Filenews 9 May 2022 - by Natasha Christoforou
In contrast to the vast majority of museums that exist all over the world, in this one visitors can touch all the exhibits without exception, open the windows and taste the saltiest liquid in the world, from salt that comes from the Salt Lake of Larnaka. At the same time, they can study the scale of Hippocrates, see ancient medical equipment, and be informed about... particular medical practices of the past.
Creating the only one of its kind in Cyprus, Medical Museum, which operates for the last decade in Larnaca, the well-known gerontologist, Dr. Marios Kyriazis, with a long career in medicine who in 2017 was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine, aimed to capture the history of medicine in Cyprus. However, it achieved much more due to the interactivity of the museum and the simultaneous walk through folklore and local thymosophy.
The idea for the creation of the Kyriazis Medical Museum was born, as dr. Marios Kyriazis, many years ago, because of the objects he inherited from his great-grandfather and grandfather, who were doctors.
"For many years I didn't know what to do with them and then I thought about doing a Medical Museum, which was completed in 2011. The building is listed in 1927, which was in ruins and I renovated it. Little by little, families of doctors gave me more objects and the collection was completed and it became a mixture of a museum and a cultural centre, where events are held on the subject of medicine. The purpose is to maintain the visitor's interest, not just to see. We focus on Cypriot medicine and folklore elements but also medical words that the old people used to say and many today do not know what they mean. For example, "ponyman" and "zilicurtin" are diseases."
The oldest object on display in the museum is a small vial for the elixir of longevity, which is about 2,000 years old, with the newest exhibits being medical tools and machinery of the 20s.
"In Cyprus until the 19th century most patients went to magicians or priests. Before 1900 there were doctors, but they were not so scientifically trained. One of the first to bring scientific medicine was my grandfather Neoklis Kyriazis, who had studied in Paris and had finished in 1904. Back then there were no specialties and the tools in the museum that are mainly gynaecological, surgical and ophthalmic, were all used by a doctor. My grandfather writes somewhere, that once he went to examine someone and because he was not wearing a hat the patient was afraid that a demon would enter his head. He started shouting and crying because he believed he was in danger. Finally in the 1950s-1960s, medicine in Cyprus reached a good level and the world began to trust it.
Admission to the Kyriazis Medical Museum, which is open every Wednesday and Saturday, is free of charge.
"Visitors may leave one to two euros, which cover the running costs. However, we do not have any sponsorships from the state. At first I did actions and ten years ago we got a small sponsorship from the Town Hall, but from the state we got nothing. Because I thought it was futile to continue, I stopped."
The secret of longevity
Dr.. Marios Kyriazis, who continues to practice medicine, has made a great contribution to the research done on aging, has contributed to the global formalization of the term "anti-aging" and has to his credit many publications internationally, related to healthy aging. In fact, he is the only Cypriot doctor who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2017, for his research on decoding the DNA of aging.
In this capacity, he was asked to indicate what conclusion his many years of studies on anti-aging led him to.
"I did and still do studies on aging. I was one of the first students of the University of London, in the first course on Gerontology that he did in the 1990s. I decided to study the mechanism of aging, to see why an organism should reach such a point. So I began to study other gerontologists, exchanged ideas and formed my own opinion. My conclusions lead to the interaction of the mind with the modern environment. The relationship that man has today with digital technology, affects his way of life and his evolution. When we interact with technology, it means that our minds are working. Therefore, the mind strengthens and secretes substances that fight aging in the rest of the body. Our society changes and becomes from physical spiritual. When the mind works in a way that helps creativity and interaction in the environment and technology, the body is forced to repair the damage of aging and thus lives longer."
He also stressed that the more the human race has been living for many years, the higher the low birth rate. "Many developed countries, whose life expectancy is increasing, have a reduced birth rate. The same is done in Cyprus, which has a life expectancy of around 80 years and is a little lower than the highly developed countries, but has a good percentage. There are studies that say that the more technological a country like Germany is, the lower the birth rate it has because life expectancy increases. In Africa, where life expectancy is low, the birth rate is high."
Concluding, he stressed that a healthy diet and exercise play a role in longevity, indicating that the body, however, must serve the mind. "The use of the mind should be done to the point that it will make you have light stress, that is, to feel slightly uncomfortable. Just as you exercise and in order to have an effect you have to feel uncomfortable, so does the mind. You have to keep your mind constantly alert, change your environment and basically avoid the routine."
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