Medicine & Surgery
Early description of leprosy
c. 1500-600 BCEAtharvaveda; Sushruta traditionAtharvaveda; Sushruta SamhitaPan-Indian / unspecified
1,500 BCE
Among the earliest descriptions of leprosy and attempts to treat it.
- Dated
- 1,500–600 BCE
- As scholars put it
- c. 1500-600 BCE
- Originator
- Atharvaveda; Sushruta tradition
- Source text
- Atharvaveda; Sushruta Samhita
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Medicine & Surgery
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- Medium
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Meanwhile in the West
Western clinical characterisation came far later.
Fair to say
Ancient descriptions differ from the modern biomedical definition.
Path to modern innovation
Leprosy remains a studied disease worldwide.
Transmission
Ancient medical knowledge.
References
- 1Kearns & Nash (2008)
- 2Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine
Further reading
Related
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-093 on GitHub.