HISTORY OF MEDICINE FINALS

BY BEYLA BETSY BAIJU

GROUP 13 SEMESTER 2
 1.History of Medicine as a science and subject

 History is a key subject within the humanities and, not surprisingly, the history of medicine is a
key subject within the medical humanities.
 History of medicine is one of sections of general history of culture of humanity. She examines
development of knowledge, related to the diseases, treatment of man, saving and strengthening of
its health.
 History of medicine as a science, its subject of studying. Medicine in primitive society.
 It shows how societies have changed in their approach to illness and disease from ancient times to
the present.
 History is a window to the past. It provides an insight and an appreciation to what has been done
before, and a springboard for present and future findings and advancements. In this context, it is
very fundamental to teach history of medicine to medical students and to students in any other
healthcare fields
 Sources for Studying History of Medicine are
 Written Evidence (manuscripts, printed sources, papyri, ceramics)
 Archaeology and Examination of Artefacts
 Life of existing prehistoric (aboriginal) societies
 Multimedia evidence
 Ethnographic sources (customs, traditions, songs, etc.)

2. Medicine in the ancient times: Mesopotamian Medicine - Ancient Sumeri and Babylone;
Ancient Sumerian medicine
 The ancient Sumerians believed that gods and demons caused diseases. They would try to cure
diseases by making charms and casting spells. They thought that the gods would put diseases on
people if they sinned or did something wrong.
 In Sumer, there were two types of doctors: asu and ashipu.
The ashipu, sometimes called a "sorcerer," tried to find out what demon or god was causing the
sickness. They also tried to find out what sin the person committed to get the disease
By about 2500 BCE, doctors in Sumer started prescribing medical treatments. Medicine was used
to cure people of disease and heal their injuries.
The Sumerians used natural items, such as parts of plants and animals. For example, they used
sesame oil as an anti-bacterial. They mixed it in with plasters. They used plasters to heal injuries.
The mixture they used to make plaster had ingredients that cleaned and healed injuries.
 The asu used herbal remedies to cure diseases. Their three main techniques were: washing,
bandaging, and making plasters.
 Trephination is a procedure where the Sumerians would cut a hole in ones head. The hole would
relieve pressure on the brain. Trephination is still around today. It has just evolved. Doctors can
 drill holes in patients head to stop blood clots and to take pressure off of the brain or skull. Medical
records were kept on claytablets.

Ancient Babylonian medicine

 Babylonian health care relied on magic and magic spells as much as, if not more than, natural
treatment and prescriptions.
 Archaeological records indicate that practitioners of ancient Babylonian medicine attempted to
diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments, including intestinal disorders, respiratory issues,
urinary problems, epilepsy, and various mental disorders. However, their diagnoses didn’t always
propose natural causes for these ailments. Oftentimes they would attribute afflictions to gods or
spirits, looking to astrology and other superstitious methods for a prognoses and treatment. For
example, the author of the 11th century BC Diagnostic Handbook (Sakikkū), the most complete
Babylonian medical text, wrote that if a physician were to sight a pig on his way to see a patient,
the kind of pig would be an indication as to the patient’s outcome. The writer put forth that
spotting a black pig was a sign of an extreme condition or certain death while a white pig was a
sign of a likely recovery, offering explanations for other colors as well.
 Another section of the text lists symptoms related to kidney disease, including black urine, urine
like wine, and urine like water, offering a prognosis for each. For each of these, the author
suggests, in order, “he will die,” “his illness will be severe, then he will recover,” and “his illness
will last long, but he will recover.” Similar prognoses relating to great number of ailments can be
found in numerous texts detailing ancient Babylonian medicine.
 First ever Malpractice law regulation (Hammurabi Code 2000BC)

3. Medicine in Egypt; Views and links of ancient Georgian Medicine – archaeological findings;
Medea – beginning of medicine and pharmacy

 Treatment of deseses in Egypt was based on Magic spells, Medicinal Plants, leaches, blood letting,
pray to god
 first ever medical records in history (papyrus),first prescriptions (papyrus)
 Eber papyrus is medical text of 110 page, 20m long , 700 magical remedies . described body as
Channels of Air, Blood, Feces, Urine, Tears and Semen in Human Body
 first specialist doctors and first (bronze) surgical instruments. It has trade links with China, India
and Africa ( medicinal plants)
 Mummification made them skilled in anatomy, arthritis, kidney stones, atherosclerosis
performed circumsicion, wound healing, fracture treatment
 Imhotep: the god of medicine, was the leading figure of the period as a ruler, practitioner, architect
and artist
 Anthropological data suggest that Paleolithic Cro-Magnon people that dwelt on the territory of
modern western Georgia may have known of some sort of primitive ointment made from animal
brains mixed with fat.[2] Classical Greek mythology suggests that ancient Kolkhs (Colchis people)
 had practiced somewhat highly developed medicine that must have impressed the Mycenaean
Greek (Minyan) travelers at the time. Some historians of medicine suggest that the modern
medical scientific principle "Contraria contrariis curantur" (opposite cures the opposite) dates back
to ancient Kolkhs and their healer and sorceress princess Medea, acquiring its final form in the
classical Greek and eventually in the modern medicine. Georgian popular tradition even attributes
the origins of the term Medicine solely to Medea's name.
 "Karabadini" - the 15th-century Georgian medical Almanac by Zaza Panaskerteli-Tsitsishvili
 Beginning of the recorded history of Georgian traditional medicine should be related to the first
almanac of medical remedies and medical knowledge written in the 11th century, known as
“Ustsoro Karabadini” . after that, different compilations thereof, as well as original fundamental
works, all mostly under similar titles (with the exception of the influential 16th-century medical
encyclopedia titled "Iadigar Daudi" - were published once or twice every 100 years until the end of
the 19th century. These works, along with the unique local remedies, also include knowledge
influenced by the ancient Greek, Byzantine, and Central Asian and Middle East medical traditions.
 Medea’s Aunt and older sister Circe were also competent in art of healing, however Medea’s
knowledge was far more absolute. Fast and effective treatment of wounds was among the
therapeutic manipulations Medea had mastered. Medea treated Argonauts wounded in the battle
with Colchians with roots and grasses in several days (DiodorusSiculus). Medea had knowledge of
infertility treatment as evidenced by her dialog with Aegeus the king of Athens.
 She was also quite skilled in cosmetology. First hairdying practices is attributed to her. She had
knowledge in skin care using different oils and other means. Medea also practiced some forms of
blood transfusion using lamb as a donor. She carried out this manipulation with Jason’s uncle
Pelias. Academician I. Kasirski starts his work on the history of blood transfusion with this
manipulation executed by Medea.

4. Chinese Medicine: Philosophical fundamentals; Indications and principals of main

methods of treatment.
 Chinese believed that man became sick if balance between natural elements were not maintained
( Yin & Yang concept) and the `chi’ or life energy was not flowing well.
 They treated diseases by retaining balance between all five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and
water) and chi to flow. Treatment was using herbal, acupuncture. Moxibustion is a therapy which
consists of burning dried mugwort on particular points on the body)
 The first written documentation on traditional Chinese medicine is the Hung-Di Nei-Jing (Yellow
Emperor's Cannon of Internal Medicine).
 Foundation for theories of Chinese medicine - previous experience and theories of medicine, eg.
the meridian theory is the route of qi flow in the body
 In traditional Chinese medicine, meridians are channels that form a network in the body, through
which qi (vital energy) flows. Blocked qi causes pain or illness. The flow of qi is restored by using
pressure, needles, suction, or heat at hundreds of specific points along the meridians) physiology,
pathology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, acupuncture.
 A good healer cannot depend on skill alone. A quote from the Yellow Emperor’s Classics of
Medicine The superior doctor should first adjust the patient’s diet and life style. Only if that does
not eliminate disease should the doctor go on to administer acupuncture and herbs .characteristics
of pulse can help diagnose many diseases
 PHARMACOPOEIA of medications is a recipe book with list of drugs. Shennong Yan Emperor
(God of Agriculture) is well known as the first Emperor of Ancient China, who not only invented
the farming tools for his people, but also herbs for treating his people's illnesses.

5. Indian Medicine: Fundamentals of Veda, Unani and Sidha Medicine; Indian religion and
philosophy – determinant of Indian medicine

 The term “Ayurveda” is derived from two Sanskrit words, Ayur and Veda. Ayur means life and
Veda means knowledge or science.  Therefore Ayurveda means science of life or way of life.
 The principle of Ayurveda is based on the concept of five basic elements and tridoshas. 
According to Ayurveda, the whole universe made up of five basic elements (Panchamahabuthas).
The five elements are – Akasha (ether), Vayu (air), Agni (fire), Jala (water), Prithvi (earth) .The
growth and development of body matrix depends on its nutrition i.e. on food. The food, in turn, is
composed of above elements.
 Ayurveda diagnosis is done by questioning and by undertaking 8 investigation including pulse,
urine, faces, tongue, eyes, visual/sensual examination and inference.
 Treatment includes preventive and curative measures. Preventive measures include personal
hygiene, regular daily routine, appropriate social behavior. The curative measures include three
major measures including aushadhi i.e. drugs, Anna i.e. diets and vihar i.e. exercise and general
mode of life.
 Ayurveda as a therapy are religious and/or spiritual. Ayurveda is perceived as a healthcare
approach which incorporates religious and spiritual demands.
 Siddha is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India. The siddha system is practiced in the
state of Tamil Nadu in India. Siddha system of medicine is an ancient science, which belongs to
Dravidian culture. Siddha system insists the scientific mode of life. Its preliminary aim is
prevention and preservation of health. The foremost Sridhar Lord Siva preached Siddha medicine
to his followers. They are called as Sridhar’s. Then Siddha developed the system further and called
as Siddha system of medicine.
 The diagnosis of disease involves identify its causes, causative factors are identified by
examination of pulse, eyes, color of body ,tongue status of digestive system urine and study of
voice. The treatment is individualized according to diagnosis in totality. Siddha medicines make
use of mercury, silver arsenic, lead sulphur etc. mineral plants and animal parts. The siddha
system is effective in treating chronic cases of rheumatic problems, anemia, peptic ulcer, bleeding
piles, liver and skin diseases.
 Unani name is derived from the word 'Ionian' which originated in Greece. Unani medicine, like
any other form of medical science strives to find the best possible ways by which a person can lead
a healthy life with the least or zero sickness. Unani Medicine as a healing system was founded by
 Hakim Ibn Sina. It was introduced in India around 10th century with the spread of Islamic
civilization.
 The diagnosis of a disease is done by feeling pulse, observation of urine, stool color of skin and
gait etc. The treatment comprises of three components namely preventive and curative it seeks the
restoration of the body as whole to its original state .Treatment is carried out in the four form i.e.
regimental therapy, pharmaco therapy dieto therapy and surgery.

6. Veda Medicine on sources of energy, pathology and constitutional types; Principals of Yoga

 Ayurveda sorts everyone into one of three doshas, or constitutions. While all of us have
elements of all three doshas, in most people, one dominates, influencing physical and
emotional health, behavior, and more.
 The three doshas are:
 Vata (Wind)
 People in which Vata dominates tend to be naturally thin and wispy physically, lively, chatty,
and always on the move (AKA all over the place). The flip side to this dosha is a propensity to
insomnia, anxiety, and the inability to focus.
 Pitta (Fire)
 Pitta types have a fire burning within. They’re intense, intelligent, and goal-oriented, with
vibrant complexions and luscious locks. They’re great leaders and public speakers. However,
too much Pitta leads to compulsive, obsessed behavior, irritability, and heartburn.
 Kapha (Earth)
 Kaphas have their feet firmly planted on the ground. They’re strong and muscular physically,
and are emotionally stable, calm, and patient. Someone with a Kapha overload might be prone
to holding grudges, sluggishness, and weight gain.
 he principal of yoga is based on spirituality. According to yoga, we are not just the physical
body, but we have more than four delicate bodies (Panchakosha). It is a consciousness that
forms the foundation of all the five bodies. You may take a complete knowledge of this
philosophy by doing yoga courses in India. Here are the most important five principles for the
practice of effective yoga:
 Appropriate exercise: You cannot deny this fact that regular exercise is good for you. Here
proper exercise means the practice of yoga asanas. Your body needs to be gained by a regular,
well-balanced asana practice. Yoga is a total workout as opposed to other exercises like
running and weight training. Regular practice of yoga can improve your immune system,
improves blood circulation, relieve stress, improves sleep and helps with flexibility. It also
beneficial for heart muscles; it helps in reducing blood pressure and improves circulation in the
entire body.
 Regular breathing exercise: Breathing exercise refers to Pranayama. Control of prana or energy
gained through the practice of breath control. Breathing exercises like Anuloma Viloma,
Kapalbhati, restore the nervous system, detoxify the cardiorespiratory system, and help us to
maintain steady and calm breathing during the time of emotional and physical stress.
 Complete relaxation: It refers to adequate sleep and relaxation between asanas in the form of
Savasana. When we practice Savasana in between the asanas, it helps in healing and repairing
itself more effectively. It helps to relax the body in a supine position by maintaining
consciousness to reset the internal equilibrium.
 The practice of this asana properly helps you to cure insomnia, it also helps in maintaining the
balance of your body throughout the day by keeping a well-planned schedule – same time for
meals, and being able to fall asleep quickly in the night and awaken refreshed takes practice
and planning.

 We take sleep for granted; often take help from caffeine in the afternoon or evening; eat a
heavy diet before going to sleep; we don’t give enough time to the brain and body to calm
down before sleeping. We often wonder why there is inadequate sleep and a restless mind.

 Healthy diet: The very basic key behind this principle is simply choosing Sattvic food.
According to you, what is sattvic food? Satvic food is simply mild (not very spicy and
fattening), not packaged food, but fresh, and plant-based. It is essential that food must be taken
in moderate quantity, and limited to 2 to 3 meals a day. The proper yogic diet discipline is free
from binge eating, emotional eating, and midnight cravings.
 Self reflection and positivity: Asking questions is a simple key to seek answers to understand
the world around us. When we learn this truth, we become compassionate towards all beings,
aware of our environment, and have a continued longing for understanding and peace. Positive
thinking in this context is the main concern
 7. Persian Medicine: Avesta about pathology and death, healing and wellbeing.
 The Iranian academic centers like Gundeshapur University (3rd century AD) were a breeding
ground for the union among great scientists from different civilizations. These centers successfully
followed their predecessors' theories and greatly extended their scientific research through history.
Persians were the first establishers of modern hospital system
 Great Iranian physicians believed that there is no pain without an herbal therapy. A part of Avesta
(the holy Book of Merian – ancient Iranian religion) related to medical therapy art. According to
the book, Serita was the first Iranian expert in medicine and Ahora Mazda (God) developed ten
thousand herbals for him. Maads (the Kurds' ancestors) founded medicinal knowledge of herbal
plants about 9150 years ago.
 evidence of surgery dates to the 3rd century BC when the first cranial surgery was performed in
the Shahr-e-Sukhteh (Burnt City) in south-eastern Iran. The archaeological studies on the skull of a
13-year-old girl suffering from hydrocephaly indicated that she had undergone cranial surgery to
take a part of her skull bone and the girl lived for at least about 6 months after the surgery.
 Iranian Magi (who were renowned for their wisdom beyond the borders of Iran) and Mobeds
(Zoroastrian clergy of a particular rank) were unsurpassed in their knowledge of medicine,
philosophy, and plants. Avesta texts also tell of consultation among Surgeons, Herbalists, and
Psychiatrists which indicates a form of medical association at the time. The first physician
documented by Avesta texts was Vivangahan. Other notable physicians mentioned were Mani,
Roozbeh, and Bozorgmehr.
 Credit for the establishment of hospital & training system must be given to the ancient Persians.
Jundishapur (Gundeshapur) is particularly thought to have had a significant role in establishing the
institution of the teaching hospital for the first time. According to the certified records of history,
by the decree of Sassanid king, Jundishapur International University founded in 271 AD due to
methodically cure and treat diseases while simultaneously train the students of medicine
 Farabi is noted for his contributions to psychology. Farabi's Social Psychology and Model City
were the first treatises to deal with social psychology. He stated that:" An isolated individual could
not achieve all the perfections by himself, without the aid of other individuals."
 Avicenna known as Prince of Physicians in west and chief master of all sciences in Muslim world
is the celebrated Iranian physician and philosopher who was particularly noted for his
contributions in the field of Aristotelian philosophy and medicine. He composed the Canon of
Medicine that became the preeminent source of medicine among western medical scholars from
the early 14 to the mid-16 century.
 The Golden Age of Persia after the Islamic conquest of Iran, in mid-7th century C.E., Iranian
science and culture was plunged into a two hundred year slumber. With the ascendance of the
Abbasid Caliphate in 750 C.E., the Islamic world entered a ‘Golden Age of Learning’. The
Caliphate moved to Baghdad, established the ‘Houses of Wisdom’, and gathered all the learned
men of the Islamic Empire to those centers where ancient works of science and philosophy were
translated into Arabic by Greek, Jewish, Syrian and Iranian scholars
8. Tibetan medicine: Nature of integral phenomenon; Polypharmacy and hollistic medicine

 Tibetan medicine is traditional medicine that has been developed and practiced on the Tibetan
plateau for many centuries. Tibetan medicine practiced by the Tibetan community in India is a
little different to Tibetan medicine in Tibet.
 It continues to be practiced in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Ladakh, Siberia, China and Mongolia, in some
parts of India, parts of Europe and North America. It embraces the traditional Buddhist belief that
all illness ultimately results from the three poisons: 1. Ignorance, 2. Attachment and 3. Aversion.
 The Tibetan medical heritage is based on the book of the Four Tantras, which remains the
fundamental medical text even today. •Practical experiences gradually formed the art of healing in
Tibet. Like, drinking hot water for indigestion, using melted butter for bleeding.
 The basis of the Four Tantras - - Root, - Exegetical, - Instructional, and - Subsequent Tantra is to
keep the three bodily humors in balance- wind, bile, phlegm. Which are in fact produced by the
three mental poisons: - desire gives rise to wind, - hatred to bile and - stupidity to phlegm.
 Root Tantra - It discusses the humors in the body and their imbalances and their link to illness. •
Exegetical Tantra - This section discusses in general theory on subjects such as anatomy,
physiology, embryology and treatment. Instructional Tantra -The longest of the Tantras is mainly
a practical application of treatment. Subsequent Tantra – Discusses about diagnosis and therapies,
including the preparation of Tibetan medicine.
 Methods of Treatment - There are four methods of treatment: 1. through diet 2. Through behavior
modification 3. Through medicine 4. Through physical therapy. Medicinal Plants used in Tibetan
System Orchis militaris Rhododendron dauricum. are commonly known as “chudlens” – remedies
that have a positive strengthening effect on body (bio stimulants). This plant heals the warm
diseases. Iris humilis heals the cold diseases. Phlomoides tuberosa Achillea millefolium is useful
in leg’s and hand’s edema. Ephedra monosperma is useful for liver disorder. The king of the herbs
Locoweed, can help with digesting, healing of wound and internally it will constrict blood vessels.
Oxytropis lanata. Dracocephalum fruticulosum Aster alpinus. The plant heals the liver diseases. It
can help stop blood flow & heal wounds. Alpine aster is good in treatment of fever diseases &
helpful with detoxification.
 Through our interest in traditional medicine we are now coming round full circle to the concept of
holistic medicine which treats the whole person, not just an individual disease
 But the greatest number of remedies is plant remedies. They are prescribed polypharmacy, that is,
a number of plant ingredients together in most prescriptions. There is always one chief ingredient
and the others each serve a purpose.
9. Greek-Romanian Medicine: Hellenic culture – the cradle of world civilization and begining of
modern medicine; Pythagor, Plato, Aristotle on the issues of death and life
 The first who had medicine as a profession were the Greeks. The first who made the doctors take
an oath are the Greeks. The Greeks were the first to look for what caused human diseases.
 Greeks used four humors to help them identify sickness: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and
phlegm (boogers). • To be healthy all four humors should be balanced in the human body.
 Temples dedicated to the healer-god Asclepius. Functioned as centers of medical advice and
healing (hospitals).
 Galen (131–201 C.E.) built on the work of earlier Greek scholars, such as Herophilus of
Chalcedon (335–280 B.C.E.) to become almost synonymous with Greek medical knowledge. He
became physician to the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius. His message of observation and
experimentation were largely lost, however, and his theories became dogma throughout the West.
In the mid-sixteenth century, his message that observation and investigation were required for
through medical research began to emerge, and modern methods of such research finally arose.
 Pythagorean philosophers believed in the transmigration of the soul and, based on a combination
of philosophical and theological beliefs about life, they were against a voluntary end to life
because all life is sacred.19 for the same reason, even surgical procedures were forbidden.
 Plato was born in c. 427 BC and died in 347 BC, but only during the last decade of his life did he
begin to write his dialogues. A pupil of the great teacher Socrates, Plato is considered to be one of
the greatest philosophers ever born.
 Believing in the harmony of life, Plato was against what nowadays is called active euthanasia. In
his Laws. He suggests in a general way that doctors should be punished by death, if by
administering any sort of drug they contribute to the termination of life. Moreover, in Phaedo he
opposes a man who committed suicide because it is against the will of the gods and thus not
allowed
 However, although Plato states that those who commit suicide should be buried in unmarked,
solitary graves in deserted areas, he is tolerant of people who suffer from insurmountable pain. He
recognizes the right of the desperate individual to commit suicide, when faced with unavoidable
misfortune due to having led a less than good life.Plato takes into account the insuperable
unhappiness of such people. In Laws IV he states that there should be some alleviation for these
people. In all other circumstances, suicide is the result of ‘a spirit of slothful and abject cowardice.
 10. Hippocrates – the “Father of Medicine
 Hippocrates was a Greek doctor who is called the "father of medicine".He was the first person to
teach that people got sick for scientific reasons. Previously, people believed that disease was
caused by angry gods.
 Many of Hippocrates' writings are still important to doctors. For example, patient confidentiality,
meaning that doctors can only discuss a patient with the patient themselves. Another of his ideas is
to never knowingly lead a patient to suffering or death. These kinds of ideas are part of medical
ethics.
 The Hippocratic Oath is named after him. This is a set of rules which doctors promise to obey.
This is an example of a modern Hippocratic Oath used at the University of North Carolina School
of Medicine
 He believed in the natural healing process of rest, a good diet, fresh air and cleanliness. He noted
that there were individual differences in the severity of disease symptoms and that some
individuals were better able to cope with their disease and illness than others. He was also the first
physician that held the belief that thoughts, ideas, and feelings come from the brain and not the
heart as others of his time believed.
 he interactions among the humors, qualities, organs and ages — as well as the influence of the
seasons and planets — determined a person's physical and mental health, as well as their
disposition or personality. (Galen used the term "temperament" and literally meant that health and
personality were affected by temperature — cold, hot, dry or wet. This notion is reflected in the
idioms "catching a cold" or having a "dry sense of humor.")
 According to the theory:
Yellow bile is related to the choleric disposition and the qualities of hot and dry. It is associated
with fire, summer, the gallbladder and childhood.
 Black bile is related to the melancholic disposition and the qualities of cold and dry. It is
associated with earth, winter, the spleen and old age.
 Blood is connected to the sanguine disposition and the qualities of hot and moist. It is linked to air,
spring, the heart and adolescence.
 Phlegm is related to the phlegmatic disposition and the qualities of cold and moist. It is connected
to water, the brain and maturity.
 11. The Old Testament and medicine. The main trends of Jewish phylosophy. Rules of
Moses on medicine
 The importance of medicine and physicians among the Jews is best seen in the long line of rabbi-
physicians, that started during the talmudic period and continued until comparatively recently.
Various factors were responsible for this combination of professions. Medicine was sanctioned by
biblical and talmudic law and had an important bearing upon religious matters. Since teaching or
studying the word of God for reward was not considered ethical, the practice of medicine was
most often chosen as a means of livelihood. This trend was further strengthened by the fact that
during the greater part of the Middle Ages the Jews were excluded from almost all other
occupations, including public office, and medicine was left as one of the few dignified
occupations by which they could earn their living.
 Jews have contributed to medicine both by the creation of new medical concepts and by the
transmission of medical knowledge. It was through the medieval Jewish physician-translators that
the medical knowledge of the East and much of ancient Greek medical lore was preserved and
transmitted to the West. A general survey of Jews in medicine may be divided into three broad
periods:

(a) biblical and talmudic times, which covers the period from antiquity until roughly the fourth to
fifth centuries C.E.;

(b) a middle period from approximately the sixth century C.E. to the beginning of the 19th century;
and

(c) the 19th and 20th centuries, during which Jews throughout the world have excelled not only in
the practice of medicine but in all fields of medical research and teaching. It is significant that over
20% of all winners of the Nobel Prize for medicine up to the end of the 1960s were Jewish.

 The high standard of medical science in Israel must be mentioned. Not only have Israeli physicians
successfully met the challenge of medical problems in a developing country with a mixed
population, but they have continued the ancient Jewish medical tradition by teaching and giving
practical aid to those developing countries striving to attain the scientific levels of the 20th and
21st century.
 the main source of information on ancient Hebrew medicine is the Bible, which refers to medicine
as it pertains to religious or civil laws or when important characters are involved. No general
ancient Hebrew medical documents are extant, although the Talmud reports that King *Hezekiah
canceled the "Medical Book" (Ber. 10b; Pes. 56a) and that a scroll on pharmacology was lost.
 From earliest times, the Jewish faith sought to suppress *magic customs and practices in every
field of life, including those concerned with the health of its members. The Hebrews were
doubtlessly influenced in their medical concepts and practices by the surrounding nations,
particularly by Egypt, where medical knowledge was highly developed. Prevailing superstitions
and beliefs in magic medicine were far less accepted and practiced by the Jews, however, than by
 their neighbors. But like their contemporaries, the ancient Hebrews attributed health and disease to
a divine source.

12. Christianity and it’s role in the reformation of the world thinking, medical relations and
approaches
 Early Christianity on empirical medicine in Graeco-Roman times, it is shown that the first two
centuries represented peaceful cooperation, since the Christians saw secular medicine as a
legitimate form of supernatural cure and not as magic. Christianity brought caring communities
with indiscriminate personalised care for the ill and aged. This ultimately led to the creation of
hospitals as we know them today. Monastic institutions appeared which often had hospitals, and
provided a degree of medical scholarship.
 When Christianity became the state religion in the 4th century, the Church Fathers became
increasingly authoritarian regarding the practice of medicine which was to be based on their
interpretation of Galen. Progressive stagnation of scientific development and medicine
specifically, set in. However, during the 5th century Nestorian Christians, fleeing from
persecution by the Church, settled in Persia where they initiated a blossoming of medical science
during the Golden Age of Islam (8th to 13th centuries), coexisting with the Dark Ages of
Medieval Europe.
 After this period Jewish and Christian doctors reintroduced Arabic versions of the works of the
Greek masters from the teaching hospitals of Islam to the young European medical schools at
Palermo and Montpellier. The Church which had in the mean time persisted with antiquated
dogmas, resented the new teachings from heathen Islam, and responded with reactionary
measures against supposed heretics, inter alia by instituting the Inquisition. But after the
Reformation and Henry VIII of England’s break with the Vatican, the hegemony of the Church
had come apart and Christianity and medicine gradually became realigned according to the
realities of the Age of Enlightenment

13. Islamic Medicine: Roots and development of medieval medicine

 Islam appeared as another monotheistic religion in the middle east and spread into Near
East, Africa and Spain.
 Many Greek and Roman writings were translated into Arabic.
 In later centuries they were translated to Latin, which would be one of the main sources of
Renaissance in Europe later on.
 Priest Nestorious – His followers started the Gondichapur school in Persia. This movement
involved translation of Ancient and especially Greek written sources to Assyrian and then to
Arabic languages.
 Muslim physicians gave great importance to clinical observation.
 They gave great importance to establishing of hospitals.
 Diseases did not cause stigmatization for patients, and special attention was paid to eye diseases.
 Treatment was done by Cauterization,Anesthesia,Herbal therapy
 Rhazes (Razi ) (Persian) was not only a brilliant bedside teacher but also a independent thinker. He
was not afraid to write his own observations. His book Al-Hawi summarized the medical and
surgical knowledge of his time.
 Abulcasis (Abul Kasim Zahravi ) mostly wrote on surgery and his book al-Tasrif, had a great
influence the Christian west.
 Avicenna ( AD) (Arabian) was not only known in Islamic world but so influential through all
history of medicine for many centuries. He was known one of the most important and famous three
physicians of all centuries with Hippocrates and Galen. His book The Canon (Kanun) was and
translated to other languages and many teachers, students and practitioners based their medical
knowledge to this book for many centuries. Even the medical universities in the west until mid
17th century used Kanun as a textbook for medical education.
 Farabi ( ): Physician and philosopher.
 Biruni is Mathematician, physician. “Kitap al saydala”- a pharmacology book, translated to other
languages from Assyrian language.
 Ibn Rüşd (cordoba) Physician and philosopher.
 Ibn al-Nefis Described the pulmonary circulation, criticized Galen’s anatomical teachings.
 The particular period in Islamic civilisation represents a unique era. Arabic became the language
of science and knowledge. Many works from Roman and Greek were translated to Arabic.
 Many distinguished physicians and scholars, including Razi, Zahrawi, Farabi, Biruni etc..

14. Arabian scholars – al Birun, Averoes, Avenzohar and their contributions; Avicenna –
the patriarch of world medicine

 Al-Biruni’s definition of the pharmacist could have been written today. Along the road from
sympathetic magic and shamanism to scientific method, much trailblazing was carried out over a
few centuries by scholars, alchemists, physicians and polymaths of the Muslim Middle East, and
their rules, procedures and expectations are, to a great extent, practiced almost universally today.
 In pharmacology and mineralogy, Al Biruni measured the specific gravity of many metals and
minerals with great precision, using an apparatus he designed and constructed himself. In short, Al
Biruni was one of the most gifted and prolific scientists and scholars of the medieval Muslim
Golden Age.
 In Medicine, his well-known book Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb was written before 1162 C.E. Its
Latin translation was known as 'Colliget. ' In it, Ibn Rushd has expounded on various aspects of
medicine, including the diagnoses, cures and prevention of diseases.
 Ibn Rushd also made remarkable contributions in medicine. In medicine his well-known book
Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb was written before 1162 A.D. Its Latin translation was known as
“Colliget”. The work composed of 7 books, concerning: anatomy, physiology, pathology,
symptomatology, pharmacology, hygiene and therapeutics. In it, Ibn Rushd threw light on various
aspects of medicine, including the diagnoses, cure and prevention of diseases and he made several
original observations.
  Ibn Zuhr enriched surgical and medical knowledge by describing many diseases and treatment
innovations not ever described before him.
 He was particularly known for his emphasis on a more rational, empiric basis of medicine. His
major work, Al-Taysīr fil-Mudāwāt wal-Tadbīr ("Book of Simplification Concerning
Therapeutics and Diet"), was translated into Latin and Hebrew and was influential to the progress
of surgery. He also improved surgical and medical knowledge by keying out several diseases and
their treatments.
 Ibn Zuhr performed the first experimental tracheotomy on a goat. He is thought to have made the
earliest description of bezoar stones as medicinal items
 Although Avicenna made advances in pharmacology and in clinical practice, his greatest
contribution was probably in the philosophy of medicine. He created a system of medicine that
today we would call “holistic” and in which physical and psychological factors, drugs, and diet
were combined in treating patients.

15. Medicine in medieval Europe: Scholastics and Galenizm. Educational centers in Paris,
Bologna, Padua, Oxford

 Galen of Pergamum (AD 129 – 199/217) was a prominent Roman physician and philosopher from
Pergamon, a Greek city in western Asia Minor. He was an important medical researcher during
the time of the Roman Empire. His theories influenced Western medical science for over a
thousand years.
 He came up with the 'Theory of Opposites' based upon Hippocrates' Four Humours' theory, which
helped develop medicine in the Roman and again in the Middle Ages to include more natural
based medicine (rather that just religious medicine).
 Some of his observations in his books were wrong, as he could only dissect animals (mostly pigs
and apes) and compare them to humans, because he was not allowed to dissect human corpses.
Later on in the Renaissance period people, such as Andreas Vesalius wrote books showing that
some of what Galen said was wrong.
 Galen was vital in the beginnings of natural medicine, and is often known as the 'Father of
Anatomy'

 A medieval university was a corporation organized during the Middle Ages for the purposes of
higher education. The first Western European institutions generally considered universities were
established in the Kingdom of Italy (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), the Kingdom of
England, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of Portugal between
the 11th and 15th centuries for the study of the Arts and the higher disciplines of Theology, Law,
and Medicine. During the 14th century there was an increase in growth of universities and
colleges around Europe.These universities evolved from much older Christian cathedral schools
and monastic schools, and it is difficult to define the exact date when they became true
universities, though the lists of studia generalia for higher education in Europe held by the
Vatican are a useful guide.

 The word universitas originally applied only to the scholastic guilds—that is, the corporation of
students and masters—within the studium, and it was always modified, as universitas
magistrorum, universitas scholarium, or universitas magistrorum et scholarium. Eventually,
however, probably in the late 14th century, the term began to appear by itself to exclusively mean
a self-regulating community of teachers and scholars recognized and sanctioned by civil or
ecclesiastical authority.
 From the early modern period onward, this Western-style organizational form gradually spread
from the medieval Latin west across the globe, eventually replacing all other higher-learning
institutions and becoming the preeminent model for higher education everywhere.

16. Medical School of Salerno

 University of Salerno, institution of higher learning in Salerno, Italy. Much of the historic interest
of the university derives from an antecedent medical school in Salerno that was the earliest and
one of the greatest medical schools of the Middle Ages. In fact, some scholars have called this
school medieval Europe’s first university.
 The medical school was noted for its physicians as early as the 10th century, and by the 11th
century it was attracting students from all over Europe, as well as Asia and Africa. In 1221 the
Holy Roman emperor Frederick II decreed that no doctor in the kingdom could legally practice
medicine until he had been examined and publicly approved by the school at Salerno.
 Three important factors determined the success of the Salernitan School: first, medical education
in Salerno began in the Benedictine monasteries, resulting in association between medical
learning and hospitals of the Church. Connection with the monastery at Monte Casino and
Benedictine traditions promoted intellectual development in a liberal atmosphere, which enabled
students of all backgrounds, including women, to attend the school.
 The mild climate in Salerno was the second factor contributing to the development of the medical
school. Salerno was considered a health resort, where travelers and nobility came to recuperate
from various ailments. Aggregation of the sick at Salerno attracted Greek, Arabic and Jewish
physicians. In addition, collections of literary material preserved in the monasteries drew students
of medicine from all over Europe, Spain and Asia Minor.
 The third factor that promoted the success of the school was geographic location in Southern Italy.
The school was located in the middle of an elevated valley, overlooking the town of Salerno,
southeast of Naples. Proximity to surviving remnants of Greek culture promoted learning of
Ancient Masters, such as Hippocrates and Aristotle.
 In addition, Islamic influence persisted despite conflict arising from the Crusades. Salerno was
also a favorite stopping place for Crusaders on the way to and from Asia Minor. In fact, a famous
work of the School, the Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, was written for the benefit of one such
Crusader, Robert Duke of Normandy

17. Renaissance in Western Europe. Revival of ancient Greek phylosofy. The method of trial
in science

 The Medieval Period, or Middle Ages, lasted from around 476 C.E. to 1453 C.E, starting around
the fall of the Western Roman Empire. After this came the start of the Renaissance and the Age of
Discovery.In southern Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East, Islamic scholars were translating
Greek and Roman medical records and literature.
 cross Europe, the quality of medical practitioners was poor, and people rarely saw a doctor,
although they might visit a local wise woman, or witch, who would provide herbs or incantations.
Midwives, too, helped with childbirth.
 The Church was an important institution, and people started to mix or replace their spells and
incantations with prayers and requests to saints, together with herbal remedies. In the hope that
repentance for sins might help, people practiced penance and went on pilgrimages, for example, to
touch the relics of a saint, as a way of finding a cure.
 Some monks, such as the Benedictines, cared for the sick and devoted their lives to that. Others
felt that medicine was not in keeping with faith. During the Crusades, many people traveled to the
Middle East and learnt about scientific medicine from Arabic texts. These explained discoveries
that Islamic doctors and scholars had made, based on Greek and Roman theories.
 Herbs were very important, and monasteries had extensive herb gardens to produce herbs to
resolve each imbalance humor. The local apothecary or witch, too, might provide herbs.
 The Christian Doctrine of Signature said that God would provide some kind of relief for every
disease, and that each substance had a signature which indicated how effective it might be.
 For this reason, they used seeds that looked like miniature skulls, such as the skullcap, to treat
headache, for example. The most famous medieval book on herbs is probably the “Red Book of
Hergest,” which was written in Welsh around 1390 C.E.
18. Medicine in XVII-XIX cc’s Europe: Development of various branches, disciplines of
medicine. Idealistic directions: Pragmatism, Relativizm and Positivizm – main trends of
Gnoseology
 Medicinal plants and herbs were an important and major part in the pharmacopeia. Medicines were
made from herbs, spices, and resins. Dioscorides, a Greek, wrote his Materia Medica in 65 AD.
This was a practical text dealing with the medicinal use of more than 600 plants in the second
century. Although the original text of Dioscorides is lost, there are many surviving copies. His
texts formed the basis of much of the herbal medicine practiced until 1500 . Some plants were used
for specific disorders, while others were credited with curing multiple diseases. In many cases,
preparations were made of many different herbs.
 The oldest surviving English herbal manuscript is the Saxon Leech Book of Bald written in about
AD 900–950. Vapor and herb baths were prescribed for all kinds of ailments. The book shows how
common it was to “smoke” the sick with fragrant woods and plants. Scented garlands decorated
homes. Every herb, every tree, and every flower had its own special quality. But of all the scents,
the rose is the one most associated with the Middle Ages. Crusaders brought home many different
kinds of perfumes from the Middle East; one among them was rosewater and the nobility put
bowls of rosewater for guests to wash their hands after meals. Rose petals were also used to
perfume baths.
 Gnosiology ("study of knowledge"), a term of 18th-century aesthetics, is "the philosophy of
knowledge and cognition". In Soviet and post-Soviet philosophy, the word is often used as a
synonym for epistemology.The term is currently used in regard to Eastern Christianity.
 Positivism is an epistemological position that holds that the goal of knowledge is simply to
describe the phenomena that we experience. Pragmatism means thinking of or dealing with
problems in a practical way, rather than by using theory or abstract principles. Revelavism is the
doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical
context, and are not absolute.

19. Alternative, Traditional, Complementary, Unconvential etc. Medicine: Various thinking

systems – Homeopathy, Isotherapy, Homotoxicology etc

 Homeopathy is an alternative medicine. It was created in the 18th century by Samuel Hahnemann.
The theory behind homeopathy is that an ill person can be healed with very small amounts of
something that produces the symptoms of the illness in a healthy person. Scientists say that
homeopathy does not work and only makes people think they feel better (this is called the placebo
effect.)
 Homeopaths make their medicines by taking the ingredients, adding water, and shaking the
mixture. They then take a drop of the mixture, throw out the rest, and add more water. They do this
usually 30 times but sometimes up to 200 times. They call it potentisation. Hahnemann said this
would bring out the "spirit-like medicinal powers held within a drug". Science can show how
many atoms or molecules—tiny things that cannot be divided up any more—of the original
substance are left in the homeopathic drug. In most homeopathic drugs, there is not a molecule left
 of the substance they started out with.Homeopaths believe that the solution carries a "memory" of
the original substance.Science says that goes against the laws of physics and chemistry.
 Homeopathy became popular because it was created at a time when medicine did not work very
well and could make people sick. Back then, taking homeopathy might have kept people from
getting hurt by bad doctors. However, medicine has improved since then, and now helps a lot more
than it hurts people. Homeopaths have also been known to tell their patients not to take medicines
like antibiotics and vaccines that could cure (or keep them from getting) dangerous diseases
 Iso therapyThe treatment of an organ disease by consuming the healthy organ of an animal. The
treatment of viral and bacterial illnesses by administering dilute dosages of those microorganisms
to infected patients. Isotherapy has been considered by some experts as a heretical branch of
homeopathy
 Homotoxicology is a form of therapy that uses homoeopathically diluted remedies with a view of
eliminating toxins from the body. It is not a therapeutic method based on accepted scientific
principles or biological plausibility.

20. Modern Medicine: Main trends and directions, problems and World Policy on medicine

 Modern medicine, on the other hand, has stringent intellectual property laws and a highly evolved
patenting system used to protect knowledge about drugs or medical techniques
 The problems of modern medicine are Illnesses can be analysed at cell level. Personalised
medicine is the future. Longer lifespan equals more people with dementia. .Ageing is still
mystery. The obesity epidemic is still a great threat. Maybe epigenetics makes us fat. Resistance
to antibiotics is spreading globally. Antibiotics use is too high.
 Modern medicine has done much in the fields of infectious diseases and emergencies to aid
cure. ... Advances in vaccines for hypertension, diabetes, cancers etc, deserve attention; as also,
the role of meditation, yoga, spirituality etc in preventing disease at various levels.
 Modern scientific biomedical research (where results are testable and reproducible) began to
replace early Western traditions based on herbalism, the Greek "four humours" and other such pre-
modern notions. The modern era really began with Edward Jenner's discovery of the smallpox
vaccine at the end of the 18th century (inspired by the method of inoculation earlier practiced in
Asia), Robert Koch's discoveries around 1880 of the transmission of disease by bacteria, and then
the discovery of antibiotics around 1900.
 The post-18th century modernity period brought more groundbreaking researchers from Europe.
From Germany and Austria, doctors Rudolf Virchow, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Karl Landsteiner
and Otto Loewi made notable contributions. In the United Kingdom, Alexander Fleming, Joseph
Lister, Francis Crick and Florence Nightingale are considered important. Spanish doctor Santiago
Ramón y Cajal is considered the father of modern neuroscience