History of Latin American Dermatology

History of Dermatology in Mexicovast treatise on the medical herbs employed by the Indians in the sixteenth century,with the collaboration of Juan Badiano, who translated it into Latin. Thetransmission of his therapeutic knowledge had a major influence four centurieslater. His book, probably drawn up in Nahuatl, is the first known writing on indigenousMexican medicine; the manuscript contains information on 215 plants,185 of which are illustrated.In 1558 Friar Bernardino de Sahagún wrote his General History of the Thingsof New Spain, in which he describes the life and habits of Meso-American peoplesbefore the conquest, including some of their forms of medical practice 14 .The first book on medicine published in the Americas was issued in 1570:Opera Medicinales, by Dr. Francisco Bravo. In 1577 the 17 volumes of the work byFrancisco Hernández, De Historia Plantorum Novae Hispania, were published.The teaching of medicine launched by the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexicounderwent many vicissitudes and was headquartered at numerous venues, until in 1854it was set up in the old building of the Inquisition where it remained a hundred years.In 1825, the first Academy of Medicine was set up, and in 1862, that which exists tothis day. Its publication organ, The Medical Gazette, ran numerous articles on the skin:“Study on Leprosy,” by Reyes, “Psoriasis Cured by a Vaccine,” by Bandera, “Chiggers,” byAndrade, “Achronic Leucopathy,” by Gayón, “Horn of the Skin,” by Ortega, among others.Figure 4. Cruz-Badiano Codex.Tlalquequetzal, plantused for the “facialitch or spot”DermatologyThe Badiano Codex contains words like xiotl (shingles), herpes and others. Mention ismade of achiote or Tabasco pepper or bixa orellana as a treatment for leprosy 12 . Thiswork is, as previously indicated, considered the colony’s first medical text, devoted toherbal treatments; the text includes numerous skin ailments and their medications, withmagnificent color illustrations.After the conquest, the codices contain mentions of smallpox or hueyzahuatl,measles, tepitonzahuatl and typhus or tabardillo, matlatzahuatl. Also mentioned arenevos or moles, tlaciuztli, and pruritus, cuecuetzoquiliztli, pruriginous papule, tatapaliuiztli,freckles, ixticeuac, and pityriasis, quatequizquitl, as well as the tunga or chigger,qualocatl, scabies, ezcazahuatl, ringworm, quiayincayotl, and pediculosis, ixocuili.The Mexicans were aware of the mal del pinto. Hernán Cortés wrote with great admirationto Charles V in one of his Letters of report: “In this country of adventure there arerarities in the color of its inhabitants, presenting varieties in the same individual” 4, 13 .It is argued whether leprosy existed in the Americas before the arrival of theSpaniards; the presence of statuettes that seem to represent a facies leonina and somechronicles that speak of a hospital where the Aztec sequestered leprosy patients seem tosupport the hypothesis of the existence of the disease in pre-Hispanic times 16 . But, at thesame time, neither Cortés in his Letters of report to Charles V nor Bernal Díaz del Castillomention it, although the disease was very well known to many of the Spaniards comingfrom Andalusia, where it was endemic; on the other hand, they do mention the existenceof the mal del pinto and of albinism. On recognizing the disease among his own soldiers,Cortés established the first leprosarium in the Americas (Hospital of St. Lazarus), in anarea called Tlaxpana. Although it was a small building, it cared for a large number ofSpanish patients, but had a short life (from 1521 to 1528), since it was closed down atthe prompting of Nuño de Guzmán, who adduced that the water from the Chapultepecaqueduct passed through there with the danger of infecting the population. The fact isthat Guzmán took over ownership of that magnificent land 16 .The first hospitals created by the Spaniards were sure to have been visited by skin patients:buboe, scabies, leprosy, “sacred fire” (herpes zoster), psoriasis, ringworm, tuberculosis,mal del pinto, diseases which, as has already been mentioned, were found in the261