Aphorism of the month - January/February 2026
III.23
τοῦ δὲ χειμῶνος, πλευρίτιδες, περιπλευμονίαι, κόρυζαι, βράγχοι, βῆχες, πόνοι πλευρέων, στηθέων, ὀσφύος, κεφαλαλγίαι, ἴλιγγοι, ἀποπληξίαι.
In winter pleurisy, inflammation of the lungs, cold, hoarseness, coughing, pain in the sides, breast and lower back, headaches, dizziness, paralysis.
In his commentary, Galen first addresses the fact that the diseases of winter are simply listed. He notes this with some surprise, since, in the case of the other seasons, certain diseases had always occurred in the following season - but not in that of the diseases of winter. He then describes these as typical for the season, since the cold damages the respiratory organs. Interestingly, in addition to the diseases mentioned in the lemma, Galen also lists aching nerves as typical of winter, mentioning them in connection with headaches and lower back pain. Just as pain of the sides can arise as a result of the cold, so too can headaches and pain of the lower back - in short: the parts of the body with many nerves (γίγνονται δ' ὥσπερ τῶν πλευρῶν οἱ πόνοι διὰ τὴν ψύξιν, οὕτω καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τῆς ὀσφύος καὶ ἁπλῶς τῶν νευρωδῶν.). Galen ultimately identifies damage within the head as the cause of dizziness and paralysis; this in turn was due to a build-up of phlegm in the head area. At the end of his commentary on this lemma, Galen refers to his own developed system of humoral pathology.