BASIC PATHOLOGY AND

TOXICOLOGY
By: RASIQH WADUD

History of Pathology
There is no single event, or Big Bang that
marks the beginning of Pathology.
In fact, the history of pathology has roots in
common with all other medical specialties.
The first physician known to have
madepostmortemdissectionswas
theArabianphysicianAvenzoar(1091
1161).Rudolf
Virchow(18211902)
is
generally recognized to be the father of
microscopic pathology.

History of Pathology
(contd)

Documentation of disease really begins with

Egyptian medicine, where the most important
sources are the Edwin Smith Papyrus (17th
century BC) and Papyrus Ebers (about 1550 BC).
These records contain information on different
types of bone injuries, trachoma (Nile valley),
ulcerating lumps (cancer?), parasites and other
diseases.
Furthermore, Hippocratic writers left remarkably
clear descriptions of many pathological features,
such
as
wound
inflammation,
tumours,
haemorrhoids, malaria and tuberculosis.
In line with Hippocrates and Galens work came

History of Toxicology
Much of the early history of toxicology has
been lost and in much that has survived
toxicology is of almost incidental importance
in manuscripts dealing primarily with
medicine.
Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the court of
the Roman emperorNero, made the first
attempt to classify plants according to their
toxic and therapeutic effect. Ibn
Wahshiyawrote theBook on Poisonsin the
9th or 10th century.

History of Toxicology (contd)

Paracelsus, a Swiss born in 1493, is often
referred to as the father of toxicology.
He laid the groundwork for the later
development of modern toxicology by
recognizing the importance of the dose
response relationship. His famous
statementAll substances are
poisons; there is none that is not a
poison. The right dose differentiates
a poison and a remedy.

Toxicology
Sodium Chloride (table
salt) LD50=3000mg/kg
body weight.
Hence to be reasonably
certain of killing a person
weighing 80kg I would
need 240g of table salt.