History of Medicine

Ningishzida ancient Sumerian god, patron of medicine, accompanied by two gryphons.

Prehistoric medicine incorporated plants (herbs), animal parts and minerals. In many cases, these materials were used as ritual magic substance priests, shamans, or healers. A well-known spiritual systems include animism (the concept of inanimate objects having spirits), spiritualism (an appeal to the gods, or the connection with ancestral spirits), shamanism (empowering the individual with mystic powers) and divination (getting the magic to the truth). Areas of medical anthropology explores the ways in which culture and society organized around or under the influence of health problems, health care and related issues.

Early records on medicine were open from early Ayurvedic medicine in India, ancient Egyptian medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and ancient Greek medicine. The oldest data is coming to a specialized hospital Mihintale in Sri Lanka, where they found evidence of protected drugs to treat patients. Early Greek physician Hippocrates, who called the father of medicine, Galen and laid the foundations for further development in a rational approach to medicine. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the onset of the early Middle Ages, the Greek tradition of medicine to decline in Western Europe, although it continued without interruption in the eastern part of the Roman Empire (Byzantium).

After 750 Arab-Muslim world was the work of Hippocrates and Galen translated into Arabic and Islamic physicians addressing some important medical research. Notable Islamic medical pioneers include polymath Avicenna, who, along with Hippocrates, also known as the father of medicine, Abulcasis, the father of surgery, Avenzoar, the father of experimental surgery, Ibn al-Nafis, the father of circulatory physiology, and Averroes. Razi, who has been called the father of pediatrics, was among the first to question the Greek theory humoris who remained influential in both medieval Islamic and Western medicine in the medieval Crusades, one Muslim observer familiar dim view expressed at the current Western medicine.

Nevertheless, the overall mortality and mordibity level in the medieval Middle East and medieval Europe were not significantly different from each other, assuming that no major medical "breakthrough" in modern medicine, nor in the region during this period. Fourteenth and fifteenth century Black Death was just as devastating in the Middle East, Europe and even claimed that Western Europe in general, effective in eradicating the pandemic than in the Middle East. In the early modern period, it is important early figures in medicine and anatomy emerged in Europe, including Gabriele Falloppio and William Harvey.

  

Fundamental shift in medical thinking was the gradual rejection, especially in the Black Death in the 14 and 15 century, what could be called 'traditional authority' approach to science and medicine. It was felt that because some prominent person in the past said something must have to be so, and anything the opposite is observed anomaly (which was accompanied by a similar shift in European society in general - see Copernicus's rejection of the theory Ptalyameya astronomy) . Doctors, like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius improved or even reject the theory of large bodies from the past (such as Hippocrates and Galen), many of whom were in the theories being discredited.

Modern biomedical research (where the result is verifiable and reproducible) began to replace early Western traditions, based on herbs, Greek "four humours" and other similar prior modern conditions. The modern era really began with the discovery by Robert Koch in 1880 around the transmission of infection from bacteria, as well as the discovery of antibiotics since 1900. After the modern era of 18-th century brought a more innovative researchers from Europe. From Germany and Austria, such as doctors, Rudolf Virchow, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Karl Landsteiner, and Otto Loewi) contributions.

In the United Kingdom, Alexander Fleming, Joseph Lister, Francis Crick, and Florence Nightingale are considered important. New Zealand and Australia came Maurice Wilkins, Howard Florey, Frank Macfarlane Burnett). In the United States William Williams Keen, Harvey Cushing, William Cole, James D. Watson, Italy (Salvador Luria), Switzerland (Alexandre Yersin), Japan (Kitasato Shibasaburo) and France (Jean-Martin Charcot, Claude Bernard, Paul Broca, and that made other significant work. Russian (Nikolai short as important work, as well as Sir William Osler and Harvey Cushing.

With the development of science and technology, developed and medicine have become more dependent on drugs. Throughout its history, and in Europe until the late 18 th century, not only plant and animal products were used as medicines, but also of human body parts and fluids. Pharmacology developed from herbs and many drugs are still derived from plants (atropine, ephedrine, warfarin, aspirin, digoxin, Vinca alkaloids, taxol, hyoscine, etc). The first of these was arsphenamine / salvarsan came Paul Ehrlich in 1908 after she discovered that the bacteria in toxic dyes that human cells were not. Vaccines have been found Edward Zhenner and Louis Pasteur. The first large group of antibiotics, sulfa drugs have been created when the French chemists originally from azo dyes.

This is becoming more complex, modern biotechnology allow funds to target specific physiological processes to be developed, sometimes designed for compatibility with the body to reduce side effects. Genomics and knowledge of human genetics had some influence on medicine as the cause of the genes most monogenic genetic disorders have been identified and developing methods of molecular biology and genetics affect medical equipment, practice and decision making.

Evidence-based medicine is a modern movement to establish good practice algorithms (ways of solving problems) on the basis of a systematic review and meta-analysis. The movement promotes today's global scientific information, which allows all evidence to be collected and analyzed in accordance with standard protocols, which then spread to health care providers. One of the problems with the approach of "best practices" is that it can be seen to stifle new approaches to treatment. Cochrane Collaboration leads this movement. 2001 review of 160 Cochrane systematic reviews have shown that the two readers, 21.3% of the reviews concluded insufficient evidence, 20% concluded evidence of no effect, and 22.5% concluded positive effect.