The illness of our cat Rufus made me read up on the subject of spontaneous remission. No, I do not cling to false rays of hope, I was simply curious: Does it really happen? How often?
Long story short, Google soon led me to a study mentioning the earliest known description of induced spontaneous remission: The Ebers Papyrus.
The Ebers Papyrus is a roughly 3500 years old document, essentially a medical textbook or at least notes. In addition to recipes for numerous remedies, it also contains descriptions of various illnesses, their diagnosis, and methods of treatment.
Here is one example out of many:
Experiential knowledge regarding an a’at growth of fat: When you identify an a’at growth of fat on any body part of a man (and) you find that it comes and goes under your fingers, and where it somehow can be permanently separated by your hand, then you say for this: “This is an a’at growth of fat. A disease that I will treat.” Because of this you then prepare a knife-treatment for it. May it be treated according to the treatment of a wound!
I like it especially (assuming it is not a stylistic mistranslation) how the text instructs the physician-in-training to announce his diagnosis. It instills confidence, but also potentially invites questions or criticism before a treatment is attempted. And there’s no mumbo-jumbo, no superstition or religious mysticism: Facts are facts.
From more than three thousand five hundred years ago.