History of Medicine |

Supriya*

*Postgraduate resident, Department of Medicine, LHMC, New Delhi

Tracing back the roots of modern medicine, we travel back in time to ancient Egypt (around 2600BC), where first substantial evidence of scientific ways of practicing medicine can be found in the book written by Imhotep, his work chronicling over 200 different medical conditions.

Hippocrates (born 460 BC) is widely credited as being the father of modern medicine. One of his huge contributions in advancing the field was the insight into the fact that diseases could have natural (rather than supernatural) causes. Also of enormous significance was his oath of conduct for physicians, which is still used worldwide today.

Famous doctors from the Roman world include Galen who dissected primates and attempted to extrapolate findings to the human body, although with limited success. Advances in public health were also important during this period, including some of the first sewage systems. In 1010 Avicenna wrote The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine.

The term ‘doctor’ itself didn’t arise until the 14th century in Britain and was typically used to refer to theologians and those who could ‘teach’.

Leonardo da Vinci, working in the 15th century contributed greatly to our understanding of human anatomy, with detailed sketches produced after careful dissection of human corpses. The idea of the four humors in the body – blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile still predominated, with much illness attributed to an imbalance in these. In 1747 James Lind published his Treatise of the Scurvy stating that citrus fruits prevent scurvy. Beginning with an attempt by Edward Jenner in 1796 to use inoculations to tame the infamous smallpox virus, the usefulness and popularity of vaccines grew very quickly. In 1816 Rene Laennec invented the stethoscope which would become a symbol of pride and responsibility for all future doctors. In 1818 James Blundell performed the first successful transfusion of human blood.

In 1861 Germ Theory was established, French microbiologist Louis Pasteur proved through a simple experiment that infectious disease was a result of an invasion of specific microscopic organisms – also known as pathogens – into living hosts.

In 1913 Dr. Paul Dudley White pioneered the use of the electrocardiograph – ECG. In 1922 Insulin was first used to treat diabetes. In 1928, Alexander Fleming’s penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic, completely revolutionized the war against deadly bacteria.

In 1943 Selman A. Waksman discovered the antibiotic streptomycin

Terrible viruses such as small-pox, influenza and hepatitis have ravaged human populations throughout history. Unlike the sweeping success of antibiotics in the late 1930s and 1940s, the development of antivirals did not really took off until the 1960s.

Immunotherapy, a treatment that stimulates the immune system to fight off a disease, has been in the making for over a century. The story began in the 1890s with the experimental work of William B. Coley who injected inactive bacteria into cancerous tumors, achieving remission in some patients. First antibody therapy was developed in 1970 and significant research has been done in this area since then.

Newer therapeutics are constantly evolving and adding to the resources available in the field for care and cure.