Mahmood S. Mozaffari
Editor
Managing Editor:
Kristina Yeghiazaryan
2013
Advances in Predictive, Preventive
and Personalised Medicine
Volume 3
The writings of earliest civilizations reveal that diabetes has af fl icted man for a very long time. The fi rst known clinical description of the disease is attributed to the Roman encylopaedist, Aulus Cornelius Celsus (ca 25 BC–ca 50), although the more accurate description and the introduction of the term, “ diabetes ”, are attributed to Aretaeus, a celebrated ancient Greek physician (second century AD). Despite the early recognition of the disease, recommended treatment options (e.g., dietary modi fi cations) of ancient times were not conducive to improved quality of life. Interestingly, however, the suggestion to those af fl icted with the disease to exercise is discernible from the writings of Avicenna, a Persian polymath (960–1037 AD).