Praktyka leczenia korespondencyjnego w połowie XVI wieku (na podstawie listów medyków włoskich do polskich pacjentów)
The Practice of Correspondence Treatment in the Mid-Sixteenth Century (on the Basis of Letters by Italian Medics to Their Polish Patients)

Summary/Abstract: The article contains methods of disease diagnosing and treatment without examining the patient – solely based on the descriptions of disease symptoms in a letter written by the ills to the medic. The phenomenon of distance treatment has been analysed based on the letters of famous Italian physicians of the sixteenth century (Johannes Baptista Montanus [Italian: Giovanni Battista Monte], Johannes Manardus [Italian: Giovanni Manardo], Francesco Frigimelica, Hieronymus Mercurialis [Italian: Girolamo Mercuriali]). Correspondence of medics is an excellent source for the history of medicine, as it contains information about symptoms, treatment, the recommended diet, advice on how to lead an appropriate lifestyle, as well as recipes and formulas for making medicines. They also wrote about living conditions, personal hygiene, rest, physical activity and a positive attitude towards life. Among Polish patients treated this way were representatives of the ruling dynasty, high-ranking ecclesiastics and wealthy burghers.

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