Rheumatological Therapy in Prehispanic Mesoamerica

Abstract

Nahuatl medicine was remarkably advanced in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. Thoughts on health and disease were different to those prevalent in Europe in the sixteenth century because they included magic, religion and different kinds of animal, mineral and, notably, herbal medicine. These resources were used in a supplementary, not isolated, way by Nahua physicians (ticitl) according to patients' needs and beliefs. Most Nahua physicians had similar knowledge but there were some differences between rural and urban areas, and those who were also doctor-priests of a particular deity. After the European colonization of Mesoamerica, great efforts were made by Spaniards and Indians to recover the immense amount of ancient knowledge in Mesoamerica related to medicine. Some of this work, not all, is included in the Cruz-Badiano Codex, the Florentine Codex or Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España, and the Francisco Hernández Codex. A review of these codices and the recent literature on the practice of Nahua Medicine was performed with particular interest in herbal medicine in rheumatic diseases, or symptoms probably related to rheumatic diseases, during the sixteenth century in the land currently known as Mexico.

Keywords: Herbolaria náhuatl; Mesoamerica; Mesoamérica; Nahuatl herbal treatment; Prehispanic therapy; Terapéutica prehispánica.