title: [Giacomo Andrea Diacomini, the medical systems and the origins of experimental pharmacology].
abstract: Giacomo Andrea Ciacomini was Professor of Physiology, Pathology and General Therapeutics in the University of Padua (1824-1849); follower of systematic medicine, he followed vitalistic theories. For him diagnosis-identification of diseases and therapy are closely related and diseases are due to an excess or a loss of stimulations. About quinine, generally administered in fevers at high doses as a tonic-stimulant drug, Giacomini believed that it has a depressant activity, an action verified by him on rabbits, an early example of exerimental pharmacology in Italy (1840). Thus, Giacomini performed empirical studies, and the real differences between systematic and scientific medicine are in the different approach to the relationship between empirical observations and theoretical hypotheses.
authors.affiliation: Cattedre di Medicina Interna e Storia della Medicina, Istituto di Semeiotica Medica, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Federspil
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macor
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martini
mesh_terms: D049672:History, 19th Century; D007558:Italy; D010600:Pharmacology / Q000266:history*; D010686:Philosophy, Medical / Q000266:history*; D012106:Research / Q000266:history*
vernacular_title: Giacomo Andrea Giacomini, i sistemi medici e le origini della farmacologia sperimentale.