History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Dermatology in Mexicowounded and with the resources of an abundant medicinal flora, developed a surgicalmedical art; they applied warm medicines or practiced bloodletting in the infected andswollen parts. With their scalpels of obsidian they opened abscesses and phlegmons todrain the pus, cured ulcers and burns and sowed up wounds using hair as thread. Theyused sutures with separate stitches on the nose and lips, employing very clean hairs andapplying special potions.Indians took medicine by mouth or applied it on the skin and employed physical therapeuticmeans like baths, heat or humidity. Among their medications for healing infectedwounds were poultices made with corn tortilla affected by fungosity, taking advantage ofthe fungus’ healing properties 4 . The Aztec took cognizance of venereal diseases and gavethem the name cihuatlaueliloc, which means “resulting from relations with women”;they also described blennorrhagia, chancres and buboes. Syphilis was widely known; inits tertiary phase it was treated with steam baths (temazcalli). They also employed pyrotherapyand mercurial salts (inhalation of sulfurous and mercury vapors), in additionto a corn meal, michihuautli, or an infusion of oleander root, quautepatli 6 .Dermatosis was probably called zahuatl, hives chincual and psoriasis xiotl.Among the Mayans, medicine as magic, medical deities and the concept of disease asthe punishment of the gods appear in the Popol-Vuh, which mentions skin cures andsome ritual surgery 7 . No bones with evidence of syphilis have been found among theMaya. Women wore a piece of amber in a hole made in the nose, in the septum separatingthe nostrils; they fashioned holes in their ears for earrings and tattooed their bodiesfrom the waist up, save for their breasts. The Maya gods of medicine were Ixchel, Citboltúnand Zamná. The first two founded the profession of physician or “Ahmen,” whichmeans “he who understands.”Cacao was, in pre-Hispanic herbal knowledge, also very important from the medicalpoint of view, thanks to its energy-giving properties. In Maya ritual, the corncob andcocoa drink symbolized the heart and blood, necessary elements for preserving the cosmicbalance. According to Maya mythology, cacao was of divine origin: Xmucane, one ofthe gods of creation, invented nine brews that fed and shaped men; three of them weremade from corn and cacao. The Mexica traced the mythical origin of cacao to the godQuetzalcóatl, who had brought it to earth to cultivate it in his divine garden in the cityof Tula 8 .From the medical point of view, cacao was employed for liver sufferers, the consumptiveand the worn out. In Dermatology, cocoa oil was used on cracks and injuries inthe skin. Cocoa butter had medical and cosmetic applications in skin care. Central AmericanIndians customarily mixed it with annatto and spread it on their faces to produce abright red color for their feasts, considering that “he who is most thickly slathered looksbest”; at the same time, this gave them protection against the sun 8 .The consequences for European medicine of the addition of American healing agentswas extraordinary. Among the medicines contributed by the Americas are guaiacum,ipecac, coca, quinia, wild yam, sarsaparilla, curare, Paraguayan tea and tobacco.The ships from the Indies arrived in Seville loaded with roots, herbs and plants, privatebotanical gardens being created there. The study of the medical contribution of theAmericas was carried out by Nicolás Monardes, with universal success. In his work, Sahagúndevotes a section to Mexico’s indigenous medicine; the work of Francisco Hernández,the first physician to explore the medicines of the Americas, also stands out. Thierryde Héry wrote a treatise in 1552 — La Méthode Curatoire de la Maladie Vénérienne —and made a fortune treating syphilitic patients with the topical application of mercuryointment and the drinking of guaiacum tea brought from the Americas 9 .259