Diabetes and the “Natural Faculties'” in the Galenic treatises

Niki Papavramidou, Helen Christopoulou-Aletra

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The term diabetes first appears in a text by Aretaeus to describe a disease of the kidneys. Galen is likely to have borrowed this term from Aretaeus also to describe the same disorder, though in a manner somewhat uncharacteristic of his writings. Taken as a whole, only a few mentions may be found in the Galenic writings …