One holy man, one eponym, three distinct diseases. St. Anthony’s fire revisited

One holy man, one eponym, three distinct diseases. St. Anthony’s fire revisited

Authors

  • Gianfranco Cervellin Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care (AcEMC), Pavia Italy
  • Ugo Longobardi Emergency Department, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy
  • Giuseppe Lippi Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Keywords:

St. Anthony’s fire; ergotism; erysipelas; herpes zoster; plague

Abstract

The use of eponyms adds a valuable historical context to the art of medicine, and shall hence be encouraged, nevertheless their use must always reflect an appropriate historical and medical terminology. A bizarre narration concerns the widespread term “St. Anthony’s fire”, which has been used for denoting not less than three distinct diseases. In this article we underscore that at least three distinct diseases, one toxic (i.e., ergotism) and two infectious (i.e., erysipelas and herpes zoster) have been called, in different times and countries, with the same eponym term of “St. Anthony’s fire”, whilst some other diseases may have also been comprised under this “umbrella” definition. It is possible, for example, that even some cases of plague may have been misclassified as “St. Anthony’s fire”. This article also deals with the importance of this topic in the history of art. Several important artists in different periods, in particular painters, were inspired from the history of St. Anthony, who is generally represented in association with fire (representing the burning pain of the diseases), pig (symbolizing the fat of pigs used in the past for relieving skin symptoms), and different “temptations” (devils, food, gold, jewelry, etc.). A literary masterwork is also cited and discussed.

Author Biographies

Gianfranco Cervellin, Academy of Emergency Medicine and Care (AcEMC), Pavia Italy

Emergency Department

Ugo Longobardi, Emergency Department, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy

Emergency Department

Giuseppe Lippi, Section of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Section of Clinical Biochemistry

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Published

11-09-2020

How to Cite

1.
One holy man, one eponym, three distinct diseases. St. Anthony’s fire revisited. Acta Biomed [Internet]. 2020 Sep. 11 [cited 2024 Mar. 29];92(1):e2021008. Available from: https://mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/actabiomedica/article/view/9015