However, Ciceros views on aging, although progressive, were largely ignored in a world that would be dominated for centuries by Aristotles medical writings. Physicians during the Roman Empire, such as Galen and Celsus, simply repeated the beliefs of Aristotle while adding few new contributions to medical knowledge. Byzantine physicians sometimes wrote of dementia. It is recorded that at least seven emperors whose lifespans exceeded 70 years displayed signs of cognitive decline. In Constantinople, special hospitals housed those diagnosed with dementia or insanity, but these did not apply to the emperors, who were above the law and whose health conditions could not be publicly acknowledged. Otherwise, little is recorded about dementia in Western medical texts for nearly 1700 years. One of the few references was the 13th-century friar Roger Bacon, who viewed old age as divine punishment for original sin. Although he repeated existing Aristotelian beliefs that dementia was inevitable, he did make the progressive assertion that the brain was the center of memory and thought rather than the heart. Poets, playwrights, and other writers made frequent allusions to the loss of mental function in old age. William Shakespeare notably mentions it in plays such as Hamlet and King Lear. During the 19th century, doctors generally came to believe that elderly dementia was the result of cerebral atherosclerosis, although opinions fluctuated between the idea that it was due to blockage of the major arteries supplying the brain or small strokes within the vessels of the cerebral cortex.
Shape is spherical
Size varies from 1 – 5 cm in diameter
Color is pale blue with characteristics semi transparent appearance. Surface is smooth and mucous membrane is mobile over the swelling. Tenderness is absent
Fluctuation test is positive
Transillumination test is positive
Cervical lymph nodes are not enlarged. May or may not have prolongation in the neck. Classification
A ranula is a type of mucocele, and therefore could be classified as a disorder of the salivary glands. Usually a ranula is confined to the floor of the mouth (termed a "simple ranula"). An unusual variant is the cervical ranula (also called a plunging or diving ranula), where the swelling is in the neck rather than the floor of the mouth. The term ranula is also sometimes used to refer to other similar swellings of the floor of mouth such as true salivary duct cysts, dermoid cysts and cystic hygromas. The Latin word rana means "frog" (ranula = "little frog"). Treatment
Treatment of ranulae usually involves removal of the sublingual gland. Surgery may not be required if the ranula is small and asymptomatic. Marsupialization may sometimes be used, where the intra-oral lesion is opened to the oral cavity with the aim of allowing the sublingual gland to re-establish connection with the oral cavity. Epidemiology
The lesion is usually present in children. Ranulae are the most common pathologic lesion associated with the sublingual glands. Other animals
References
Kahn, Michael A. Basic Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Volume 1. 2001. External links

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