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Paracelsus, sometimes called the "father" of toxicology, wrote:
In other words, the amount of a substance a person is exposed to is as important as the nature of the substance. For example, small doses of aspirin can be beneficial to people, but at very high doses, this common medicine can be deadly. In some individuals, even at very low doses, aspirin may be deadly.
Dose-response assesses the dose levels at which adverse effects were observed in test animals, and using these dose levels to calculate an equal dose in humans.
Paracelsus was born at Einsiedeln , Switzerland, of a Swabian chemist father and a Swiss mother. He was brought up in Austria and as a youth he worked in nearby mines as an analyst. He graduated with a baccalaureate in medicine from the University of ViennaThe University of Vienna ( German: Universitat Wien was founded in 1365 by Rudolph IV and hence named Alma mater Rudolphina''. It is the largest university in Austria and the oldest German-speaking university in the world. Nobel-prize winners who taught a in 1510Events Conquest of Pskov by Grand Prince Vasili III of Muscovy. Formation of the Holy League to defend the Italian States. Births April 2 Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Ashikaga shogun Mikael Agricola finnish scholar Matsunaga Hisahide Japanese warlord Oda Nobuhide, at the age of 17. There is speculation he gained his doctorateA doctorate is an academic degree of the highest level. Traditionally, the award of a doctorate implies recognition of the candidate as an equal by the university faculty under which he or she has studied. There are essentially three types of doctorates: degree from the University of Ferrara .
He later journeyed to EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 kmē 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797, ArabiaArabia is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. It lies north of Ethiopia and northern Somalia; south of Israel, the disputed Palestinian territories, and Jordan; and southwest of Iran. The coastal limits of Arabia comprise: on, the Holy LandThe phrase The Holy Land ( Arabic al-Ar ul-Muqaddasah Hebrew Standard Hebrew re haQodeš Tiberian Hebrew re haqQeš Latin Terra Sancta generally refers to the region of Palestine or Land of Israel. Specifically, it focuses on those areas which hol, and ConstantinopleConstantinople (Roman name: Constantinopolis; Greek: Konstantinoupolis or ) is the former name of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Its original name was Byzantium ( Greek: Byzantion or Bυζαντιο&nu pronounced roughly B seeking the alchemists to learn from. On his return to Europe his knowledge of these treatments won him fame. He did not go along with the conventional treatment of wounds, which was to pour boiling oil onto them to cauterize them; or if they were on a limb, to let them become gangrenous, and then amputate the limb. Paracelsus believed the then-ridiculous assumption that wounds would heal themselves if allowed to drain and prevented from becoming infected.
Paracelsus rejected GnosticGnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A. General characteristics Many elements of gnosticism are pre-Christian, and it is generally accepted that orthodox Christianity and its canonical text traditions, but kept much of the Hermetic, neoplatonic, and Pythagorean philosophies; however, Hermetical science had so much Aristotelian theory that his rejection of Gnosticism was practically meaningless. In particular, Paracelsus rejected the magic theories of Agrippa and Flamel; Paracelsus did not think of himself as a magician and scorned those who did, though he was a practicing astrologer, as were most, if not all of the university-trained physicians working at this time in Europe. Astrology was a very important part of Paracelsus' medicine. In his Archidoxes of Magic Paracelsus devotes several sections to astrological talismans for curing disease, providing talismans for various maladies as well as talismans for each sign of the Zodiac.
Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. He coined the word " alcohol". He used the name "zink" for the element zinc in about 1526, based on the sharp pointed appearance of its crystals after smelting and the old German word "zinke" for pointed. He used experimentation in learning about the human body. His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. (Debus & Multhauf, p.6-12) He summarized his own views: "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines." (Edwardes, p.47)
Indeed, the remnants of alchemical traditions can still be seen in modern medicine. For instance, the Caduceus (the staff of Hermes), has been adopted as the prime symbol of western medicine.
Paracelsus gained a reputation for being arrogant, and soon garnered the anger of other physicians in Europe. He held the chair of medicine at the University of Basel for less than a year; while there he angered his colleagues by burning books by other physicians. He was forced from the city after having legal trouble over a physician's fee he sued to collect.
He then wandered Europe for some time, typically as a pauper. He revised old manuscripts and wrote new ones, but had trouble finding publishers. In 1536 his Die grosse Wundartzney (The Great Surgery Book) was published which enabled him to make a short comeback in popularity.