THE DISCOVERY OF CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
Galen and Harvey s contribution to the cardiovascular discovery
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge
Galen and Harvey for their great contributions to the cardiovascular discovery
this opened up new doors in the medical fraternity which enabled proper
diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular related diseases such as hypertension,
heart failure and stroke just to name but a few without adequate information on how blood circulate it is quite impossible to diagnose and find solutions to diseases.
Galen was born in 129 ADS in Pergamum, began his medical studies at age of 16, studied in Alexandria Egypt. He became a doctor, surgeon, trainer, and nutritionist and leading medical authority was appointed Physician to the Emperor.
Thumbs up to Galen s enthusiasm and great zeal to discover, through his hard-working spirit he carried out so many experiments he wrote a number of works in subjects ranging from medicine, through logic and philosophy.
I am quite sure by the time he died, he had fulfilled his purpose of life which many fail to.
Galen was willing to learn from existing knowledge laid down by others this led to unraveling of lots of physiological mysteries through his many experiments. Being not allowed access human bodies I think narrowed his research making some of his hypothesis biased, very shallow and questionable. Despite all the flaws his research was worth it and paved way for other scientists.
One could agree with me that Galen was not so well informed regarding embryonic life and stages of development including how the tissue and organ systems development from the germ layers mesoderm, endoderm and ectoderm because he drew physiology of the body basing on ingestion of food which he believed was later converted into blood
However Its fair not to blame assumptions made during Galen s research since in his days there were no devices to observe course way of blood in the body unlike these days a Doppler ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of blood moving through circulatory system.
Harvey did very well in taking a step further as far as the cardiovascular discovery was concerned enlightening people that bloodletting was not necessarily the solution of diseases always and that disease is not always a result of blood imbalances.
Galen conclusions are disputable especially
how he considers the heart hotter than other organs and thus the source of body
leaving aside how metabolism in various organs generate heat for instance heat
generation in skeletal muscles during exercise, however he cannot be a victim
as there were no thermometers by then till thermometers were discovered and it was
found that the overall body temperature is maintained at 37 degrees Celsius by homeostasis.
Galen s research findings and his work were appreciated and became scripture and new findings were made to fit Galen s physiology and anatomy. The revival of experimental investigation in the1500s, paved way for progress in the discovery and did not lead to the downfall of Galen s physiological discovery, new findings were simply small modifications.
William Harvey was born in 1578 AD in Kent, He matriculated as a student at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied classics, rhetoric and philosophy. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1597,Harvey studied medicine at Padua in Italy, the greatest medical school of the time.
Harve equips us with importance of classical studies. Harvey was one of the fathers of physiology back then in 17th century.
Harvey s unique way of research enabled him to replace the Galenic system of physiology with a new model
I can say the scientist did a lot more of hard work as compared to Galen thus based his hypothesis on evident information, by so doing availing more of the cardiovascular system. Harvey s ability to question existing research was unique most of us nower days just read existing concepts to grasp the information without literally reflecting upon it and questioning how it as carried out.
Harvey s zeal to find answers for his questions led him to investigate more and more.
Harve s famous De Motu Cordis, the medical world book was
taught in all universities which enabled spreading of the cardiovascular information.De Motu Cordis is said to
be one of the most important books ever written , I am sure history of
medicine has been revolutionalised by it. It has changed
the history of mankind.
Harvey was a very talented student and as well intelligent he incorporated use of measurements in physiology enhancing accuracy of his research.
Harvey s hypothesis indicates a sound embryological background he clearly outlined how presence of communication between left atrium and right atrium is present prenatally in an embryo foramen oval making it clear that after birth there is no more communication neither is there blood flow between the two atriums.
Both Harvey and Galen s work towards discovery of cardiovascular system was amazing because of their hard work and research today knowledge of the cardiovascular system is now readily available to all learners and in the medical field such that we all know how blood circulate and enables the nourishment of the body through providing nutrition and oxygen to body cells.
The medical practitioners are able to tell and understand the diseased state of the human body such that the blood letting system is no longer being set aside as only solution but people went on further to discover how pathogens are the disease causing agents and new ways of treating diseases were discovered.
I agree that Galen and-Harvey were brilliant thinkers, far ahead of their time, received the best education in their days also both were clinician scientists, driven by a search for the truth bringing us where we are to day.
This teaches the current generation and upcoming generations to work towards finding the truth and unraveling scientific mysteries.
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ReplyDeleteThe review provides a good comparison of the contributions of william Harvey and Galen to our understanding of the CVS. The author highlights the key differences in their work, including the scope and accuracy of their observations , as well as their scientific methodology and philosophical background. In nutshell , the review is but not less.
ReplyDeleteWould like to acknowledge how the concepts has been made clear in this review. I relate to the mention of Harvey having the zeal to question and integrate the Galenic views, rather than being ignorant and trying to maintain a status quo. The review provides concepts which are easy to follow.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a very good post .I like the way how you started by acknowledging Galen and Harvey, giving a brief history about what they did and you also highlighted how their work is still impacting medicine today.
ReplyDeleteWell written review on the facts of history of the CVS that has lead to improvements and treatments of illnesses and diseases as well as diagnosis
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteI like how you constantly remind us that the authors did the best they could with what they had in their day. Considering the tools available to us today, i would say there is a lot of work ahead! I also appreciate the modern day tools you make mention of. What surprised you? What made you laugh?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Indeed there were some parts that were surprising and funny in the history of Cardiovascular discovery by Galen and Harvey and l will try to highlight them.
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