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Medical History Library

794 condition histories across the history of medicine

WhiteCoatRecall's Medical History library covers 794 conditions, tracing how each one was understood, named, and treated across the history of medicine — never symptoms, diagnosis, or modern treatment guidance. Browse by category below, ordered by how much attention each condition's history draws.

Cardiovascular

History of Cardiac arrest

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Atherosclerosis

Circa 1500 BCE — Ancient Egypt (mummified remains and Ebers Papyrus)

History of Aortic dissection

1728, England — autopsy report by Frank Nicholls following death in the British royal court

History of Hypertension

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Tachycardia

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to pulse and cardiac sensation)

History of Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (indirect cardiac references); modern clinical identification: 1958, Donald Teare, United Kingdom

History of Aneurysm

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (pulsating swellings noted)

History of Myocarditis

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt (general cardiac disease); myocarditis as distinct entity: 1830s, European medical literature

History of Dilated cardiomyopathy

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (indirect references to dropsy and cardiac weakness)

History of Aortic aneurysm

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Lymphedema

Circa 600 BCE — Sushruta Samhita, ancient India

History of Cardiomyopathy

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus, descriptions of heart weakness and dropsy)

History of Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Approximately 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to pulsating vessel masses)

History of Rheumatic fever

c. 400 BCE — Ancient Greece, Hippocratic Corpus

History of Pulmonary hypertension

1891, Europe (Ernst von Romberg's published clinical case description)

History of Heart attack

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome

c. 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (general irregular pulse descriptions; condition-specific recognition: 1930, United Kingdom/United States)

History of Congestive heart failure

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Fan death

1970s — South Korean newspaper reports and popular media

History of Hemangioma

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Hyperhomocysteinemia

1932, laboratory isolation by Vincent du Vigneaud (United States)

History of Erythromelalgia

Circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Ventricular septal defect

1879, Henri-Louis Roger's clinical and pathological description, France

History of Brugada syndrome

Early 20th century formal documentation; folkloric antecedents recorded from at least the 19th century in the Philippines (Bangungut), Thailand (Lai Tai), and Japan (Pokkuri)

History of Endocarditis

Circa 1600s, isolated postmortem descriptions; European anatomical tradition

History of Mitral valve prolapse

Clinical descriptions of mid-systolic clicks appeared in 19th century auscultation literature; formal characterization 1960s (Barlow and Pocock)

History of Torsades de pointes

1966 — French cardiologist François Dessertenne, modern clinical description; earlier electrocardiographic precursors noted in European cardiology literature of the 1920s–1930s

History of Cardiac amyloidosis

1639 — described by Nicolaes Tulp and other European anatomists in autopsy observations; formally characterized by Rudolf Virchow in 1854

History of Atrial septal defect

Late 15th–early 16th century, Renaissance anatomical dissections (Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical notebooks, c. 1490–1513)

History of Giant cell arteritis

10th century CE — Description by Ali ibn Isa of Baghdad in his ophthalmological treatise

History of Dextrocardia

1788, Britain — Matthew Baillie's descriptions in morbid anatomy

History of Heart disease

Circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Portal hypertension

Ancient Egyptian and Hippocratic texts describing ascites associated with liver disease, approximately 1500 BCE onward

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Aneurysm

Circa 2nd century CE, writings of Galen of Pergamon and attributed works of Antyllus, Roman-Greek medical tradition

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Arrhythmia

circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Coronary Artery Disease

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt; atherosclerotic deposits confirmed in Egyptian mummies approximately 3500 years old

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Endocarditis

Circa 1728 CE, Giovanni Maria Lancisi's posthumous cardiac treatise, Italy

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Heart Disease

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Heart Failure

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Hypertension

circa 3rd century BCE or earlier, Huangdi Neijing, ancient China

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Peripheral Vascular Disease

Circa 1600 BCE, Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt; Hippocratic corpus circa 5th century BCE, ancient Greece

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Rheumatic Fever

Circa 5th century BCE, Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

Cardiovascular Disease History

History of Stroke

circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

Dermatological

History of Vitiligo

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus; and circa 1400 BCE, ancient India — Atharva Veda

History of Psoriasis

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus

History of Discoid lupus erythematosus

Approximately 1230 CE — the term lupus was used by the physician Rogerius of the Salerno school to describe erosive facial lesions, representing among the earliest textual references consistent with the condition

History of Scabies

circa 2500 BCE, Ancient Mesopotamia (cuneiform medical tablets)

History of Atopic dermatitis

Circa 2000 BCE, ancient Mesopotamia — cuneiform medical tablets describing chronic itching skin conditions

History of Stevens–Johnson syndrome

1922, United States — Stevens and Johnson publication in American Journal of Diseases of Children (earlier related descriptions circa 1860s in European dermatological literature under erythema multiforme)

History of Impetigo

circa 1st century CE, Ancient Rome / writings of Celsus; earlier Greek precursor descriptions exist from approximately 4th–5th century BCE

History of Pili multigemini

Late 19th century CE, European dermatological microscopy literature

History of Alopecia universalis

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Molluscum contagiosum

1817 — Thomas Bateman's published clinical description, London, United Kingdom

History of Alopecia areata

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Hidradenitis suppurativa

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt (descriptions of recurring suppurative skin swellings)

History of Dermatophytosis

Circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus) and Leviticus (Hebrew scriptures, circa 6th–5th century BCE in written form)

History of Erysipelas

circa 5th–4th century BCE, Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

History of Actinic keratosis

Circa 1896 — William Dubreuilh's published study, France (as a distinct clinical entity)

History of Keratosis pilaris

Late 19th century — Formal clinical description in European dermatological literature, approximately 1880s, France and Germany

History of Contact dermatitis

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Onychomycosis

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Athlete's foot

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt (general skin afflictions of extremities)

History of Argyria

Circa 50 CE, De Materia Medica by Dioscorides, Roman Empire

History of Hyperhidrosis

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Paronychia

circa 5th–4th century BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Perioral dermatitis

Broadly, 1500 BCE — Ebers Papyrus (ancient Egypt), for general facial skin eruptions; formally as a distinct entity, 1964 — Frumess and Lewis publication in British dermatological literature

History of Boil

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Phytophotodermatitis

circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Lichen planus

Approximately 1790s–1820s, European dermatological case literature; formally described and named 1869, British medical literature

History of Erythema nodosum

Early 19th century, England — Robert Willan's systematic dermatological classification, published circa 1808

History of Telangiectasia

c. 1st century CE — Aulus Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, Rome

History of Alopecia

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Acanthosis nigricans

1890 — Sigmund Pollitzer and Viktor Janovsky, Germany

History of Cutis verticis gyrata

Mid-to-late 19th century, European (German and French) dermatological literature

History of Uncombable hair syndrome

1973 — French dermatological literature (Dupré et al., describing 'cheveux incoiffables')

History of Bullous pemphigoid

Ancient descriptions of bullous skin disease appear in the Hippocratic corpus, circa 400 BCE; bullous pemphigoid as a distinct entity was first described in 1953 by Walter Lever

History of Onycholysis

Circa 2000 BCE — Babylonian cuneiform medical tablets, Mesopotamia

History of Prurigo nodularis

circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus (general prurigo/nodular skin eruption descriptions)

History of Eczema

circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Dermatofibroma

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Dermatitis herpetiformis

1884, Louis Adolphus Duhring, United States; vesicular skin conditions generally described in antiquity, but distinct entity not recognized prior to 1884

History of Granuloma annulare

1895, British dermatological literature (Thomas Colcott Fox)

History of Urticaria

Circa 200 BCE — Ancient China, Huangdi Neijing

History of Erythema multiforme

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (disputed; formal medical identification: 1866, Austria)

History of Epidermodysplasia verruciformis

1922, Germany — formal clinical description by Lewandowsky and Lutz; earlier anecdotal references in early modern European anatomical literature

History of Café au lait spot

Early modern European medical case literature, c. 17th century; systematic study c. 1882 — von Recklinghausen's monograph, Germany

History of Ichthyosis vulgaris

Circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece — references to scaled skin conditions in the Hippocratic corpus

History of Dermatographic urticaria

Clinical descriptions in European dermatological literature beginning 1880s; antecedent humoral accounts of urticaria in ancient Greek and medieval Islamic sources

History of Pemphigus

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Piebaldism

Approximately 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to congenital pigmentation anomalies)

History of Alopecia totalis

Approximately 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus hair restoration formulas)

Dermatological Disease History

History of Eczema

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

Dermatological Disease History

History of Leprosy Skin Manifestations

c. 600 BCE, Sushruta Samhita, ancient India

Dermatological Disease History

History of Psoriasis

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

Dermatological Disease History

History of Scabies

circa 2500 BCE, Mesopotamian clay tablets

Dermatological Disease History

History of Smallpox Scarring

c. 1145 BCE, mummy of Ramesses V, ancient Egypt

Dermatological Disease History

History of Vitiligo

circa 1400 BCE, Atharva Veda, Ancient India

Endocrine

History of Graves' disease

Circa 1170 CE — Sayyid Ismail al-Jurjani, Persia (Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi)

History of Acromegaly

Approximately 1000 CE — descriptions consistent with the condition appear in medieval Arabic medical texts, though skeletal remains from ancient Egypt suggest awareness of similar presentations as far back as 2000 BCE

History of Dwarfism

Circa 4500 BCE, ancient Egypt — skeletal remains and artistic depictions from pre-dynastic and Old Kingdom periods

History of Addison's disease

1563 CE — Europe; Bartolomeo Eustachi's anatomical description of the adrenal (suprarenal) glands; clinical disease described by Thomas Addison in 1855

History of Diabetes

c. 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Hashimoto's thyroiditis

circa 2700 BCE, ancient China (early medical texts referencing neck swellings and seaweed-based remedies)

History of Hypothyroidism

Circa 2700 BCE, ancient Chinese medical writings (Yellow Emperor's Classic references to neck swelling)

History of Cushing's syndrome

1912, Johns Hopkins Hospital case reports by Harvey Cushing, United States

History of Gigantism

c. 3000 BCE, ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian inscriptions

History of Hypoglycemia

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Gynecomastia

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to unusual male bodily configurations); more systematically described by Galen of Pergamon, circa 150–200 CE

History of Precocious puberty

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to unusual developmental states); systematic case documentation from ancient Greece circa 400 BCE (Hippocratic corpus)

History of Hyperthyroidism

c. 2700 BCE, ancient China (referenced in early Chinese medical texts attributed to the era of the Yellow Emperor)

History of Hyperparathyroidism

1880 CE, Sweden (Ivar Sandström's anatomical description of parathyroid glands in humans)

History of Hypogonadism

c. 600 BCE — Sushruta Samhita, ancient Indian medical literature (descriptions of atypical gonadal development)

History of Diabetes mellitus

circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Goitre

c. 2700 BCE — Chinese medical texts (Shennong Bencao Jing tradition) and Ayurvedic Indian texts

History of Androgen insensitivity syndrome

Antiquity — Roman legal texts and Galenic medical writings describing 'hermaphrodites'; modern clinical synthesis by John Morris, 1953

History of Pheochromocytoma

1563, Italy (anatomical description of adrenal glands by Bartolomeo Eustachi); first pathologically recognized tumor case reported by Felix Fränkel in 1886, Germany

History of Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

1865, Italy — Luigi De Crecchio's published case report; earlier anatomical observations documented by Italian anatomists circa 1500s

History of Hyperglycemia

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Diabetes insipidus

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus descriptions of excessive urination conditions)

History of Galactorrhea

Approximately 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Adrenal insufficiency

1563, Bartolomeo Eustachi's anatomical atlas identifying the adrenal glands as distinct structures; clinical disease first systematically described 1855, England

History of Growth hormone deficiency

Ancient Egypt — Depictions of proportionate small stature in dynastic art, circa 2000 BCE

History of Hypopituitarism

circa 2nd century CE, Roman Empire — Galen's anatomical writings (pituitary described, though misunderstood)

History of Hypercholesterolemia

circa 1815, France — Michel Eugène Chevreul, isolation of cholesterine from gallstones

History of Reactive hypoglycemia

1924 — Seale Harris's paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association describing spontaneous hyperinsulinism

History of Metabolic disorder

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus, excessive urination description); circa 600 BCE, Ancient India (Ayurvedic texts describing madhumeha)

History of Lipodystrophy

1885 — Western medical literature, Mitchell's early clinical description; earlier descriptive references in 19th-century European case reports

Endocrine Disorders

History of Acromegaly

Possible depictions in ancient Egyptian art and pre-Columbian artifacts; formal medical description 1886 CE by Pierre Marie, Paris

Endocrine Disorders

History of Addison's Disease

1563 CE, anatomical description by Bartolomeo Eustachi, Italy

Endocrine Disorders

History of Cushing's Syndrome

1912 CE, Harvey Cushing's initial case observations, Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA

Endocrine Disorders

History of Diabetes

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

Endocrine Disorders

History of Diabetes Insipidus

circa 1670 CE, early differentiation attempts by Thomas Willis, England; formal separation confirmed by Johann Peter Frank, 1794

Endocrine Disorders

History of Thyroid Disorders

circa 2700 BCE, ancient Chinese medical texts attributed to Emperor Shennong

Gastrointestinal

Gastrointestinal

History of Crohn's disease

c. 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt (general chronic intestinal ailments; condition-specific recognition came much later)

Gastrointestinal

History of Coeliac disease

2nd century CE — described by Aretaeus of Cappadocia in ancient Greece/Rome

Gastrointestinal

History of Peritonitis

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt (abdominal inflammation references); elaborated circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, Ancient Greece

Gastrointestinal

History of Diverticulitis

1761 — Giovanni Battista Morgagni's 'De Sedibus et Causis Morborum' contains early anatomical descriptions of bowel pathology within which retrospective identification of diverticular changes has been proposed

Gastrointestinal

History of Irritable bowel syndrome

Circa 1820s — described in early Western clinical case literature; antecedents traced to ancient Greek humoral texts circa 400 BCE

Gastrointestinal

History of Hemorrhoid

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

Gastrointestinal

History of Ulcerative colitis

Circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus (ancient Greece)

Gastrointestinal

History of Hepatitis

Ancient Mesopotamia, circa 3000–2000 BCE — Babylonian clay tablets describing jaundice and liver-related illness

Gastrointestinal

History of Appendicitis

c. 1492, Renaissance Italy (Leonardo da Vinci anatomical drawings)

Gastrointestinal

History of Gastroenteritis

c. 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

Gastrointestinal

History of Geographic tongue

Circa 2nd century CE, Roman Empire — tongue examination frameworks in Galenic medical texts, though specific geographic tongue descriptions emerged formally in 19th-century European clinical literature

Gastrointestinal

History of Inguinal hernia

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Gastrointestinal

History of Aphthous stomatitis

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

Gastrointestinal

History of Acute pancreatitis

circa 3rd century BCE, ancient Alexandria (Herophilus of Chalcedon's anatomical descriptions)

Gastrointestinal

History of Colitis

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Gastrointestinal

History of Gilbert's syndrome

Circa 1500 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (jaundice references)

Gastrointestinal

History of Cholecystitis

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to liver and biliary region ailments

Gastrointestinal

History of Diverticulosis

Early 19th century — European autopsy studies, with early descriptive accounts in French and German pathological anatomy literature, c. 1810s–1840s

Gastrointestinal

History of Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

circa 900 CE — Ibn Sina's descriptions of intestinal malabsorptive states in the Canon of Medicine; modern clinical delineation began with 19th-century surgical observations

Gastrointestinal

History of Hepatic encephalopathy

c. 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Gastrointestinal

History of Periodontal disease

c. 5000 BCE — Sumerian clay tablets

Gastrointestinal

History of Cholestasis

c. 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Gastrointestinal

History of Gingivitis

Circa 5000 BCE, ancient Sumerian clay tablets

Gastrointestinal

History of Primary sclerosing cholangitis

Mid-19th century — European pathological and surgical literature; retrospective ancient descriptions of biliary obstruction in Hippocratic corpus (5th century BCE) lack sufficient specificity

Gastrointestinal

History of Cyclic vomiting syndrome

1882, British medical literature (Samuel Gee's published clinical observations)

Gastrointestinal

History of Esophageal varices

Approximately 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt (references to abdominal swelling and hemorrhagic episodes)

Gastrointestinal

History of Xerostomia

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

Gastrointestinal

History of Zollinger–Ellison syndrome

1955 — First formally described by Robert M. Zollinger and Edwin H. Ellison, Ohio State University

Gastrointestinal

History of Superior mesenteric artery syndrome

1842 — Carl von Rokitansky, Vienna General Hospital, Austria

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Appendicitis

1711, Lorenz Heister's post-mortem description, Germany

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Celiac Disease

circa 2nd century CE, Aretaeus of Cappadocia's writings, Roman Empire

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Cirrhosis

circa 2000 BCE, Babylonian clay liver models, Mesopotamia

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Crohn's Disease

1913, Thomas Kennedy Dalziel's case series publication, Scotland

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Dysentery

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Hepatitis

circa 5th century BCE, Hippocratic writings on epidemic jaundice, ancient Greece

Gastrointestinal Disease History

History of Peptic Ulcer Disease

circa 2nd century CE, Galen's writings on gastric ailments, Roman Empire

Genetic

History of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome

Approximately 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

History of Down syndrome

c. 7th century CE — skeletal remains, Anglo-Saxon England (inferred); first formal clinical description 1866, John Langdon Down, England

History of Marfan syndrome

1896, France — clinical description by Antoine Bernard-Jean Marfan presented to the Medical Society of Paris

History of Williams syndrome

1961 — clinical description by J.C.P. Williams, Greenlane Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand

History of Prader–Willi syndrome

1956 — Prader, Labhart, and Willi's clinical description in Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift, though retrospective identification of earlier cases has been attributed to pre-1956 European case literature

History of Cystic fibrosis

17th century — German and Swiss folklore texts

History of Klinefelter syndrome

1942, Massachusetts General Hospital, United States — Klinefelter, Reifenstein, and Albright clinical case series

History of Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease

1886 CE, France and England (simultaneous publications by Charcot and Marie in Paris, and Tooth in Cambridge)

History of Spina bifida

c. 1600 BCE — possible references in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, Egypt; first unambiguous clinical description by Nicholas Tulp, 1641, Netherlands

History of Progeria

First formal medical case report by Jonathan Hutchinson, 1886 CE, London

History of Achondroplasia

Circa 2500 BCE, ancient Egypt, skeletal remains and artistic depictions including representations of the deity Bes

History of Neurofibromatosis

Circa 16th century CE, Europe (scattered case reports of multiple cutaneous tumors in medical literature; formal description 1882)

History of Pfeiffer syndrome

Circa 1550 BCE — Edwin Smith and Ebers Papyri (ancient Egypt), with references to abnormal cranial forms

History of Waardenburg syndrome

1951, Netherlands (Petrus Johannes Waardenburg, American Journal of Human Genetics)

History of Albinism

c. 1400 BCE — Ancient Egyptian texts and artistic depictions

History of Brachydactyly type D

c. 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus references to familial physical traits including digit morphology

History of Proteus syndrome

circa 1st century CE, Ancient Rome (Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia — teratological descriptions of asymmetric human overgrowth)

History of Fragile X syndrome

1943, United Kingdom — Martin and Bell pedigree study published in the Journal of Mental Science

History of Treacher Collins syndrome

1846, documented by British surgeon James Startin in a clinical case report

History of Polydactyly

Approximately 10th–6th century BCE, Hebrew Bible (Books of Samuel and Chronicles), ancient Near East

History of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

1830s, described by Giovanni Semmola, Naples, Italy; formally characterized 1868 by Duchenne de Boulogne, France

History of Fanconi anemia

1927 CE, Switzerland (Guido Fanconi's publication in Jahrbuch für Kinderheilkunde)

History of Epidermolysis bullosa

Ancient Greek medical texts, circa 400 BCE (Hippocratic corpus descriptions of congenital skin fragility); formal hereditary designation by Heinrich Köbner, 1886

History of Cleidocranial dysplasia

1897 CE, France — Marie and Sainton clinical paper (earliest formal medical description); ancient skeletal evidence identified retrospectively by paleopathologists

History of Rett syndrome

1966, Austria — Dr. Andreas Rett's initial German-language clinical observations and publications

History of XX male syndrome

1964 CE — Finland, de la Chapelle et al. clinical report

History of Tay–Sachs disease

1881 CE — United Kingdom, Warren Tay's published ophthalmological observation

History of XYY syndrome

1961 — First karyotypically confirmed case reported by Avery Sandberg and colleagues, United States

History of Wilson's disease

1912 — Samuel A. K. Wilson's published monograph, United Kingdom

History of Friedreich's ataxia

1863, Heidelberg, Germany — Nikolaus Friedreich's first published clinical case series

History of DiGeorge syndrome

1965, Philadelphia, USA — Angelo DiGeorge's presentation to the Society for Pediatric Research

History of Xeroderma pigmentosum

1874, Vienna — clinical description by Moriz Kaposi and Ferdinand von Hebra

History of Cri du chat syndrome

1963, France — Jerome Lejeune, Marthe Gautier, and colleagues, Paris

History of Muscular dystrophy

circa 1852 CE, England (Edward Meryon's clinical reports)

History of Patau syndrome

1960 — Klaus Patau's published cytogenetic findings, University of Wisconsin (though clinical observations of similar presentations appear in early modern European teratological literature from the 16th century onward)

History of Poland syndrome

1841 — Alfred Poland's dissection report, Guy's Hospital Reports, United Kingdom

History of Phenylketonuria

1934, published clinical and biochemical description by Ivar Asbjørn Følling, Norway

History of Sanfilippo syndrome

1917, England (Charles Hunter's clinical description of related mucopolysaccharide disorder)

History of Brachydactyly

Observations of heritable digit variation appear in Aristotelian texts (circa 350 BCE); first formal pedigree study of brachydactyly specifically published by William Farabee in 1905

History of Hanhart syndrome

1930s — Ernst Hanhart, clinical case series, University of Zurich

History of Noonan syndrome

Mid-19th century, scattered European clinical case reports; formal syndrome delineation 1963, United States

History of Syndactyly

c. 2000–1600 BCE, Babylonian teratological omen texts (Šumma ālu and related cuneiform tablets)

History of Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis

Early 20th century — systematic case documentation in Western neurological literature; earlier anecdotal 19th-century reports exist without formal characterization

History of Fumarase deficiency

1937, Sheffield, England — Hans Krebs's elucidation of the citric acid cycle, within which fumarase was subsequently characterized; first human disease cases documented in the 1980s

History of Caudal regression syndrome

Approximately 2000–1600 BCE, Mesopotamian omen tablets (Šumma ālu series)

History of FG syndrome

1974 CE, published case report by Vera Miner and John Opitz, United States

History of Ectrodactyly

circa 2000 BCE — Babylonian omen tablets, ancient Mesopotamia

History of Craniodiaphyseal dysplasia

Formal clinical and radiological description as a distinct entity: mid-to-late twentieth century; possible earlier undifferentiated cases in nineteenth-century anatomical collections

History of Familial Mediterranean fever

1945, United States; formal clinical description by Sheppard Siegal

History of Seckel syndrome

Late 19th century — European medical literature (Germany, France, Great Britain); formally synthesized 1960 by Helmut Paul George Seckel

History of Crouzon syndrome

1912 — formal clinical description by Octave Crouzon published in Paris; possible earlier depictions in European genealogical records dating to the 16th–17th centuries

History of Von Hippel–Lindau disease

1904, Germany — Eugen von Hippel's published ophthalmological description of retinal angiomatosis

History of Hunter syndrome

1917, Canadian medical literature (Charles Hunter's published case report)

History of Acute intermittent porphyria

Approximately 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus references to abnormal urine coloration, ancient Greece

History of Cornelia de Lange syndrome

1838, France — case description by Étienne Breschet; formal syndrome description 1933 by Cornelia de Lange, Amsterdam

History of Morquio syndrome

1929 — Independent publications by Luis Morquio (Montevideo, Uruguay) and James Brailsford (Birmingham, England)

History of Familial adenomatous polyposis

1859, Germany/United Kingdom (early European surgical and pathological reports)

History of Kabuki syndrome

1981, Japan (publications by Niikawa et al. and Kuroki et al.)

History of Trimethylaminuria

Circa 400 BCE–200 CE, ancient India — Mahabharata (reference to Matsyagandha)

History of Mitochondrial disease

1890, Europe — Richard Altmann's description of intracellular 'bioblasts' in subcellular microscopy observations

History of Arachnodactyly

1896, France — Antoine Marfan's case presentation before the Medical Society of Paris

History of Lesch–Nyhan syndrome

1964, United States — Lesch and Nyhan's published case description, Johns Hopkins University

History of Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

1884 CE, France — Landouzy and Dejerine's formal clinical description in the medical literature

History of Cherubism

1933 — First formally described by William A. Jones, Royal Dental Hospital, London

History of Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome

1961 — Kurt Hirschhorn (New York, USA) and Ulrich Wolf (Germany), independent reports

History of Ectodermal dysplasia

1848, England — clinical family case documentation by John Thurnam

History of Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome

1963 — Rubinstein and Taybi's published case series in the American Journal of Diseases of Children

History of Hurler syndrome

1917–1919, European clinical literature (Hunter 1917, Canada; Hurler 1919, Germany)

History of Sirenomelia

Circa 1573, Europe — documented in Ambroise Paré's 'Des Monstres et Prodiges'; mythological antecedents traced to Babylonian and classical Greek sources

History of Usher syndrome

1858 — Albrecht von Graefe's published clinical observations, Germany

History of Apert syndrome

Speculative skeletal evidence from ancient Egyptian remains; first formal medical case compilation 1906, France

History of Sotos syndrome

First formal case series 1964, United States (Mayo Clinic); antecedent observations on childhood gigantism scattered through 19th-century European clinical literature

Hematology

History of Multiple myeloma

1844 CE — the case of Thomas Alexander McBean, documented by London physicians Samuel Solly and later by Henry Bence Jones, represented the first well-documented clinical case that subsequent investigators recognized as multiple myeloma

History of Porphyria

Circa 400 BCE, ancient Greek Hippocratic texts describing dark urine and systemic complaints interpreted through humoral theory

History of Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

1845, Scotland/Germany — independent descriptions by John Hughes Bennett (Edinburgh) and Rudolf Virchow (Berlin) of white-cell excess in blood

History of Hodgkin lymphoma

1832 CE — England, Thomas Hodgkin's published case series at Guy's Hospital

History of Anemia

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Deep vein thrombosis

Approximately 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Methemoglobinemia

Mid-19th century, Europe (formal clinical and chemical descriptions emerged following industrial aniline dye production; earlier anecdotal observations of familial cyanosis are undated)

History of Thalassemia

c. 400 BCE — Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus, descriptions of chronic childhood anemia in Mediterranean populations)

History of Pernicious anemia

1849 CE, United Kingdom (Thomas Addison, 'On the Constitutional and Local Effects of Disease of the Supra-Renal Capsules')

History of Aplastic anemia

1888 CE — Paul Ehrlich's clinical and pathological case description, Germany; speculative ancient references in the Ebers Papyrus, c. 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt

History of Acute lymphoblastic leukemia

1845 — John Hughes Bennett, Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal; Rudolf Virchow, Froriep's Notizen

History of Eosinophilia

1879, Germany — Paul Ehrlich's publication describing eosinophil identification via differential staining

History of Polycythemia vera

1892 — Louis Henri Vaquez's clinical report, France

History of Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

1952, publication by James W. Farquhar and Albert Claireaux in the United Kingdom

History of Purpura

c. 5th–4th century BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, Ancient Greece

History of Von Willebrand disease

1924 CE, Finland — clinical documentation by Erik Adolf von Willebrand; general bleeding disorder descriptions appear in the Ebers Papyrus, c. 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt

History of Thrombocytopenia

c. 1st–5th century CE, Talmudic texts (descriptions of familial bleeding tendency influencing circumcision practice)

History of Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance

1847 CE, description of Bence Jones protein by Henry Bence Jones (England)

History of Splenomegaly

circa 1550 BCE — ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Rh disease

1609 — Louise Bourgeois, French midwifery records describing hydrops fetalis

Hematology History

History of Anemia

circa 1500 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus and related medical papyri)

Hematology History

History of Hemophilia

3rd–5th century CE, Babylonian Talmud (rabbinical legal discussions of circumcision exemptions)

Hematology History

History of Scurvy (Hematologic Aspects)

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Hematology History

History of Sickle Cell Disease

Pre-colonial West Africa (Ga, Ewe, and Krobo oral traditions); first Western clinical record 1910, Chicago, USA (Herrick and Irons case report)

Immunological

History of Myasthenia gravis

1672, England — Thomas Willis, 'De Anima Brutorum'

History of Sarcoidosis

1877 — British clinical literature (Jonathan Hutchinson's report of 'Mortimer's malady,' London)

History of Adult-onset Still's disease

1897 CE, United Kingdom (George Frederic Still, Great Ormond Street Hospital monograph — pediatric form first described)

History of Scleroderma

circa 5th century BCE — Hippocratic corpus (earliest retrospective association); 1753 — Carlo Curzio, Naples (first detailed clinical account)

History of Vasculitis

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus contains descriptions of purpuric illness consistent with vasculitic syndromes)

History of Rheumatoid arthritis

c. 4500 BCE — Pre-Columbian North America (paleopathological skeletal evidence, southeastern United States burial sites)

History of Anaphylaxis

circa 2641 BCE — Ancient Egypt, hieroglyphic account of Pharaoh Menes

History of Dermatomyositis

1863, German medical literature (Ernst Leberecht Wagner's clinical description)

History of Systemic lupus erythematosus

Circa 12th century CE, Salerno school of medicine, Italy (attributed to Rogerius); term lupus applied to facial erosive lesions

History of Lupus erythematosus

circa 10th–13th century CE, medieval European medical writings (attributed in part to descriptions by Rogerius of Salerno and later Paracelsus-era physicians)

History of Severe combined immunodeficiency

Clinical entity first formally described circa 1950, Zurich, Switzerland; precursor observations in ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian texts describing children with fatal recurrent illness

History of Chronic fatigue syndrome

Late 18th century, European medical literature (approximate); formalized cluster documentation: 1750s–1780s European case reports

History of Hypersensitivity

Ancient Egypt, circa 2641 BCE — hieroglyphic records describing what historians have interpreted as a fatal reaction to a wasp sting in the death of Pharaoh Menes

History of Henoch–Schönlein purpura

1801 CE — England, William Heberden the Elder's clinical case description

History of Cold urticaria

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Common variable immunodeficiency

1952 — Ogden Bruton's report on agammaglobulinemia, United States (antecedent recognition)

History of Microscopic polyangiitis

First distinguishable pathological description circa 1866, in the work of Kussmaul and Maier on periarteritis nodosa; formal entity differentiated in 1948 by Davson and colleagues

History of Mastocytosis

1869, Victorian Britain — Nettleship and Tay clinical description

History of Polyarteritis nodosa

1866, Germany — Kussmaul and Maier's published clinical and autopsy report

History of Antiphospholipid syndrome

1906 — Wassermann reaction research, Germany (first laboratory precursor identified)

History of Myalgic encephalomyelitis

Cluster outbreaks described as early as 1934 at Los Angeles County General Hospital; formal clinical descriptions consolidated through the 1950s.

History of CREST syndrome

1753, Naples (Carlo Curzio's published case report, Kingdom of Naples)

History of Polymyositis

1863 CE — Ernst Leberecht Wagner's clinical and pathological case descriptions (Germany)

History of Sjögren's syndrome

1888 — Description by Jan Mikulicz-Radecki, published in German medical literature

Infectious Disease

Infectious Disease

History of Lyme disease

1909 — European medical literature (Arvid Afzelius, Sweden); paleomicrobiological evidence from Ötzi the Iceman, circa 3300 BCE

Infectious Disease

History of Leprosy

Circa 600 BCE — Sushruta Samhita, ancient India; Egyptian papyri of similar era

Infectious Disease

History of Tuberculosis

Approximately 2400 BCE — Egyptian mummies and Neolithic skeletal remains, Egypt and Europe

Infectious Disease

History of Sepsis

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

Infectious Disease

History of Rabies

circa 1930 BCE — Eshnunna Code, ancient Mesopotamia

Infectious Disease

History of Smallpox

circa 1157 BCE — mummy of Pharaoh Ramesses V, ancient Egypt

Infectious Disease

History of Bubonic plague

541 CE — Byzantine Empire, recorded by Procopius of Caesarea

Infectious Disease

History of Syphilis

1495 CE, Europe (first clearly documented epidemic among armies during the Italian Wars; possible pre-Columbian skeletal evidence from the Americas predates this)

Infectious Disease

History of Toxoplasmosis

1908 — Pasteur Institute, Tunis (Nicolle and Manceaux discovery in gundi rodent)

Infectious Disease

History of Measles

circa 900 CE, Persia — 'Kitab fi al-jadari wa-al-hasba' by Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Rhazes)

Infectious Disease

History of Anthrax

Circa 1550 BCE, possible references in ancient Egyptian and Hebrew texts; described explicitly in ancient Hindu Atharvaveda (circa 1200–1000 BCE)

Infectious Disease

History of Shingles

Circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic corpus (ancient Greece), descriptions of spreading vesicular eruptions under the term herpes

Infectious Disease

History of Meningitis

circa 5th century BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

Infectious Disease

History of HIV

circa early 20th century (retrospectively identified; earliest confirmed stored sample dated 1959, Leopoldville, Belgian Congo)

Infectious Disease

History of Cholera

Approximately 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus references a condition called 'cholera'; ancient Sanskrit medical texts from the Indian subcontinent describe a similar syndrome

Infectious Disease

History of Botulism

Early 19th century, Württemberg, Germany — systematic investigation by Justinus Kerner, with earlier unanalyzed outbreak reports from the late 18th century

Infectious Disease

History of Diphtheria

circa 5th century BCE, Ancient Greece / Hippocratic writings; also referenced in ancient Egyptian medical papyri

Infectious Disease

History of Necrotizing fasciitis

circa 500 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

Infectious Disease

History of Chickenpox

c. 10th century CE — Islamic world, writings of al-Razi (Rhazes), though not yet distinguished as a separate entity from smallpox

Infectious Disease

History of Herpes

Circa 400 BCE — Ancient Greece, Hippocratic corpus

Infectious Disease

History of Tetanus

circa 5th century BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus)

Infectious Disease

History of Scarlet fever

1553 CE, Italy — Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia's written account in Sicily, describing rossalia

Infectious Disease

History of Influenza

5th century BCE, Hippocratic corpus (ancient Greece); term 'influenza' documented c. 15th century CE, Italian chronicles

Infectious Disease

History of Mumps

c. 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocrates, Epidemics)

Infectious Disease

History of Hepatitis C

Circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece — epidemic jaundice descriptions in Hippocratic corpus, though hepatitis C as a distinct entity was first documented as non-A, non-B hepatitis in 1974–1975 by Harvey Alter and colleagues

Infectious Disease

History of Common cold

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus

Infectious Disease

History of Rubella

1752 CE, Germany — De Bergen's clinical description

Infectious Disease

History of Chlamydia

circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

Infectious Disease

History of Septic shock

circa 1600 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Edwin Smith Papyrus

Infectious Disease

History of Hepatitis B

circa 400 BCE, Ancient China (early Chinese medical texts describing epidemic jaundice); also referenced in Babylonian Talmud, circa 500 CE

Infectious Disease

History of Giardiasis

1681 — Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's microscopic observations, communicated to the Royal Society of London

Infectious Disease

History of West Nile virus

1937 — West Nile district, Uganda; isolation by K.C. Smithburn and colleagues at the Yellow Fever Research Institute

Infectious Disease

History of Coccidioidomycosis

1892, Argentina — Clinical and pathological documentation by Alejandro Posadas and Robert Wernicke

Infectious Disease

History of Cytomegalovirus

1904, Germany — Pathological description of enlarged inclusion-bearing cells by Jessy Ribbert

Infectious Disease

History of Fournier gangrene

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus contains descriptions of gangrenous genital conditions; the condition as a defined syndrome dates to Jean Alfred Fournier's 1883 presentation to the Société de Chirurgie de Paris

Infectious Disease

History of Candidiasis

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

Infectious Disease

History of Canine distemper

circa 1530s CE, Spain and France (early modern hunting and natural history manuscripts)

Infectious Disease

History of AIDS

1981, United States (CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, June 5, 1981)

Infectious Disease

History of Coronavirus disease 2019

December 2019, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China (initial cluster reports to Chinese health authorities)

Infectious Disease

History of Toxic shock syndrome

1978 CE — James K. Todd's case series published in The Lancet, United States

Infectious Disease

History of Tularemia

1818 — Japan (documented illness among wild hares consistent with tularemia, described by Japanese physicians); formal identification 1911, Tulare County, California, USA

Infectious Disease

History of Brucellosis

Circa 2000–1500 BCE — ancient Near East and Mediterranean (paleopathological skeletal evidence from archaeological sites); formal bacteriological identification 1887, Malta

Infectious Disease

History of Pharyngitis

Circa 2000 BCE, Sumerian clay tablets, Mesopotamia

Infectious Disease

History of Mucormycosis

1855 — Published case description by Friedrich Küchenmeister, Germany (first documented association of mucormycete fungi with human disease)

Infectious Disease

History of Blastomycosis

1894, United States — Thomas Caspar Gilchrist's first clinical description published in Baltimore medical literature

Infectious Disease

History of Tick-borne encephalitis

1930s — Soviet Far East; first formally investigated 1937 by Lev Zilber expedition

Infectious Disease

History of Rocky Mountain spotted fever

1870s–1880s, Bitterroot Valley, Montana, USA (settler and Indigenous oral/clinical accounts); formally described in medical literature by Edward Maxey in 1899

Infectious Disease

History of Hepatitis A

circa 400 BCE — Babylonian/Mesopotamian cuneiform medical tablets

Infectious Disease

History of Mastoiditis

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to suppurating ear conditions

Infectious Disease

History of Chlamydia trachomatis

circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

Infectious Disease

History of Trichomoniasis

1836 — Alfred François Donné's microscopic observations, France

Infectious Disease

History of Staphylococcal infection

Circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus descriptions of suppurating wounds and skin lesions)

Infectious Disease

History of Viral hemorrhagic fever

circa 1200 BCE — Mesopotamian Assyrian clay tablets describing hemorrhagic epidemic illness

Infectious Disease

History of Japanese encephalitis

1871 — epidemic encephalitis reports in Japanese medical literature; viral isolation confirmed in 1934 by Mitamura and colleagues in Japan

Infectious Disease

History of Congenital syphilis

c. 1497–1530, Italy/Europe — early sixteenth-century medical writings including Fracastoro's accounts following the European syphilis epidemic

Infectious Disease

History of Poliomyelitis

circa 1400 BCE, Ancient Egypt — stele of Roma depicting a priest with shortened, withered leg consistent with paralytic poliomyelitis

Infectious Disease

History of Neisseria meningitidis

5th century BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece (retrospective identification); first clearly documented epidemic description 1805, Geneva, Switzerland (Gaspard Vieusseux)

Infectious Disease

History of Histoplasmosis

1906 CE — Panama Canal Zone, United States; first pathological description by Samuel Taylor Darling

Infectious Disease

History of Herpangina

Likely described in fragmentary form within broader accounts of childhood throat fevers in the late 19th century; the first clearly delineated clinical description is attributed to Zahorsky in 1920.

Infectious Disease

History of Cowpox

Folk observations documented from at least the early 18th century in Gloucestershire, England; formal record in Edward Jenner's 1798 publication

Infectious Disease

History of Chancroid

circa 5th century BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus references to genital ulceration)

Infectious Disease

History of Cat-scratch disease

1950, France — Robert Debré's formal clinical description published in the medical literature

Infectious Disease

History of Q fever

1935, Australia — Edward Holbrook Derrick's investigation of febrile illness in Brisbane abattoir workers

Infectious Disease

History of Fifth disease

1889, European clinical literature — Nikolai Filatov's description, Russia

Infectious Disease

History of Melioidosis

1912 CE, Burma (British India) — Whitmore and Krishnaswami's published description of the causative organism and associated disease

Infectious Disease

History of Salmonellosis

1885, United States Bureau of Animal Industry, isolation by Theobald Smith

Infectious Disease

History of Ascariasis

circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Infectious Disease

History of Typhoid

Circa 430 BCE — Ancient Greece (Thucydides' account of the Plague of Athens; formal clinical distinction made by Pierre-Charles-Alexandre Louis, 1820s–1830s, France)

Infectious Disease

History of Myxozoa

Mid-19th century — Europe (initial descriptions in parasitological examinations of freshwater fish by European naturalists; formal classification developed through the 1870s–1890s)

Infectious Disease

History of Aspergillosis

1729 CE, Nova Plantarum Genera by Pier Antonio Micheli (Italy)

Infectious Disease

History of Swine influenza

1918, United States Midwest, J.S. Koen's field observations

Infectious Disease

History of Ehrlichiosis

1935 — Algeria; documented by E. Donatien and F. Lestoquard in canine subjects

Infectious Disease

History of Anaplasmosis

1910 — South Africa, Arnold Theiler's identification of Anaplasma marginale in cattle; human disease first described 1990, United States

Infectious Disease

History of Chlamydia pneumoniae

1965 CE, Taiwan (first laboratory isolation of the TW-183 strain by researchers conducting trachoma studies; formal species identification published 1989)

Infectious Disease

History of Spotted fever

Late 19th century — oral traditions among indigenous peoples of the Bitterroot Valley region; earliest formal Western medical documentation circa 1896–1899 in Idaho and Montana medical records

Infectious Disease History

History of Anthrax

Circa 700 BCE, ancient Hindu Vedic texts; also associated with biblical plague accounts circa 1200 BCE Egypt

Infectious Disease History

History of Cholera

400–500 BCE, ancient Sanskrit medical texts of the Indian subcontinent (Sushruta Samhita era)

Infectious Disease History

History of Dengue Fever

Approximately 265–420 CE, Jin Dynasty China, Chinese medical encyclopedia

Infectious Disease History

History of HIV/AIDS

1959 — Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (earliest confirmed archived sample, identified retrospectively through genetic analysis)

Infectious Disease History

History of Influenza

412 BCE — Ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus, 'Epidemic of Perinthus')

Infectious Disease History

History of Leprosy

c. 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Infectious Disease History

History of Malaria

Circa 2700 BCE, ancient China — descriptions of periodic fever in the Nei Ching attributed to Emperor Huangdi

Infectious Disease History

History of Plague

430 BCE, ancient Athens — account of the Plague of Athens recorded by historian Thucydides in History of the Peloponnesian War

Infectious Disease History

History of Polio

circa 1400 BCE — Ancient Egypt (stele of Roma, New Kingdom period)

Infectious Disease History

History of Rabies

Approximately 1930 BCE, Eshnunna law code, ancient Mesopotamia

Infectious Disease History

History of Smallpox

Circa 1157 BCE, mummified remains of Ramesses V (Egypt); literary records from Indian Sanskrit texts circa 1500 BCE

Infectious Disease History

History of Syphilis

1495 CE, Naples epidemic records, Europe

Infectious Disease History

History of Tuberculosis

Circa 2400 BCE, ancient Egypt — skeletal evidence in mummies and early textual references in Egyptian medical papyri

Infectious Disease History

History of Typhoid Fever

430 BCE, possible description by Thucydides in his account of the Plague of Athens (definitive identification disputed by historians)

Infectious Disease History

History of Typhus

1489 CE, siege of Granada, Spain

Infectious Disease History

History of Yellow Fever

1648, Yucatán Peninsula, recorded by Spanish colonial authorities

Musculoskeletal

Musculoskeletal

History of Ankylosing spondylitis

circa 3000 BCE, ancient Egypt (paleopathological skeletal evidence from Egyptian burial sites)

Musculoskeletal

History of Gout

circa 2600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus and related medical texts

Musculoskeletal

History of Fibromyalgia

Approximately 1500 BCE, ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus (references to generalized musculoskeletal pain syndromes)

Musculoskeletal

History of Dupuytren's contracture

Late 16th–early 17th century — Felix Plater, Basel (published observations in Observationum libri tres, 1614)

Musculoskeletal

History of Rhabdomyolysis

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

Musculoskeletal

History of Osteoarthritis

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to joint pain conditions; paleopathological evidence extends to prehistoric skeletal remains

Musculoskeletal

History of Osteoporosis

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus (ancient Egypt)

Musculoskeletal

History of Arthritis

Circa 4500 BCE, ancient Egypt and prehistoric skeletal remains — paleopathological evidence of joint disease; written reference in the Ebers Papyrus circa 1550 BCE

Musculoskeletal

History of Scoliosis

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus

Musculoskeletal

History of Costochondritis

c. 1600 BCE — Edwin Smith Papyrus (Egypt), thoracic injury descriptions

Musculoskeletal

History of Compartment syndrome

circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Corpus Hippocraticum — observations on tight dressings and limb complications)

Musculoskeletal

History of Carpal tunnel syndrome

1850s, British surgical literature (Sir James Paget's descriptions of post-fracture median nerve dysfunction)

Musculoskeletal

History of Psoriatic arthritis

c. 2nd century CE, ancient Rome (Galen's references to 'psora' in De Methodo Medendi and related texts)

Musculoskeletal

History of Rheumatism

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

Musculoskeletal

History of Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva

1692 — Guy Patin's referenced case, France; 1740 formal account by John Freke, England

Musculoskeletal

History of Kyphosis

c. 1600 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith Papyrus; also evidenced in skeletal remains of earlier periods)

Musculoskeletal

History of Osteomyelitis

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus (descriptions of bone afflictions with suppuration); paleopathological evidence extends to Neanderthal skeletal remains predating written records

Musculoskeletal

History of Osgood–Schlatter disease

1903 — Independent publications by Robert Bayley Osgood (Boston Medical and Surgical Journal) and Carl Schlatter (German surgical literature), representing the first formal medical descriptions; antecedent descriptions of adolescent knee swelling appear in 19th-century orthopedic literature without formal classification

Musculoskeletal

History of Polymyalgia rheumatica

1888 — William Bruce, clinical description published in British Medical Journal, United Kingdom

Musculoskeletal

History of Atrophy

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith and Ebers Papyri)

Musculoskeletal

History of Myopathy

Approximately 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

Musculoskeletal

History of Spondylolisthesis

Approximately 3000–2500 BCE, ancient Egypt (skeletal palaeopathological evidence)

Musculoskeletal

History of Clubfoot

circa 1300 BCE — Ancient Egypt (skeletal remains, Nineteenth Dynasty)

Musculoskeletal

History of Torticollis

Approximately 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus (ancient Egypt)

Musculoskeletal

History of Scheuermann's disease

Formally described 1920–1921 CE, Denmark (Holger Werfel Scheuermann, radiographic characterization); vertebral wedging in skeletal remains observed earlier by Christian Georg Schmorl, early 20th century Germany

Musculoskeletal

History of Thoracic outlet syndrome

1743 — Jean-Louis Petit's anatomical descriptions of cervical rib anomalies, France

Musculoskeletal

History of Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

c. 1600 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus descriptions of jaw dislocation and manipulation

Musculoskeletal

History of Trigger finger

Mid-seventeenth century, European medical literature

Musculoskeletal

History of Schwartz–Jampel syndrome

1962 — United States (Schwartz and Jampel's foundational clinical paper describing two affected siblings)

Musculoskeletal

History of Myositis

c. 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

Musculoskeletal

History of Paget's disease of bone

Ancient skeletal remains, c. 3000–1000 BCE (paleopathological evidence from Egyptian and pre-Columbian archaeological sites); first clinical description by Sir James Paget, 1877

Musculoskeletal

History of Cramp

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references painful muscular spasms and prescribes plant-based remedies

Musculoskeletal

History of Arthrogryposis

c. 2000–1600 BCE, Mesopotamian omen tablets (cuneiform records describing infants with congenital limb deformities)

Musculoskeletal

History of Reactive arthritis

circa 1507 CE, Spain (Gaspar Torrella's clinical writings)

Musculoskeletal

History of Repetitive strain injury

1700 — Bernardino Ramazzini, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba, Modena, Italy

Musculoskeletal

History of Otosclerosis

Late 17th–early 18th century, Italian anatomical literature (Antonio Valsalva)

Musculoskeletal

History of Hip dysplasia

Circa 400 BCE, ancient Greek medical literature (Hippocratic Corpus)

Musculoskeletal

History of Klippel–Feil syndrome

Circa 3000 BCE, ancient Egyptian skeletal remains identified in archaeological excavations

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Gout

c. 2600 BCE, Ancient Egyptian medical papyri

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Osteomyelitis

circa 3000 BCE, Ancient Egypt (paleopathological examination of mummies); prehistoric skeletal remains from multiple archaeological sites

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Osteoporosis

Paleopathological evidence from ancient Egyptian mummies, c. 3000–1000 BCE

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Rheumatoid Arthritis

c. 4500 BCE, Pre-Columbian skeletal remains, Tennessee and Alabama

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Rickets

Ancient Egypt and Roman-era skeletal remains; first formal written account by Francis Glisson, England, 1650

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Scoliosis

Ancient Greece, Hippocratic writings, approximately 5th–4th century BCE

Musculoskeletal Disease History

History of Scurvy

Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt, approximately 1550 BCE

Neurological

History of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

1869, France — Jean-Martin Charcot's clinical lectures at the Salpêtrière hospital, Paris

History of Frontotemporal dementia

1892, clinical case reports by Arnold Pick, Prague

History of Parkinson's disease

c. 1000 BCE — Ayurvedic texts, Ancient India (described as Kampavata)

History of Synesthesia

1725 CE — France, Louis Bertrand Castel's writings on color and music analogies

History of Multiple sclerosis

1380–1433, case of Lidwine of Schiedam, Netherlands (retrospectively analyzed); 1822, diary of Sir Augustus d'Esté, Britain

History of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease

1920 — German neurological literature (Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt's clinical report, published in Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie)

History of Tourette syndrome

c. 1489 CE — Referenced in Malleus Maleficarum and related ecclesiastical records, Europe

History of Alzheimer's disease

Circa 2000 BCE — Ancient Egypt (references to age-related cognitive decline in papyri)

History of Guillain–Barré syndrome

1859 — Jean-Baptiste Octave Landry, France (first systematic case series of ascending paralysis later associated with the syndrome)

History of Narcolepsy

1877 — Germany (Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal's clinical description of episodic muscle weakness in sleep-prone patients)

History of Huntington's disease

1630s–1650s, colonial New England parish and court records (East Hampton, Long Island)

History of Cerebral palsy

Circa 1500 BCE, ancient Egyptian medical papyri (Ebers Papyrus era references to childhood motor anomalies)

History of Ménière's disease

Descriptions of recurrent vertigo with auditory features appear in Galenic texts from the 2nd century CE, though formal identification of the condition dates to 1861, France

History of Stroke

Approximately 1700 BCE, ancient Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus (descriptions of sudden paralysis and neurological deficit)

History of Encephalitis lethargica

1916–1917, Vienna, Austria — clinical records of Constantin von Economo

History of Peripheral neuropathy

Circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus (traumatic nerve injury descriptions)

History of Dementia

circa 6th century BCE — Ancient Greek philosophical and Hippocratic texts

History of Encephalitis

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith Papyrus, with related descriptions in Mesopotamian cuneiform medical tablets)

History of Epilepsy

circa 1050 BCE (with material from earlier periods), ancient Babylonia (Sakikku diagnostic text)

History of Bell's palsy

circa 1700 BCE, ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith and Ebers Papyri contain descriptions consistent with facial palsy)

History of Microcephaly

Circa 1500 BCE — Ancient Egyptian medical papyri contain references to individuals with abnormally small skulls; further early documentation appears in Greco-Roman texts from approximately the 4th century BCE

History of Amnesia

Circa 4th century BCE — Hippocratic corpus, Ancient Greece, with philosophical treatment by Aristotle in the same period

History of Dementia with Lewy bodies

1912 — Frederic Lewy's description of cortical and brainstem inclusions in Parkinson's disease patients, published in Handbuch der Neurologie, Germany

History of Tinnitus

Circa 1600 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Hydrocephalus

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus and Edwin Smith Papyrus)

History of Restless legs syndrome

1685 CE, England (Thomas Willis, The London Practice of Physick)

History of Sciatica

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to lower limb pain)

History of Minamata disease

1956, Japan, Chisso Factory Hospital and Kumamoto University clinical records

History of Dyscalculia

1919, European neurology (Salomon Eberhard Henschen, formal clinical coinage); brain-injury observations of numerical loss: late 19th century, German neurological tradition

History of Progressive supranuclear palsy

1963–1964, Steele, Richardson, and Olszewski case series, Canada (though earlier undifferentiated cases appeared in 19th-century European neurology records)

History of Ataxia

Circa 400 BCE — Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Migraine

circa 3000 BCE — Ancient Mesopotamia (Babylonian clay tablets)

History of Developmental coordination disorder

Late 19th century — European neurological and asylum literature (German and French clinical observations)

History of Mercury poisoning

circa 4th century BCE — Ancient China (alchemical texts referencing cinnabar elixirs)

History of Dysautonomia

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus

History of Lead poisoning

c. 370 BCE, ancient Greece (attributed to Hippocratic corpus)

History of Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome

1881 CE, Germany (Carl Wernicke, Die acutehämorrhagische Polio-encephalitis superior)

History of Locked-in syndrome

1844 CE, France — Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo (literary description); formally defined 1966 by Plum and Posner

History of Neurosyphilis

circa 1493–1495, epidemic descriptions in European medical and historical chronicles following Italian Wars

History of Trigeminal neuralgia

circa 550 CE, writings of Aetius of Amida, Byzantine Empire

History of Barbiturate overdose

1902 — Emil Fischer and Joseph von Mering's synthesis and documentation of barbital's effects, Germany

History of Anterograde amnesia

1881 — Théodule Ribot's clinical observations published in 'Les Maladies de la Mémoire,' France; earlier clinical patterns noted by Korsakoff in 1887, Russia

History of Dystonia

Circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to spasmodic and twisting bodily afflictions)

History of Alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus references to tremor and agitation in habitual wine drinkers upon cessation)

History of Delirium

Approximately 2000 BCE, ancient Mesopotamia (Babylonian cuneiform medical texts describing febrile mental disturbance)

History of Nystagmus

Circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Exploding head syndrome

1876 — published clinical observations by Silas Weir Mitchell, United States

History of Anencephaly

circa 2000 BCE — Babylonian teratological omen texts (Šumma ālu series)

History of Dysgraphia

c. 400 BCE — Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus, observations of motor impairment following head injury)

History of Arteriovenous malformation

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus (reflects observations of sudden cerebral episodes, though without vascular mechanistic explanation)

History of Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus (descriptions of progressive limb paralysis attributed to phlegmatic humoral corruption of nervous pathways)

History of Sensory processing disorder

No ancient-specific record exists for this condition as a discrete entity; earliest relevant conceptual precursors appear in Hippocratic humoral texts (circa 400 BCE) describing melancholic temperament and sensory sensitivity

History of Hyperthermia

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to excessive heat-related bodily collapse

History of Tardive dyskinesia

1957 — Early clinical descriptions appeared in European psychiatric literature following chlorpromazine's widespread adoption; formal syndrome recognition crystallized by the early 1960s

History of Paraplegia

circa 1600 BCE (with content possibly dating to circa 3000 BCE) — Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus

History of Complex regional pain syndrome

1557 — Ambroise Paré's surgical writings, France

History of Encephalopathy

Circa 1600 BCE, Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus, describing brain injury and altered consciousness

History of Spinal muscular atrophy

Approximately 400 BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Ciguatera fish poisoning

circa 1511–1526, Spanish colonial accounts of Caribbean exploration, documented by Pedro Martír de Anglería

History of Anton syndrome

1899 — Gabriel Anton's published clinical case studies, Vienna

History of Scrapie

1732 CE — British House of Commons report, United Kingdom

History of Congenital insensitivity to pain

1932 — George Dearborn's clinical case report, United States (early systematic medical documentation); anecdotal references in European medical literature from the 18th century

History of Myoclonus

Approximately 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus (ancient Greece)

History of Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

Late 1950s, France — Jean Delay and Pierre Deniker's published clinical descriptions at Sainte-Anne Hospital, Paris

History of Foreign accent syndrome

1907 — documented by Pierre Marie, France

History of Alien hand syndrome

1908 — First formal clinical description by Kurt Goldstein, published in German neurological literature; earlier supernatural interpretations predate formal medical documentation by centuries

History of Cluster headache

Second century CE, Roman Empire (Aretaeus of Cappadocia's descriptions of severe periodic unilateral headache); more specific prefiguring accounts appeared in seventeenth-century European medical literature

History of Retrograde amnesia

1st century CE, Roman Empire — Pliny the Elder, Natural History

History of Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

1933 — United States, James Dawson's initial case series publications

History of Transverse myelitis

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith Papyrus — spinal cord injury observations); formal inflammatory entity described 1882 CE, Britain (Henry Bastian)

History of Anosmia

circa 5th–4th century BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus — olfactory disturbance after head wounds)

History of Cerebral hypoxia

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Moyamoya disease

1957, Japan — Takeuchi Kiyoshi and colleagues' early angiographic observations published in Japanese medical literature

History of Multiple system atrophy

1900, Dejerine and Thomas description of olivopontocerebellar atrophy, France

History of Corticobasal degeneration

1968 — Rebeiz, Kolodny, and Richardson's clinicopathological report, Canada/United States

History of Labyrinthitis

c. 400 BCE — Ancient Greece, Hippocratic Corpus

History of Apraxia

circa 1600 BCE — Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Kleine–Levin syndrome

1925, Germany — Willi Kleine's clinical case series published in European neurology literature

History of Sensorineural hearing loss

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Spasmodic dysphonia

Circa 400 BCE, ancient Greek Hippocratic corpus

History of Spinal cord injury

Circa 1700 BCE (reflecting older traditions), Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Sydenham's chorea

1374 CE, chronicles of dancing mania in the Rhineland, Germany; formal medical description 1686 CE by Thomas Sydenham

History of Auditory processing disorder

Mid-20th century formal clinical description; foundational neurological lesion studies from late 19th century European neurology

History of Hearing loss

c. 1600 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Edwin Smith Papyrus

History of Strychnine poisoning

Nux vomica plant described in Chinese medical texts as early as the 13th century CE; introduced to European medicine circa 16th century; strychnine alkaloid isolated 1818 by Pelletier and Caventou

History of Horner's syndrome

1838, United States — Edward Selleck Hare clinical case report

History of Anomic aphasia

Circa 1700 BCE — Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt (description of speech loss following traumatic head injury)

History of Batten disease

1903 CE, United Kingdom — clinical and pathological description by Frederick Eustace Batten; general childhood neurological deterioration described in ancient Hippocratic and medieval European texts without specific identification

History of Lennox–Gastaut syndrome

c. 2000 BCE, ancient Mesopotamia — cuneiform tablets describing seizure phenomena; syndrome formally defined in 1966 CE by Henri Gastaut

History of Klüver–Bucy syndrome

1937, University of Chicago experimental research publications (Klüver and Bucy animal studies)

History of Chorea

circa 400 BCE — Ancient Greece, Hippocratic Corpus (descriptions of convulsive and spasmodic conditions)

History of Transient global amnesia

Approximately 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

History of Parkinsonism

c. 1st–2nd century CE, Charaka Samhita, ancient Indian Ayurvedic tradition (Kampavata); also referenced in Egyptian papyri c. 1700 BCE

History of Non-24-hour sleep–wake disorder

1729 — Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan's observations on endogenous plant rhythms, France (earliest foundational chronobiology record); clinical characterization of human free-running rhythms emerged 1960s, West Germany

History of Focal dystonia

circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus descriptions of localized muscle spasms

History of Photosensitive epilepsy

c. 2000 BCE — Babylonian clay tablets (Mesopotamia)

History of Deafness

c. 2500 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references; Mesopotamian legal codes)

History of Dyskinesia

c. 2000 BCE, ancient Mesopotamia (cuneiform medical tablets describing convulsive and trembling states)

History of Tick paralysis

Informal 19th-century livestock observations in Australia and North America; first formal human case series published 1912, British Columbia, Canada (Bancroft report)

History of Parry–Romberg syndrome

Late 18th–early 19th century; recorded by Caleb Hillier Parry, England

History of Lissencephaly

Early 19th century — European neuropathological case reports, German and French medical literature

History of Spasmodic torticollis

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Demyelinating disease

1838, Germany, Theodor Schwann's description of myelin-forming cells; clinicopathological framework established 1860s by Charcot

History of Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy

1958 CE — Case series published by Astrom, Mancall, and Richardson, United States

History of Syringomyelia

1827 — France; Charles-Prosper Ollivier d'Angers formally named and described the condition in his monograph on spinal cord diseases

History of Benign fasciculation syndrome

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece (involuntary muscle movements generally)

History of Diabetic neuropathy

circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Neurological Disease History

History of Alzheimer's Disease

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic writings on age-related cognitive decline, ancient Greece

Neurological Disease History

History of Cerebral Palsy

c. 1350 BCE, Egyptian art depicting individuals with hemiplegic postures, ancient Egypt

Neurological Disease History

History of Encephalitis

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic writings on phrenitis and brain fever, ancient Greece

Neurological Disease History

History of Epilepsy

c. 2000 BCE, Babylonian Sakikku diagnostic tablet, Mesopotamia

Neurological Disease History

History of Huntington's Disease

c. 1630, church court records of St. Osyth, Essex, England

Neurological Disease History

History of Meningitis

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic corpus descriptions of neck rigidity and fever, ancient Greece

Neurological Disease History

History of Migraine

c. 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Neurological Disease History

History of Multiple Sclerosis

c. 1395, hagiographic records of Lidwine of Schiedam, Netherlands

Neurological Disease History

History of Parkinson's Disease

c. 1000 BCE, Ayurvedic text describing Kampavata, ancient India

Nutritional

History of Scurvy

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus descriptions of possible scorbutic conditions; Greek and Roman texts contain additional early references

History of Pellagra

Circa 1735 — Gaspar Casal's observations in Asturias, Spain (published posthumously 1762)

History of Rickets

c. 5th–4th century BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus references to childhood skeletal deformities consistent with rickets)

History of Kwashiorkor

Late 19th century CE — West Africa and Caribbean (colonial medical reports); formally described 1933, Gold Coast (British colonial medical service records)

History of Arsenic poisoning

c. 2000 BCE — Ancient Chinese medical texts (referencing realgar and orpiment)

History of Beriberi

Approximately 2600 BCE — Ancient Chinese medical texts, including references attributed to the Nei Ching tradition

History of Iodine deficiency

circa 2700 BCE, Ancient China — Pen Ts'ao Ching (attributed to Emperor Shennong)

History of Iron deficiency

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Hypervitaminosis A

Pre-contact era, Inuit oral tradition and cultural prohibitions, Arctic regions; first European written records circa 16th–17th century Arctic expedition accounts

History of Dental fluorosis

mid-19th century — Italy and United States, early clinical observations of mottled enamel in volcanic and mineral-rich districts

History of Zinc deficiency

Circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — zinc oxide-containing compounds referenced in the Ebers Papyrus for topical medical use

Oncology

History of Lymphoma

Ancient Greece (humoral descriptions of glandular swellings, Hippocratic corpus); first distinct pathological description 1832, Guy's Hospital, London

History of Glioblastoma

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith Papyrus references brain pathology, though not tumors specifically; first clear autopsy descriptions of brain masses emerged in Renaissance Europe, circa 16th century CE)

History of Pancreatic cancer

circa 300 BCE — Ancient Greece (Herophilus of Chalcedon's anatomical description of the pancreas); pancreatic cancer as a pathological entity distinguished in 18th–19th century European autopsy series

History of Cancer

Circa 3000–1600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus and Ebers Papyrus descriptions of breast tumors and surface growths

History of Leukemia

1845, formal clinical documentation — John Hughes Bennett, Edinburgh; retrospective references in ancient Egyptian and Greek texts remain unverified as distinct entities

History of Acute myeloid leukemia

1845 CE — Case reports by John Hughes Bennett (Edinburgh) and Rudolf Virchow (Berlin), representing the first recognized clinical descriptions

History of Rhabdomyosarcoma

c. 1863 — Wilhelm Waldeyer's histological description of striated muscle-origin tumors, Germany

History of Mesothelioma

First century CE — Pliny the Elder, Roman natural historian, noted respiratory illness among asbestos workers

History of Lung cancer

Circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to internal tumors, though not specifically identified as lung cancer

History of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus — descriptions of lymphatic swellings)

History of Adenoid cystic carcinoma

circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece (as undifferentiated glandular tumor)

History of Teratoma

circa 600 BCE, Babylonian clay tablets (Mesopotamia)

History of Breast cancer

Circa 1600 BCE (possibly copying material from circa 2500 BCE), ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus

History of Stomach cancer

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus

History of Cervical cancer

circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Cholangiocarcinoma

circa 1550 BCE — general hepatobiliary disease references in the Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt; biliary obstruction described clinically in the Hippocratic corpus, circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece

History of Neuroendocrine tumor

1888 — Otto Lubarsch's post-mortem documentation of multiple small intestinal tumors, Germany

History of Neuroendocrine cancer

1888 — Otto Lubarsch's autopsy documentation of metastasizing intestinal tumors, Germany

History of Ovarian cancer

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus (ancient Greece), general descriptions of abdominal swellings and female reproductive disorders; earliest recognizable pathological description of ovarian tumors, circa 1793 — Matthew Baillie, Morbid Anatomy

History of Meningioma

Circa 1614 CE, Basel — Felix Platter's autopsy records (earliest probable documented case)

History of Leiomyosarcoma

Circa 1600 BCE — ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith Papyrus, documenting tumorous masses considered untreatable; retrospective context only); formal histological identification as a distinct entity, mid-to-late 19th century CE

History of Thyroid cancer

circa 3rd century BCE, ancient China, classical Chinese medical texts describing neck swellings treated with seaweed

History of Neuroblastoma

1864, German pathological literature (Rudolf Virchow-era autopsy reports)

History of Retinoblastoma

1597 CE, Netherlands — Pieter Pauw's anatomical description of an orbital tumor in a child

History of Squamous cell carcinoma

circa 1600 BCE, ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus

History of Renal cell carcinoma

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Chronic myelogenous leukemia

1845, Edinburgh, Scotland and Berlin, Prussia — simultaneous descriptions by John Hughes Bennett and Rudolf Virchow

History of Leukoplakia

Approximately 1866, European clinical medicine; formal naming attributed to Moritz Kaposi

History of Glioma

Circa 1600 BCE — Edwin Smith Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Mycosis fungoides

First formally described by Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert in 1806, Paris, France.

History of Bone tumor

c. 100,000 BCE, Neanderthal rib specimen from Krapina, Croatia (paleopathological identification)

History of Hepatocellular carcinoma

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt (references to liver disease); more specific pathological descriptions from Giovanni Battista Morgagni's 1761 work

History of Thymoma

circa 2nd century CE, Galenic medical texts (Roman Empire)

History of Erdheim–Chester disease

1930, University of Vienna — Erdheim and Chester's original publication

History of Chondrosarcoma

circa 1600 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Edwin Smith Papyrus references to hard skeletal swellings

History of Angiosarcoma

Circa 1600 BCE, Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Hodgkin's disease

1832 CE, England (Thomas Hodgkin's paper in Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, though lymph node swelling descriptions date to antiquity)

History of Dysplasia

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece (descriptions of abnormal tissue growths)

History of Nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Han dynasty China, circa 200 BCE–200 CE, classical Chinese medical texts

History of Pseudomyxoma peritonei

1842, Vienna, Austria — Karl Freiherr von Rokitansky, post-mortem pathological record

History of Astrocytoma

Circa 1600 BCE — Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt (intracranial pathology generally)

History of Liposarcoma

circa 1600 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Edwin Smith Papyrus, descriptions of untreatable hard swellings); specific entity characterized 1944, United States (Arthur Purdy Stout, Columbia University)

History of Hepatoblastoma

Late 19th century — early pathological case reports in European surgical and pathology literature, with systematic description emerging circa 1880s–1900s

Oncology History

History of Breast Cancer

c. 1600 BCE (Edwin Smith Papyrus, Ancient Egypt)

Oncology History

History of Cancer (General History)

c. 1600 BCE (Edwin Smith Papyrus, Ancient Egypt)

Oncology History

History of Leukemia

1845 CE (John Hughes Bennett, Edinburgh; Rudolf Virchow, Berlin — first clinical descriptions)

Oncology History

History of Lymphoma

1832, Thomas Hodgkin's publication in Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, London, England

Ophthalmology

History of Glaucoma

circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, Ancient Greece

History of Color blindness

1798 CE — John Dalton's paper 'Extraordinary Facts Relating to the Vision of Colours,' the first systematic scientific account

History of Myopia

Approximately 4th century BCE, Ancient Greece (Aristotle's writings)

History of Amblyopia

Approximately 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Strabismus

Approximately 1500 BCE, ancient Mesopotamian omen texts and Egyptian medical sources

History of Macular degeneration

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus (general visual impairment descriptions)

History of Conjunctivitis

Circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Blepharitis

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus

History of Astigmatism

1801, Thomas Young's optical self-examination, Great Britain

History of Cataract

Circa 600 BCE — Sushruta Samhita, ancient India

History of Esotropia

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Stye

circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Keratoconus

1729 — Benedict Duddell's clinical description, England

History of Retinitis pigmentosa

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt (descriptions of night blindness and progressive visual loss)

History of Chalazion

Approximately 5th–4th century BCE, ancient Greek Hippocratic corpus

History of Trachoma

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus descriptions of chronic eye inflammation

History of Exophthalmos

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Presbyopia

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus references to age-related vision changes)

History of Choroideremia

1872, Austrian medical literature (Ludwig von Weitenweber)

History of Achromatopsia

1798 CE — John Dalton's published paper, Manchester, England

History of Uveitis

c. 2000 BCE, Mesopotamian cuneiform medical tablets (Assyrian and Babylonian medical traditions); also Ebers Papyrus, c. 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt

History of Diplopia

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Scotoma

Classical antiquity — references to visual dimming in Hippocratic corpus (circa 400 BCE); physiological blind spot formally demonstrated 1668 by Edme Mariotte, France

History of Papilledema

1851, Germany — first observable clinical description made possible by Helmholtz's ophthalmoscope; earlier indirect references in ancient Greek and Galenic medical texts regarding visual disturbances in brain disease

History of Optic neuritis

Second century CE — Galenic medical writings, Roman Empire

Ophthalmology History

History of Cataracts

c. 600 BCE, Sushruta Samhita, ancient India

Ophthalmology History

History of Glaucoma

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

Ophthalmology History

History of Trachoma

c. 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Pediatric

History of Sudden infant death syndrome

circa 950 BCE — Hebrew Bible (First Book of Kings)

History of Craniosynostosis

circa 3000–2500 BCE, Ancient Egypt — skulls with fused cranial sutures identified in skeletal remains from burial sites at Giza

History of Cleft lip

circa 390 BCE, Ancient China — Zhou dynasty medical records (fragmentary)

Pediatric Disease History

History of Diphtheria

circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic writings, Ancient Greece

Pediatric Disease History

History of Measles

circa 900 CE, Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Rhazes), Persia

Pediatric Disease History

History of Mumps

Circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, Ancient Greece

Pediatric Disease History

History of Rickets in Children

Ancient skeletal evidence from Egyptian mummies and Roman burial sites; first formal medical treatise circa 1650 CE by Francis Glisson, England

Pediatric Disease History

History of Rubella

Circa 1740s, German medical literature, attributed to Friedrich Hoffmann and contemporaries

Pediatric Disease History

History of Scarlet Fever

1553, Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia, Sicily

Psychiatric

History of Autism

Approximately 1400s CE — European changeling folklore and ecclesiastical records describing children with unusual behaviors

History of Suicide

circa 2000 BCE — Ancient Egyptian text 'Dialogue of a Man Who Contemplates Suicide with His Soul' (also known as 'The Dispute of a Man Who Contemplates Suicide with His Ba')

History of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

1798 — Alexander Crichton's 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Mental Derangement,' Scotland/United Kingdom

History of Asperger syndrome

1944, University Children's Hospital Vienna — Hans Asperger's paper 'Die autistischen Psychopathen im Kindesalter'

History of Borderline personality disorder

1938, United States — Adolf Stern's paper 'An Investigation of the Group of Borderline Neuroses' in the Psychoanalytic Quarterly

History of Schizophrenia

circa 1400 BCE, Atharva Veda, ancient India

History of Narcissistic personality disorder

c. 8 CE — Ovid's Metamorphoses, Roman Empire (mythological source); clinical use of term dates to 1898, Havelock Ellis

History of Bipolar disorder

circa 1st–2nd century CE — writings of Aretaeus of Cappadocia, ancient Greece/Roman Empire

History of Paraphilia

circa 1754 BCE — Code of Hammurabi, Babylonian civilization

History of Dissociative identity disorder

Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt (supernatural possession accounts); first systematic medical documentation circa 1784–1800, France

History of Agoraphobia

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece (descriptions of irrational public dread attributed to humoral imbalance)

History of Obsessive–compulsive disorder

Medieval period, circa 1000–1500 CE — European religious manuscripts documenting scrupulosity

History of Antisocial personality disorder

1801 — Philippe Pinel's 'Traité médico-philosophique sur l'aliénation mentale,' France

History of Major depressive disorder

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to states of mental and emotional suffering; Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets of similar antiquity describe demonic afflictions resembling melancholia

History of Psychosis

Circa 1900 BCE, ancient Mesopotamia — cuneiform tablets describing rituals for individuals experiencing severe mental derangement attributed to demonic possession

History of Anorexia nervosa

circa 1373 CE, documented accounts of Catherine of Siena's fasting behaviors, Medieval Italy; formal medical description 1873 CE, William Gull, England

History of Histrionic personality disorder

Circa 1900 BCE, ancient Egypt — Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus

History of Schizoid personality disorder

Conceptual precursors in ancient Greek humoral theory (circa 4th century BCE); formal psychiatric articulation in early 20th century Germany and Switzerland

History of Gender dysphoria

Ancient records circa 2nd century CE — descriptions in Roman texts; systematic medical categorization beginning 1860s Germany with Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal

History of Body dysmorphic disorder

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greek medical texts (Hippocratic corpus and Galenic tradition describing melancholia with somatic fixation)

History of Avoidant personality disorder

Approximately 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus (melancholic temperament descriptions, ancient Greece)

History of Schizotypal personality disorder

Conceptual precursors in Hippocratic humoral medicine, circa 400 BCE; direct psychiatric lineage from Eugen Bleuler, 1911 CE

History of Dysthymia

Approximately 5th century BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Schizoaffective disorder

Ancient Greece, circa 4th century BCE — Hippocratic corpus descriptions of mania and melancholia; modern formulation: 1933, Jacob Kasanin's clinical paper, Boston Psychopathic Hospital, USA

History of Delirium tremens

5th century BCE, Hippocratic corpus (ancient Greece)

History of Bulimia nervosa

Circa 2nd century CE — writings of Galen of Pergamon (Roman Empire), describing bulimos as a disorder of extreme hunger

History of Trichotillomania

Ancient Greek and Roman literary sources (pre-clinical context); first formal clinical description by François Henri Hallopeau, 1889, France

History of Selective mutism

1877, Germany — clinical description by Adolf Kussmaul

History of Hypochondriasis

circa 5th century BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Cyclothymia

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greek medicine (Hippocratic corpus)

History of Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder

Late 1950s — published surveys of LSD adverse effects in American psychiatric literature, notably Sidney Cohen's 1960 study

History of Dissociative fugue

1870s, French medical literature (Étienne Eugène Azam's documentation of alternating states, referencing earlier anecdotal legal and ecclesiastical records)

History of Generalized anxiety disorder

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus, references to heart-related fear states)

History of Oppositional defiant disorder

c. 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus discussions of temperamental excess in children, ancient Greece

History of Acrophobia

circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus

History of Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder

c. 319 BCE — Ancient Greece (Theophrastus, Characters)

History of Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome

1960s — early post-marketing clinical case reports following the introduction of chlordiazepoxide (Librium) in the United States and Europe

History of Mass psychogenic illness

1374 CE — Rhine Valley, Holy Roman Empire (chronicle accounts of the Aachen dancing epidemic)

History of Procrastination

c. 350 BCE — Ancient Greece (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics)

History of Neurasthenia

1869 — George Miller Beard's paper in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, United States

History of Conversion disorder

circa 5th–4th century BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

History of Sadistic personality disorder

1886 — Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis, Vienna

History of Delusional disorder

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus (ancient Greece), descriptions of paranoia and melancholia involving fixed false beliefs

History of Paranoid personality disorder

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece (humoral descriptions of fearfulness and suspicion in melancholic temperament)

History of Dependent personality disorder

1924 — Karl Abraham, 'A Short Study of the Development of the Libido,' Germany

History of Panic disorder

Circa 1550 BCE — Edwin Smith Papyrus, ancient Egypt; ancient Greek literary sources referencing Pan

History of Fugue state

1887, France — Philippe Tissié's published case study of Albert Dadas

History of Reactive attachment disorder

c. 1945 — United States/Europe, René Spitz's clinical documentation of hospitalism in foundling institutions

History of Seasonal affective disorder

c. 400 BCE — Ancient Greece, Hippocratic corpus (Airs, Waters, and Places)

History of Stimulant psychosis

Pre-Columbian era, Andean civilizations (historical accounts of behavioral disturbances associated with coca use, documented through later ethnographic and archaeological records)

History of Conduct disorder

Circa 350 BCE, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle, ancient Greece

History of Emetophobia

Early 20th century clinical literature; retrospective identification in 1930s–1940s psychiatric case reports

History of Elective mutism

1877 CE — Adolf Kussmaul's publication on speech disturbances, Germany

History of Dissociative amnesia

Ancient and medieval records across multiple civilizations; earliest systematic clinical documentation in 17th–18th century European hospital and military records

History of Benzodiazepine dependence

Dependency on sedative-hypnotic substances formally documented from 1850s onward (bromide dependence); benzodiazepine-specific dependence first reported in medical literature c. late 1960s

History of Nonverbal learning disorder

1970s — North America; foundational research by Byron Rourke at the University of Windsor

History of Schizophreniform disorder

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt — Ebers Papyrus

History of Self-defeating personality disorder

1924, Vienna — Sigmund Freud, 'The Economic Problem of Masochism'

History of Separation anxiety disorder

2nd century CE — Galen of Pergamon's writings on childhood temperament and humoral theory

Psychiatric History

History of Addiction

circa 3400 BCE, Sumerian clay tablets, ancient Mesopotamia

Psychiatric History

History of Anxiety Disorders

c. 1500 BCE, Mesopotamian (Babylonian cuneiform medical texts)

Psychiatric History

History of Depression

c. 1500 BCE, Mesopotamian (Babylonian/Assyrian cuneiform texts)

Psychiatric History

History of Hysteria

circa 1900 BCE, Kahun Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Psychiatric History

History of Schizophrenia

c. 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus, disputed interpretation)

Psychiatric History

History of Shell Shock and PTSD

490 BCE, account by Herodotus, ancient Greece

Renal

History of Bright's disease

c. 400 BCE — Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus, references to dropsy and frothy urine)

History of Hypothermia

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus (ancient Greece), describing the clinical significance of bodily cold in prognosis

History of Uremia

c. 2nd century CE, Ancient Rome (Galen, De Locis Affectis)

History of Prune belly syndrome

1839 — Frederick John Fröhlich, European medical literature

History of Enuresis

c. 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Hypokalemia

1807 — England, Humphry Davy's isolation of potassium as precondition for eventual clinical recognition

History of Hyperkalemia

1807, Great Britain — Humphry Davy's isolation of potassium as an element; clinical recognition of hyperkalemia as a specific electrolyte disorder emerged in the 1930s–1940s

History of Interstitial cystitis

1887, United States — Alexander Skene's clinical description published in American gynecological literature

History of Nephrotic syndrome

c. 400 BCE, Ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus descriptions of dropsy associated with flank organ dysfunction

History of Hydronephrosis

circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus, general renal obstruction descriptions); specific anatomical correlation established 18th century CE

History of Metabolic acidosis

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Pyelonephritis

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Alport syndrome

Late 19th century case reports of familial hematuria and nephritis; formal consolidation: 1927, British medical literature (Alport's publication in the British Medical Journal)

History of Polycystic kidney disease

Speculative ancient references in Greco-Roman anatomical texts; first clear postmortem documentation in European pathological literature, 17th–18th century

History of Renal failure

circa 1750 BCE, Babylonian medical texts (Mesopotamia)

History of Glomerulonephritis

circa 5th–4th century BCE, Ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus

History of IgA nephropathy

circa 1550 BCE, Ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus, general kidney and urinary disorder descriptions); specific entity identified 1968, France (Berger and Hinglais, Necker Hospital)

Reproductive

History of Endometriosis

c. 1800 BCE — Kahun Gynecological Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Adenomyosis

First microscopically described 1860 by Karl von Rokitansky, Vienna; clinical awareness of associated uterine changes noted in earlier surgical and autopsy literature

History of Ectopic pregnancy

circa 11th century CE, writings of Albucasis (Al-Zahrawi), Andalusia

History of Vaginismus

circa 2nd century CE — Soranus of Ephesus, Gynecology (indirect antecedents); formal named description 1861 — James Marion Sims, clinical writings

History of Diphallia

1609, documented by Swiss physician Johannes Jacob Wecker; earlier uncategorized references appear in Babylonian omen texts (circa 1000 BCE)

History of Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

circa 5th century BCE, ancient Greece — Hippocratic Corpus references to cyclical uterine influence on female temperament

History of Anorgasmia

circa 5th century BCE, ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Müllerian agenesis

Early 19th century CE — August Franz Joseph Karl Mayer's anatomical descriptions, Germany; earlier anatomical dissection literature from Renaissance Europe, 16th century CE

History of Hypoactive sexual desire disorder

Circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic corpus discussions of sexual dysfunction and humoral imbalance)

History of Dyspareunia

c. 1800 BCE, Kahun Gynecological Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of HELLP syndrome

Early 19th century, European obstetric literature describing acute hepatic failure in pregnancy

History of Delayed ejaculation

circa 5th–4th century BCE, Ancient Greece — Hippocratic corpus references to disorders of seminal emission

History of Amenorrhea

c. 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt, Ebers Papyrus

History of Bacterial vaginosis

c. 1800 BCE — Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Epididymitis

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, Ancient Greece

History of Prostatitis

c. 900–1000 CE — Ibn Sina's Canon of Medicine descriptions of perineal and urinary tract disorders (Persia/Islamic world); prostate-specific anatomical description: 1536 CE, Niccolò Massa (Italy)

History of Pelvic inflammatory disease

circa 5th century BCE — Ancient Greece; Hippocratic corpus descriptions of uterine inflammation and suppuration

History of Pseudohermaphroditism

c. 2000 BCE — Mesopotamian omen literature (cuneiform tablets)

Reproductive and Obstetric History

History of Congenital Syphilis

c. 1494 CE, European epidemic records and Italian Wars medical accounts

Reproductive and Obstetric History

History of Eclampsia

c. 1900 BCE, Kahun Papyrus (Ancient Egypt)

Reproductive and Obstetric History

History of Puerperal Fever

c. 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus (Ancient Greece)

Respiratory

History of Pneumonia

c. 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, Ancient Greece

History of Cyanide poisoning

circa 1550 BCE, Egypt — Ebers Papyrus references to peach-derived toxic preparations

History of Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Circa 400 BCE, ancient Greece — Hippocratic writings referencing respiratory illness among miners

History of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece — Hippocratic corpus

History of Emphysema

Approximately 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus (ancient Greece)

History of Legionnaires' disease

1947 — Retrospectively identified through preserved serum samples from a laboratory worker's illness; earliest confirmed serological evidence

History of Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Approximately 400 BCE, Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Pneumothorax

c. 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Decompression sickness

1854, Pol and Watelle clinical observations, Pont de la Guillotière bridge construction, France

History of Asthma

Circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Atelectasis

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus (indirect antecedents in descriptions of lung disease); formal pathological description mid-19th century CE, European pathological anatomy tradition

History of Whooping cough

1578 — Guillaume de Baillou's description of a Parisian epidemic, widely considered the first reliable European clinical account; possible earlier Chinese descriptions exist from the same century

History of Silicosis

circa 1st century CE, Roman Empire (Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia)

History of Fibrosis

circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece, describing chronic pulmonary decline including possible fibrotic conditions under the broad term 'phthisis'

History of Pleural effusion

Circa 400 BCE — Hippocratic Corpus, ancient Greece

History of Croup

circa 1st century CE, descriptions in Greek and Roman medical texts including writings associated with the Hippocratic tradition and later Galen

History of Interstitial lung disease

Circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Bronchiectasis

1819 — René Laënnec, Traité de l'Auscultation Médiate, France

History of Obstructive sleep apnea

c. 4th century BCE, ancient Greek accounts referencing Dionysius of Heracleia (recorded by Athenaeus and others)

History of Acute respiratory distress syndrome

Circa 1550 BCE — Ebers Papyrus, Ancient Egypt

History of Aspiration pneumonia

circa 400 BCE, Ancient Greece (Hippocratic Corpus)

History of Aerosinusitis

Second century CE, Galen of Pergamon describing paranasal sinuses anatomically; aerosinusitis as a distinct clinical entity first systematically described circa 1940s, United States military aviation medicine

History of Asbestosis

Circa 1st century CE, Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia, ancient Rome

History of Bacterial pneumonia

circa 5th century BCE — Ancient Greece; Hippocratic Corpus descriptions of peripneumonia

History of Hemothorax

circa 5th–4th century BCE — Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

Respiratory Disease History

History of Asthma

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

Respiratory Disease History

History of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

circa 400 BCE, descriptions by Hippocrates, ancient Greece

Respiratory Disease History

History of Cystic Fibrosis

circa 18th century European folklore; formal medical description 1938 by Dorothy Andersen

Respiratory Disease History

History of Pleurisy

circa 400 BCE, Hippocratic corpus, ancient Greece

Respiratory Disease History

History of Pneumonia

circa 460–370 BCE, writings of Hippocrates, ancient Greece

Respiratory Disease History

History of Whooping Cough

1578 CE, epidemic account by Guillaume de Baillou, Paris, France

Tropical

History of Malaria

Approximately 2700 BCE, ancient Chinese texts attributed to Emperor Huang Di (Nei Ching)

History of Typhus

1489–1490 — Spanish forces at the siege of Granada (described by contemporaries; identified retrospectively as probable typhus)

History of Yellow fever

Pre-Columbian Mayan codices, circa 1400s CE; Barbados epidemic accounts, 1647 CE

History of Dengue fever

Jin Dynasty, China, circa 265–420 CE — Chinese medical encyclopedia references to a febrile illness associated with water and flying insects

History of Chagas disease

circa 9000 BCE, pre-Columbian South America — archaeological evidence of T. cruzi DNA in Andean mummies (retrospectively identified); formally described 1909 by Carlos Chagas

History of Leptospirosis

1886, Germany (Adolf Weil's clinical description); possible earlier accounts 18th century colonial medical reports

History of Schistosomiasis

circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus, ancient Egypt

History of Myiasis

circa 600 BCE, Ancient India (Sushruta Samhita, descriptions of wound worm infestation and treatment)

History of Chikungunya

1952 CE, Makonde Plateau, Tanganyika (first formally documented outbreak and subsequent virus isolation reported 1955); possible earlier epidemic descriptions in India and Southeast Asia from the early 19th century remain unconfirmed

History of African trypanosomiasis

c. 1374 CE — Mali Empire, recorded by Ibn Khaldun

History of Trichinosis

1835, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London — James Paget's dissection observation, though speculative connections to Mosaic dietary law predate this by millennia

History of Dracunculiasis

circa 1550 BCE, ancient Egypt (Ebers Papyrus)

History of Leishmaniasis

Circa 650 BCE, clay tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal, ancient Assyria

History of Elephantiasis

Circa 600 BCE — Ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts (Sushruta Samhita references to 'Shleepada'); also referenced in ancient Egyptian medical papyri

History of Neurocysticercosis

circa 1500 BCE — Ancient Egyptian references to worm-like parasites in human tissue (Ebers Papyrus context); Renaissance anatomical documentation of cysts in dissected specimens began circa 16th century CE

History of Yaws

Circa 1.6 million years ago (paleopathological skeletal evidence); earliest textual references debated in ancient Egyptian papyri, circa 1500 BCE

History of Onchocerciasis

Indigenous oral traditions predate written records; earliest scientific documentation 1875, John O'Neill, West Africa

History of Filariasis

Circa 600 BCE–600 CE, ancient India — Sushruta Samhita

History of Babesiosis

1888 — Description of intraerythrocytic cattle parasite by Victor Babeș in Romania

History of Lymphatic filariasis

circa 1550 BCE — Ancient Egypt; Ebers Papyrus references to limb swelling interpreted as probable elephantiasis

Tropical and Parasitic Disease History

History of Malaria (Tropical Medicine History)

circa 2700 BCE, ancient Chinese medical texts (Nei Ching)

Tropical and Parasitic Disease History

History of Schistosomiasis

circa 3200 BCE, mummified remains from ancient Egypt; circa 1550 BCE, Ebers Papyrus

Tropical and Parasitic Disease History

History of Sleeping Sickness

circa 1373 CE, account by Ibn Khaldun referencing the illness of Sultan Mari Djata II of the Mali Empire

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