Galen’s Commentary on Hippocrates’ Epidemics, Book 1

Ed. Chart. IX. [5.] — Ed. Bas. V. (346.)

All people call these deadly diseases plagues and recognize them as such. They often send to the gods to ask about their cure. Hippocrates did not only write about the "visitation" of diseases original Greek: "epidēmēsein" here, but also in his Prognostic a foundational medical text by Hippocrates on predicting the course of illness. In that work, he says: it is necessary to quickly consider the trends of diseases that are always prevalent original: "epidēmoun tōn" and not to be ignorant of the state of the season.

In the books of the Epidemics themselves, one can occasionally hear him saying that many cases of dysentery were prevalent original: "epedēmēsan" during the summer. At other times, he mentions that other forms of fever were prevalent. For some people, the disease was epidemic epidemic: from "epidēmion," referring to a disease that visits or spreads through a population.

This name, "epidemic," is written with four syllables in some copies. In those versions, the last syllable consists of the letters m, o, and n the Greek letters mu, omicron, and nu forming "-mon". In other copies, it is written with five syllables. In these, one syllable contains the letters m and i mu and iota, and then the final syllable contains o and n omicron and nu.

One must remember these things for what will be said in the future. It is important to know that some diseases seize many people in common. These are called "common" diseases. Others seize each person individually. These are called sporadic sporadic: from "sporadika," meaning scattered or occurring in isolation. Among the common diseases, some are endemic endemic: from "endēma," referring to diseases that are native to or permanently present in a specific region.