title: [Miracles in dermatology? An overview of miraculous cures of skin diseases in the Catholic Church].
abstract: Miracles which can be observed in different religions are often closely connected to medicine. These miraculous cures, considered to be inexplicable by medical science, have been documented in Christian religion and in occidental culture for more than 2000 years. These miraculous healings are also reported in the field of dermatology. The miraculous bulletins documented by the Catholic Church take their beginning in the Old Testament and extend to the miraculous cures of Lourdes in present time. We provide an overview of miraculous healings of skin diseases, whereby accounts documented in the Bible, reports during the Middle Ages, and cases documented throughout the last century are discussed. In view of modern medicine, most of the miraculous healings do not meet modern demands of science, but remain important as milestones in medical and religious history.
authors.affiliation: Universitäts-Hautklinik Heidelberg, Heidelberg. norbert_kuner@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001633:Bible; D002410:Catholicism; D003880:Dermatology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D018597:Saints; D012871:Skin Diseases; D013557:Switzerland