A
TERM PAPER
ON

GST 111:
USE OF ENGLISH

TOPIC:
THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

WRITTEN BY:
UWEM, HOPE OKON
REG NO. 08/BA/IN/022
DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE
FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED TO
DR. MRS.
DEPARTMENT OF
FACULTY OF
UNIVERSITY OF UYO, UYO
AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA.

FEBRUARY, 2012
1. INTRODUCTION All human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods. These ideas still retain some power, with faith healing and shrines still used in some places, although the rise of scientific medicine over the past millennium has altered or replaced mysticism in most cases. The ancient Egyptians had a system of medicine that was very advanced for its time and influenced later medical traditions. The Egyptians and Babylonians both introduced the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, and medical examination. The Hippocratic Oath, still taken by doctors today, was written in Greece in the 5th century BCE, Horstmanshoff et al (2004:7). In the medieval era, surgical practices inherited from the ancient masters were improved and then systematized in Rogerius's The Practice of Surgery. During the Renaissance, understanding of anatomy improved, and the invention of the microscope would later lead to the germ theory of disease. These advancements, along with developments in chemistry, genetics, and lab technology (such as the x-ray) led to modern medicine, O'Leary (1939:65).

2. PREHISTORIC MEDICINE Although there is no record to establish when plants were first used for medicinal purposes (herbalism), the use of plants as healing agents is a long-standing practice. Over time through emulation of the behavior of fauna a medicinal knowledge base developed and was passed between generations. As tribal culture specialized specific castes, Shamans and apothecaries performed the 'niche occupation' of healing.

3. HISTORY OF MEDICINE (Antiquity)
3.1 Egypt Ancient Egypt developed a large, varied and fruitful medical tradition. Herodotus described the Egyptians as "the healthiest of all men, next to the Libyans", due to the dry climate and the notable public health system that they possessed. According to him, "the practice of medicine is so specialized among them that each physician is a healer of one disease and no more." Although Egyptian medicine, to a good extent, dealt with the supernatural, it eventually developed a practical use in the fields of anatomy, public health, and clinical diagnostics. Nunn (2002:67) Medical information in the Edwin Smith Papyrus may date to a time as early as 3000 BCE. The earliest known surgery was performed in Egypt around 2750 BCE. The Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus treats women's complaints, including problems with conception. Thirty four cases detailing diagnosis and treatment survive, some of them fragmentarily. Dating to 1800 BCE, it is the oldest surviving medical text of any kind, Breasted (1930:24). Medical institutions, referred to as Houses of Life are known to have been established in ancient Egypt as early as the 1st Dynasty. The earliest known physician is also credited to ancient Egypt: Hesy-Ra, “Chief of Dentists and Physicians” for King Djoser in the 27th century BCE. Also, the earliest known woman physician, Peseshet, practiced in Ancient Egypt at the time of the 4th dynasty. Her title was “Lady Overseer of the Lady Physicians.” In addition to her supervisory role, Peseshet trained midwives at an ancient Egyptian medical school in Sais, Horstmanshoff et al (2004:16).

3.2 Mesopotamia and Levant The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old Babylonian period in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummânū, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa, during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BCE)., O'Leary (1939:55). Along with contemporary ancient Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and medical prescriptions. In addition, the Diagnostic Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and etiology and the use of empiricism, logic and rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains a list of medical symptoms and often detailed empirical observations along with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on the body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis. Most of our knowledge of ancient Hebrew medicine during the 1st millennium BCE comes from the Torah, i.e. the Five Books of Moses, which contain various health related laws and rituals, such as isolating infected people (Leviticus 13:45-46), washing after handling a dead body (Numbers 19:11-19) and burying excrement away from camp (Deuteronomy 23:12-13).

3.3 India The Atharvaveda, a sacred text of Hinduism dating from the Early Iron Age, is the first Indian text dealing with medicine, like the medicine of the Ancient Near East based on concepts of the exorcism of demons and magic. The Atharvaveda also contain prescriptions of herbs for various ailments. The use of herbs to treat ailments would later form a large part of Ayurveda. In the first millennium BCE, there emerges in post-Vedic India the traditional medicine system known as Ayurveda, meaning the "complete knowledge for long life". Its two most famous texts belong to the schools of Charaka, born c. 600 BCE, and Sushruta, born 600 BCE, Berridge (1975:198).

3.4 China China also developed a large body of traditional medicine. Much of the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine derived from empirical observations of disease and illness by Taoist physicians and reflects the classical Chinese belief that individual human experiences express causative principles effective in the environment at all scales. These causative principles, whether material, essential, or mystical, correlate as the expression of the natural order of the universe, Porter (1997:34). The foundational text of Chinese medicine is the Huangdi neijing, or Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, which is composed of two books: the Suwen ("Basic Questions") and the Lingshu ("Divine Pivot"). Although the Neijing has long been attributed to the mythical Yellow Emperor (twenty-7th century BCE), Chinese scholars started doubting this attribution as early as the 11th century and now usually date the Neijing to the late Warring States period (5th century-221 BCE), Nunn (2002:69). Because the medical "silk manuscripts" dating from around 200 BCE that were excavated in the 1970s from the tomb of a Han-dynasty noble in Mawangdui are undoubtedly ancestors of the received Neijing, scholars like Nathan Sivin now argue that the Neijing was first compiled in the 1st century BCE.

3.5 Greek and Roman medicine Around 300 BCE Homer in The Iliad gives descriptions of wound treatment by "the two sons of Asklepios, the admirable physicians Podaleirius and Machaon and one acting doctor, Patroclus. Because Machaon is wounded and Podaleirius is in combat Eurypylus asks Patroclus “to cut out this arrow from my thigh, wash off the blood with warm water and spread soothing ointment on the wound." Askelpios like Imhotep becomes god of healing over time. Temples dedicated to the healer-god Asclepius, known as Asclepieia functioned as centers of medical advice, prognosis, and healing, Berridge (1975:201). The first known Greek medical school opened in Cnidus in 700 BCE. Alcmaeon, author of the first anatomical work, worked at this school, and it was here that the practice of observing patients was established. As was the case elsewhere, the ancient Greeks developed a humoral medicine system where treatment sought to restore the balance of humours within the body.

3.6 Hippocrates A towering figure in the history of medicine was the physician Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE), considered the "father of modern medicine.” The Hippocratic Corpus is a collection of around seventy early medical works from ancient Greece strongly associated with Hippocrates and his students. Most famously, Hippocrates invented the Hippocratic Oath for physicians, which is still relevant and in use today, Marten (1993:111). Hippocrates and his followers were first to describe many diseases and medical conditions. He is given credit for the first description of clubbing of the fingers, an important diagnostic sign in chronic suppurative lung disease, lung cancer and cyanotic heart disease. For this reason, clubbed fingers are sometimes referred to as "Hippocratic fingers", Porter (1997:34). Hippocrates was also the first physician to describe Hippocratic face in Prognosis. Hippocrates began to categorize illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic, and use terms such as, "exacerbation, relapse, resolution, crisis, paroxysm, peak, and convalescence."

3.7 Celsus and Alexandria Two great Alexandrians laid the foundations for the scientific study of anatomy and physiology, Herophilus of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Ceos. Other Alexandrian surgeons gave us; ligature (hemostasis), lithotomy, hernia operations, ophthalmic surgery, plastic surgery, methods of reduction of dislocations and fractures,tracheotomy, and mandrake as anesthesia. Most of what we know of them comes from Celsus and Galen of Pergamum, Murray (1990:91).

3.8 Galen The Greek Galen was one of the greatest surgeons of the ancient world and performed many audacious operations—including brain and eye surgeries— that were not tried again for almost two millennia. Later, in medieval Europe, Galen's writings on anatomy became the mainstay of the medieval physician's university curriculum along; but they suffered greatly from stasis and intellectual stagnation. Day (1967:73). In the 1530s, however, Belgian anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius took on a project to translate many of Galen's Greek texts into Latin. Vesalius's most famous work, De humani corporis fabrica, was greatly influenced by Galenic writing and form. The works of Galen were regarded as authoritative until well into the Middle Ages. he was also know for his large phallis

3.9 Islamic Middle Ages 9th-12th An Arabic manuscript, dated 1200, titled Anatomy of the Eye, authored by al-Mutadibih. The Islamic civilization rose to primacy in medical science as its physicians contributed significantly to the field of medicine, including anatomy, ophthalmology, pharmacology, pharmacy, physiology, surgery, and the pharmaceutical sciences. The Arabs were influenced by, and further developed Greek, Roman and Byzantine medical practices. Galen, Hippocrates, were pre-eminent authorities.The translation of 129 works of ancient Greek physician Galen into Arabic by Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his assistants, and in particular Galen's insistence on a rational systematic approach to medicine, set the template for Islamic medicine, which rapidly spread throughout the Arab Empire. Muslim physicians set up dedicated hospitals, Murray (1990:83).

3.10 Scholastic Medicine 13th-16th century In western Europe, with the collapse of Roman imperial authority, medicine became localised; folk-medicine supplemented what remained of the medical knowledge of antiquity. Medical knowledge was preserved and practised in many monastic institutions, which often had a hospital attached. Organised professional medicine re-emerged, with the foundation of the medical college (Schola Medica Salernitana) of Salerno in Italy in the 11th century, which in co-operation with the monastery of Monte Cassino, translated many Byzantine and Arabic works. In the 12th century universities were founded in Italy and elsewhere, which soon developed schools of medicine. Breasted (1930:18) By the 13th century, many European towns were demanding that physicians have several years of study or training before they could practice. Montpellier, Padua and Bologna Universities were particularly interested in the academic side to medicine, and by the 15th century at the latest, Surgery was a separate university subject to Physic (Medicine), Marten (1993:77).

3.11 Renaissance to Early Modern period 16th-18th century The Renaissance brought an intense focus on scholarship to Christian Europe. A major effort to translate the Arabic and Greek scientific works into Latin emerged. Europeans gradually became experts not only the ancient writings of the Romans and Greeks, but in the contemporary writings of Islamic scientists. During the later centuries of the Renaissance came an increase in experimental investigation, particularly in the field of dissection and body examination, thus advancing our knowledge of human anatomy. The development of modern neurology began in the 16th century with Vesalius, who described the anatomy of the brain and other organs; he had little knowledge of the brain's function, thinking that it resided mainly in the ventricles. Over his lifetime he corrected over 200 of Galen's mistakes. Understanding of medical sciences and diagnosis improved, but with little direct benefit to health care. Few effective drugs existed, beyond opium and quinine. Paracelsus (1493-1541) burned the works of Avicenna, Galen, and Hippocrates and denounced humoral medicine. On the relationship between medicine and surgery. Ambroise Pare 1510-1590 pioneered the treatment of gunshot wounds.

3.12 19th century: Rise of modern medicine Anatomy of the heart (1890) by Enrique Simonet. The practice of medicine changed in the face of rapid advances in science, as well as new approaches by physicians. Hospital doctors began much more systematic analysis of patients' symptoms in diagnosis. Among the more powerful new techniques were anaesthesia, and the development of both antiseptic and aseptic operating theatres. Actual cures were developed for certain endemic infectious diseases, Breasted (1930:11). However the decline in many of the most lethal diseases was more due to improvements in public health and nutrition than to medicine. It was not until the 20th century that the application of the scientific method to medical research began to produce multiple important developments in medicine, with great advances in pharmacology and surgery, Marten (1993:87). Medicine was revolutionized in the 19th century and beyond by advances in chemistry and laboratory techniques and equipment, old ideas of infectious disease epidemiology were replaced with bacteriology and virology. Bacteria and microorganisms were first observed with a microscope by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1676, initiating the scientific field , Day (1967:64)..

CONCLUSION

The study of the history of medicine is a thriving academic career. Today's health care professionals work hard to promote hygiene, prevent and detect disease, cure patients, and when that is impossible, reduce their suffering. Still, it is worthwhile to remember that the modern practice of medicine has not always been with us but was developed over thousands of years, Grant (1974:34). As we approach the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, the medical advancements are numerous and proceeding at a pace that still leaves today’s physicians to conclude on new understandings of our function, ability, interrelations, and interactions. Much of what’s left to ponder about the division of pathways are left to dark corners to speculate about the validity of conclusively proven realities. In actuality, proving or disproving what has already been accepted is what brings us to our current modern era perspective and opinion. Vitamin deficiency still persists through current morphisms but can be corrected! The medical system is doing what it can to remain valid while at the same time providing support and education.

REFERENCES

Nunn J. F. (2002). “Ancient Egyptian Medicine”. University of Oklahoma Press.

Breasted J. H.,(1930) “The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus”, University of Chicago Press,USA.

Marten S. (1993), “Epilepsy in Babylonia”, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-72371-63-1

Horstmanshoff H. F. J., Marten S., Cornelis T. (2004), “Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine”, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-04-13666-5.

Madigan M, Martinko J (editors) (2006). Brock Biology of Microorganisms (11th ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-144329-1.

Grant, E. (1974). “Source Book in Medieval Science”. Harvard University Press, USA, ISBN 9780674823600.

Day, C. L. (1967). “Quipus and Witches' Knots. Lawrence”, Kansas: University of Kansas Press.

Murray, J. E.,(1990) "The First Successful Organ Transplants in Man", Nobel Lect., 1990, Nobelprize.org., Web, July 7, 2010

O'Leary, D. L. (1939). “Arabic Thought and Its Place in History”. Forgotten Books . ISBN 9781605066943. http://books.google.com/books?id=zoRGZANMdPcC. Retrieved 5 September 2012.

Porter, R. (1997). The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-215173-1.

Berridge, V.(1975). "Health and Medicine" in The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950, vol. 3, Social Agencies and Institutions, edited by F M.L. Thompson, (1990).