne allergens. The first inhaled anti-inflammatory medication is born.

• In 1972, inhaled corticosteroids hit the market.

Answer 2

It was known of in ancient Egypt, but first named as a specific illness in ancient Greece by Hippocrates, who died in around 370 BC. The word asthma is from the ancient Greek word for panting.

Answer 3

In someone's lungs.

Asthma has been around as long as people have been around. Until about two hundred years ago you would just die from it in most cases. It is caused by a high sensitivity to things called allergens. These might include pollen or animal dander (skin flakes), dry air, humid air, etc. In the old days asthmatics would be treated with very high doses of caffeine or other stimulants but the dose was so high it was almost poisonous. The revolution in treatment came in the early 70's and then again in the 80's which now means asthmatics can lead a normal life. There are still 1,000 deaths a year in Australia, usually because patients don't take their medicine. New Zealand has the highest incidence of asthma per head of population than any other country in the world.

Answer 4

Hippocrates is considered to be the 'founder of medicine' and he was the first person to describe the symptoms of asthma. The Corpus Hippocraticum, by Hippocrates, is the earliest text where the word asthma is found as a medical term.

Answer 5

Hippocrates was a Greek physician born in 460 BC on the island of Cos, Greece. He became known as the founder of medicine and was regarded as the greatest physician of his time.

Answer 6

bob shore first discovered asthma in 1766

Answer 7

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