{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:43:10Z","timestamp":1777855390238,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":106,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,13]],"date-time":"2022-12-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1670889600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Biogr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The lawyer and physician Paolo Zacchia (1584\u20131659) was the chief physician at the Vatican and an important advisor to the papal court. He is considered a founder of the field of forensic pathology, and the influence of his masterwork, Quaestiones medico-legales, spread throughout Europe. In this essay, we focus on one of Zacchia's consultations, first published posthumously in 1661. Emerging from a cause for beatification, the case features the intriguing medical notion of one disease curing another. Zacchia was to determine if a young man's recovery from epilepsy was miraculous or not. We will briefly review Zacchia's career, examine his argument and the sources on which he based his reasoning in this case, trace the status of the disease-versus-disease notion to the present, and demonstrate that this consultation represents a rare, if not the only example of syphilis being the curative agent \u2013 rather than the disease cured.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/09677720221129856","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,14]],"date-time":"2022-12-14T01:42:56Z","timestamp":1670982176000},"page":"248-256","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Disease versus disease: Paolo Zacchia on syphilis and epilepsy"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"32","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5663-633X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacalyn","family":"Duffin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daryn","family":"Lehoux","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Queen's University Faculty of Arts and Science, Kingston, ON, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-09677720221129856","unstructured":"De Renzi S and Tonetti L. Zacchia, Paolo. In:\n                      Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, volume C\n                      .  Roma:  Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Treccani,  2020, pp. 344\u2013 348, https:\/\/www.treccani.it\/enciclopedia\/paolo-zacchia_(Dizionario-Biografico)."},{"key":"bibr2-09677720221129856","first-page":"245","volume":"130","author":"Poutrain I","year":"2018","journal-title":"M\u00e9langes de l\u2019Ecole fran\u00e7aise de Rome"},{"key":"bibr3-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Zacchias P. Archivio di Stato (S. Ivo), Notaio Antonio Franciscus Maria Simi, Cura del Vicario, Officio 32, Rome, March 1659, pp.662\u2013665v and 683\u2013684v."},{"key":"bibr4-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Zacchias P. Archivio di Stato (S. Ivo), Notaio Antonio Franciscus Maria Simi, Cura del Vicario, Officio 32, Rome, March 1659, p.663."},{"key":"bibr5-09677720221129856","volume-title":"Paolo Zacchia: alle origini della medicina legale 1584\u20131659","author":"Pastore A","year":"2008"},{"key":"bibr6-09677720221129856","first-page":"65","volume":"212","author":"H\u00e4ndel K","year":"2003","journal-title":"Archiv f\u00fcr Kriminologie"},{"key":"bibr7-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00198685","volume":"94","author":"Traunfellner Z","year":"1985","journal-title":"Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Rechtsmedizin. Journal of Legal Medicine"},{"key":"bibr8-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Fischer-Homberger E.\n                      Medizin vor Gericht: Gerichtsmedizin von der Renaissance bis zur Aufklarung\n                      . Bern\/Stuttgart\/Wien: Hans Huber 1983:  120\u2013 122, 193\u2013198, 338\u2013341."},{"key":"bibr9-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.56021\/9780801858581"},{"key":"bibr10-09677720221129856","volume-title":"Pious postmortems: anatomy, sanctity, and the Catholic Church in early modern Europe","author":"Bouley BA","year":"2017"},{"key":"bibr11-09677720221129856","first-page":"102","volume-title":"Health care and poor relief in counter-reformation Europe","author":"De Renzi S","year":"1999"},{"key":"bibr12-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.56021\/9780801853982"},{"key":"bibr13-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/9789004284821"},{"key":"bibr14-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Gentilcore D. Healers and healing in early modern Italy.  Manchester:  Manchester University Press,  1998, pp. 23, 24, 186, 187, 194."},{"key":"bibr15-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780199245352.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr16-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Maclean I. Logic, signs, and nature in the Renaissance: the case of learned medicine.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press,  2002, p. 87."},{"key":"bibr17-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Duffin J. Medical miracles: doctors, saints, and healing in the modern world.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 21\u2013 25.","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780195336504.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr18-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Maclean I. Interpretation and meaning in the Renaissance.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press,  1992, p. 30."},{"key":"bibr19-09677720221129856","volume-title":"Les consilia m\u00e9dicaux","author":"Agrimi J","year":"1994"},{"key":"bibr20-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Siraisi NG. Taddeo Alderotti and his pupils: two generations of Italian medical learning.  Princeton,  NJ:  Princeton University Press,  1981, pp. 270\u2013 302."},{"key":"bibr21-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226761312.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr22-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-56514-9_5"},{"key":"bibr23-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/shm\/hkab118"},{"key":"bibr24-09677720221129856","volume-title":"The clinical consultations of Giambattista Morgagni","author":"Jarcho S","year":"1984"},{"key":"bibr25-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Jarcho S.\n                      The clinical consultations of Giambattista Morgagni\n                      . Boston: Countway Library, 1984, pp.lxxxi-ii, 96\u201399."},{"key":"bibr26-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Fischer-Homberger,\n                      Medizin vor Gericht\n                      , pp.683\u2013687."},{"key":"bibr27-09677720221129856","first-page":"799","volume":"108","author":"De Renzi S","year":"2001","journal-title":"Quaderni Storici"},{"key":"bibr28-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0039-3681(02)00005-5"},{"key":"bibr29-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/518191"},{"key":"bibr30-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/bhm.2010.a408203"},{"key":"bibr31-09677720221129856","first-page":"117","volume":"26","author":"De Ceglia FP","year":"2014","journal-title":"Medicina nei Secoli"},{"key":"bibr32-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/jhmas\/jrz053"},{"key":"bibr33-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Ditchfield S. Liturgy, sanctity, and history in tridentine Italy; Pietro Maria Campi and the preservation of the particular.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press,  2002, p. 235."},{"key":"bibr34-09677720221129856","first-page":"200","volume-title":"Paolo Zacchia","author":"Pedrazza Gorlero C"},{"key":"bibr35-09677720221129856","first-page":"249","volume-title":"Paolo Zacchia","author":"Pastore A"},{"key":"bibr36-09677720221129856","first-page":"221","volume-title":"Paolo Zacchia","author":"Marchisello A."},{"key":"bibr37-09677720221129856","first-page":"9","volume-title":"Paolo Zacchia","author":"Gigliola M"},{"key":"bibr38-09677720221129856","first-page":"149","volume":"28","author":"Duffin J","year":"2011","journal-title":"Canadian Bulletin of Medical History"},{"key":"bibr39-09677720221129856","unstructured":"The collaborative translation project of the consilia of Paolo Zacchia, https:\/\/jacalynduffin.ca\/zacchia\/ (2008, accessed 1 September 2022)."},{"key":"bibr40-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/9781139019569"},{"key":"bibr41-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/bjh.14886"},{"key":"bibr42-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0306-9877(02)00179-2"},{"key":"bibr43-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00281-007-0072-5"},{"key":"bibr44-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Zacchia P.\n                      Observationum medico-legalium in tres tomos divisae\n                      , volume 3. Lugduni: Anisson and Posuel, 1726, Consilium LXXX [1661], pp.128\u2013129. Translation by Daryn Lehoux at https:\/\/jacalynduffin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Zacchia-Consilium-80-trans-Lehoux-revised.pdf."},{"key":"bibr45-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Zacchia P. Observationum medico-legalium, volume 3, Consilium LXXIX [1661], pp.126\u2013128. Translation by Alice Browne at https:\/\/jacalynduffin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Consilium-79-browne.pdf"},{"key":"bibr46-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Laverda,\n                      Tracing the boundaries\n                      ."},{"key":"bibr47-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Zacchia P.\n                      Observationum medico-legalium\n                      , volume 3, Consilium XXVIII, pp. 44\u2013 45."},{"key":"bibr48-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Zacchia P.\n                      Observationum medico-legalium\n                      , volume 3, Consilum LXXX [1661], p.129."},{"key":"bibr49-09677720221129856","unstructured":"The lists appear within front matter of the 1657 and 1688 editions of\n                      Observationum\n                      ."},{"key":"bibr50-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Hippocrates, Sacred disease, ch 14; Aretaeus, Chronic disease lib 1, cap 4."},{"key":"bibr51-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Kuhn KG.\n                      Galeni Opera Omnia\n                      . Leipzig: Car. Cnoblochi, 1821\u20131833, 20 volumes (hereinafter, K[volume number]), K17a 226.3\u20136: \u1f41 \u03c4\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03c2\u2009\u2026\u2009\u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bd\u03bf\u03c3\u03b7\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u1f11\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd \u03bc\u03b5\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03c9\u03bd \u1fe5\u03cd\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9."},{"key":"bibr52-09677720221129856","unstructured":"K17a 227.10 f. \u03c0\u03b1\u03c5\u03c3\u03b1\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b3\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03bb\u03b7\u03c8\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u1f34\u03c3\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u03c4\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u03af\u1ff3 \u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03c9\u03c2 \u1f10\u03bd\u03bf\u03c7\u03bb\u03ae\u03c3\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9, \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03bc\u03b5\u03bc\u03ac\u03b8\u03b7\u03ba\u03b1\u03c2 \u1f24\u03b4\u03b7 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u03c4\u1fc6\u03c2 \u03b3\u03b5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c3\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2 \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03ac \u03c4\u03b5 \u03c4\u1f70 \u03a0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c6\u03bf\u03c1\u1fb6\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c5\u03c1\u03b5\u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f51\u03c0\u03bf\u03bc\u03bd\u03ae\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03c4\u1f70 \u03a0\u03b5\u03c1\u1f76 \u03ba\u03c1\u03af\u03c3\u03b5\u03c9\u03bd,"},{"key":"bibr53-09677720221129856","unstructured":"K17b 341."},{"key":"bibr54-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Smith WD (ed) Epidemics 6.6.\n                      In\n                      Hippocrates vol. VII. Loeb classical library 477.  Cambridge:  Harvard University Press,  1994, p. 249."},{"key":"bibr55-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Avicenna.\n                      Canon medicinae\n                      , Gerardus (trans), book 1, part 2, thesis 1, ch. 8: est una egritudo alterius egritudinis medicamentum sicut quartana ex qua multotiens sanata epilepsia et podagra et varices et articulorum dolores."},{"key":"bibr56-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Lommius J. The medicinal observations of Jodocus Lommius. Wynter J (trans).  London:  W. Owen,  1747, p. 13."},{"key":"bibr57-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Celsus. A translation of the eight books of Aul. Corn. Celsus on medicine, 2nd ed. Collier GF (trans). \nLondon: \nSimpkin and Marshal, \n1831, book 3, chapter 15, p.\n98."},{"key":"bibr58-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/jhmas\/jrj047"},{"key":"bibr59-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctv75d9nq.6"},{"key":"bibr60-09677720221129856","unstructured":"M\u00e9thot PO (ed). M\u00e9decine, science, histoire. Le legs de Mirko Grmek.  Paris:  Editions Mat\u00e9riologiques,  2019, pp. 113\u2013 150."},{"key":"bibr61-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Grmek MD. Diseases in the ancient Greek world. Muellner M and Muellner L (trans).  Baltimore:  The Johns Hopkins University Press,  1989, p. 3."},{"key":"bibr62-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/358659"},{"key":"bibr63-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/10550-000"},{"key":"bibr64-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Pinel P. Trait\u00e9 medico-philosophique sur l\u2019alienation mentale, 2nd ed.  Paris:  Brosson,  1809, pp. 379\u2013 384."},{"key":"bibr65-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Valleriola F. Observationum medicinalium.  Lugduni:  F. Fabrum,  1605,  2., pp. 140\u2013 166."},{"key":"bibr66-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Pinel.\n                      Trait\u00e9 medico-philosophique\n                      , p.452."},{"key":"bibr67-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Pinel. Nosographie philosophique, ou la m\u00e9thode d\u2019analyse appliqu\u00e9e \u00e0 la m\u00e9decine, \n3 vols, 2nd ed. \nParis: \nBrosson, pp.1803\u20131805, tome 3 (1805), Tableau des maladies. np."},{"key":"bibr68-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(00)40184-4"},{"key":"bibr69-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/096777200301100213"},{"key":"bibr70-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0967772013479758"},{"key":"bibr71-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195123395.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr72-09677720221129856","first-page":"111","author":"Jackson JH","year":"1863","journal-title":"Medical Times and Gazette"},{"key":"bibr73-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/epi.12335"},{"key":"bibr74-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Szasz T. Cruel compassion: psychiatric control of society\u2019s unwanted.  Syracuse:  Syracuse University Press,  1998, pp. 43\u2013 62."},{"key":"bibr75-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/archneur.59.6.1031"},{"key":"bibr76-09677720221129856","first-page":"386","author":"Spratling WP","year":"1904","journal-title":"Epilepsy and its treatment"},{"key":"bibr77-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/archneur.1994.00540130116019"},{"key":"bibr78-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09647049509525629"},{"key":"bibr79-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seizure.2016.04.006"},{"key":"bibr80-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0025727300052431"},{"key":"bibr81-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/096777209300100302"},{"key":"bibr82-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/096777209400200213"},{"key":"bibr83-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Wagner Jauregg J. Nobel lecture: the treatment of dementia paralytica by malaria inoculation, delivered 13 December 1927, https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/1927\/wagner-jauregg\/lecture\/ (accessed 31 March 2022)."},{"key":"bibr84-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1159\/000477900"},{"key":"bibr85-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/PRA.0000000000000181"},{"key":"bibr86-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10072-020-04564-6"},{"key":"bibr87-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eplepsyres.2007.05.012"},{"key":"bibr88-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0387-7604(01)00278-9"},{"key":"bibr89-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.braindev.2003.09.012"},{"key":"bibr90-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.braindev.2010.01.002"},{"key":"bibr91-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nec.2017.06.001"},{"key":"bibr92-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1227\/NEU.0000000000001439"},{"key":"bibr93-09677720221129856","unstructured":"Rance C. Eat! Eat! Eat! Those notorious tapeworm diet pills.\n                      The Quack Doctor\n                      , 23 January 2015, https:\/\/thequackdoctor.com\/index.php\/eat-eat-eat-those-notorious-tapeworm-diet-pills\/ (accessed 31 March 2022)."},{"key":"bibr94-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2008.11.008"},{"key":"bibr95-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/17474124.2018.1505498"},{"key":"bibr96-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cgh.2018.09.029"},{"key":"bibr97-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1910437"},{"key":"bibr98-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ad.2013.09.007"},{"key":"bibr99-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/430834"},{"key":"bibr100-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0967772013480701"},{"key":"bibr101-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9780773580916"},{"key":"bibr102-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/pbm.2014.0018"},{"key":"bibr103-09677720221129856","volume-title":"This is a woman: inside Ravensbr\u00fcck, Hitler\u2019s concentration camp for women","author":"Helm S","year":"2015"},{"key":"bibr104-09677720221129856","volume-title":"Japan's infamous Unit 731: firsthand accounts of Japan's wartime human experimentation program","author":"Gold H","year":"2019"},{"key":"bibr105-09677720221129856","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF03391665"},{"key":"bibr106-09677720221129856","volume":"7","author":"Ray JJ","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Thoracic Disease"}],"container-title":["Journal of Medical Biography"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/09677720221129856","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/09677720221129856","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/09677720221129856","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T23:23:25Z","timestamp":1777505005000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/09677720221129856"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,13]]},"references-count":106,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/09677720221129856"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/09677720221129856","relation":{},"ISSN":["0967-7720","1758-1087"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0967-7720","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-1087","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,13]]}}}