History of Latin American Dermatology

E. SILVA-LIZAMA, P. H. URQUIZU, P. GREENBERG, S. DE LEÓNFigures:7. Destruction of nose8. Toothache9. Edema in lowerlimbsthe disease caused by an offense against thegods required confessing the sin and doingpenance; if the cause was witchcraft it wasnecessary to act against the latter, and if itwas due to natural causes, the appropriatemedicine was administered. If it was an ordinaryillness it was treated by the patientsthemselves at home but if it was chronic itwas regarded as the punishment of the gods.The ancient Meso-Americans recognizedinequalities among people; men were consideredK´an (aggressive, self-assured, choleric)and women nakanik (peaceful, docile, meek).Age was another factor: the aged were regardedas wiser and more consistent in theirstrength than the young; this is mentioned in the Record of Sololá, in the Popol Vuhand in the Title of the Lords of Totonicapán in which the deities were elderly.They also believed that temporary weakness arose from committing a sin, experiencingstrong emotions or feeling envy; it was considered that excessive labor,exposure to cold or heat and to certain foodstuffs disturbed a person’s balance.In these texts it is possible to find an expression of the theory of balance andits relationship with disease. In the Guatemalan highlands it was believed that astrong body is better protected from illness than a weak one: this strength standsin relation to the condition of the blood which can be strong or weak, cold or hot;it was believed that blood cannot be regenerated and that any loss causes weakness.Children, women and some of the elderly were considered weaker. It was believedthat the old were stronger and more potent than the young, particularly ifthey were wizards, healers or leaders. To maintain the body in balance it was necessaryto be in harmony with nature, with society and with the gods. Confessionand sacrifice were the most important means to achieve this 2, 5 .Mayan medicine had its trinity formed by the goddess Ixchel and the gods Citobolontunand Itzamná. These two worked to discover the medical virtues of plants, bequeathingall their knowledge to the H-Menes, a Hippocratic family initiated in the art of healing.Itzamná: god and man at the same time, he was the father of medicine and his feastswere celebrated in the month of Zip, that is, the month of sin. The eighth was the principalday and the medicinal herbs were presented before the god to receive the breathof divinity; dances were carried out and incense was employed to ask Ahau Chamahezfor health. The people held parades and awaited being blessed.Ixchel: the rainbow woman, lawyer for maternity, received the flower offerings ofwomen seeking fertility.Citobolontun: the companion male, provided his health-awarding gifts.Zuhuykak and Ixtliton: gave health to girls and boys.Kinich-ahau: the face of the sun, burned the demon of illness and was the god of figuretherapyand thermotherapy.Kukulcan: omnipotent god that cured fevers.Tzapotla-tenan: she was the grandmother of externally-applied therapeutics, sinceshe had discovered in oxitl (turpentine) the resin that cured buboe and skin sores.Temazcaltec: grandmother of baths, she recommended steam baths.Yun-cimil: lord of death, he paced, together with an owl, around the dying, sometimeswithdrawing without taking the patient’s soul with him.Undoubtedly, the medical mythology was a consequence of the diseases suffered bythe Mayans 4, 5 (figures 1-17).226