Normalità e patologia della vecchiaia nella medicina antica

The purpose of this essay is to suggest that ancient medicine, from Hippocrates onwards, proves relatively consistent in explaining ageing as a natural process of exhaustion of the inborn heat (and/or moisture) of the individual. Seen as a stage of life, it cannot be denied, old age is near to death, thus a negative state, marked by peculiar weakness and general lack of vitality. However, childhood and youth, and even maturity, are considered no less fragile, within a vision that turns on the definition of good health as the right balance of the body elements, constantly endangered by the natural environment, the meteorological situation, and the patient’s way of life. Galen’s treatment of the subject is remarkable: Galen’s lucid reflections on the quality of the «health appropriate to old people», emphasis on the normality of old age, and research on the «right way» to maintain it and to prolong life pave the way for the birth of what is called today «gerontology» and «geriatrics».