What does the history of medicine tell us? A Brief History of Medicine

The art of healing has come a long way to achieve a high level of development. People have always been sick, and healers, healers, healers began their existence almost with the birth of the human race.

Prehistoric medicine

In prehistoric times, there were many different diseases. Primitive people did not care about the hygiene of their home and body, did not process food and did not seek to isolate their dead fellow tribesmen. This lifestyle is the best environment for the growth and development of a variety of infections and diseases, and ancient medicine could not cope with them. The lack of basic hygiene gave rise to skin diseases. Poor processing of food, its primitiveness and hardness led to abrasion, damage to teeth and jaws, and diseases digestive system. During battles and hunting, primitive people received dangerous injuries, the lack of treatment of which often led to death.

A huge number of diseases and injuries provoked the emergence of primitive medicine. The earliest people They believed that any disease is caused by the entry of someone else's soul into the human body, and for healing it is necessary to expel this soul. The primitive doctor, who was also a priest, practiced exorcism with the help of spells and various rituals.

Primitive healing was not limited to this. Over time, people have learned to notice and use medicinal properties plants and other fruits of nature. Clay served as a kind of “plaster” of that time - healers used it to fix fractures. Primitive operations were carried out, for example, skulls were found with traces of successful trepanation.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt can be considered the cradle of medicine as a science. The knowledge and manuscripts of ancient Egyptian doctors served as the basis for many more modern medical methods and exercises. It is considered the oldest documented system of medicine. The peculiarity of ancient Egyptian medicine is that a considerable part of the discoveries was attributed to the gods. Such as Thoth, Isis, Osiris, Horus, Bastet. The best healers were also priests. They attributed all their discoveries and observations to the gods. Unlike prehistoric times, the Egyptians placed great importance on hygiene. They clearly prescribed what to eat, when to sleep, when to do preventive procedures (emetics and laxatives to cleanse the body). They were the first to believe that the health of the body should be maintained with special games and physical activity. The Egyptians were the first to know about the existence of a pulse. They did not have an accurate understanding of the vessels, various nerves, tendons and how they differ. All circulatory system they imagined it as the Nile River.

The priests showed themselves as surgeons, they could amputate a limb, surgically remove skin growths, perform circumcision - both male and female. Many methods were ineffective and useless, but they were the first steps for further development. For example, like medicines based on mold and fermentation processes, ancient medicine in Egypt was quite developed for its time.

Ancient India

According to Indian beliefs, the gods who invented medicine were Shiva and Dhanvantari. Initially, as in Egypt, only brahmins (priests) could practice medicine. Further, healing became a separate caste. Which, unlike the Brahmins, received a reward for their labors. In addition to the reward, a person who became a doctor had to dress cleanly, take care of himself, behave gently and culturedly, come at the first request of the patient, and treat the priests for free.

In India, they were very concerned about their hygiene: in addition to simple baths, Indians brushed their teeth. Was separate list foods that help digestion. Surgery was taken out of medicine separately, calling it “shalya”. Surgeons could either extract the cataract or remove the stones. Surgeries to reconstruct the ears and nose were very popular.

It was the ancient medicine of India that described the beneficial properties of more than 760 plants and studied the effect of metals on the body.

They paid special attention to obstetrics. The doctor had to have four experienced women with him to help. Medicine in India was more developed than in Egypt or Greece.

Ancient Asia

Chinese medicine served as the basis of Asian medicine. They strictly enforced hygiene. As a basis Chinese medicine took nine laws, categories of compliance.

Based on the nine laws, they chose treatment methods. But in addition to this, surgical operations were carried out in China, anesthesia and asepsis were used. The first smallpox vaccinations were made in China a thousand years BC.

It is impossible to single out Japanese medicine separately; it was built on traditional Chinese medicine. At the same time, the ancient medicine of Tibet was built on the medical traditions of India.

Ancient Greece and Rome

In Greek medicine, the practice of monitoring the patient was first adopted. Studying the ancient medicine of Greece, it is difficult not to notice the influence of ancient Egyptian medicine on it. Most used medicines was described long ago in the papyri of Egyptian healers. IN Ancient Greece allocated two schools - in Kirin and Rhodes. The first school emphasized that illness is general pathology. She treated accordingly, focusing on the patient's characteristics, for example, on the physique. The school from Rhodes worked immediately with the outbreak of the disease. On the other hand, philosophers were engaged in medicine; they disseminated their knowledge among the public. They were the ones who studied medicine from a scientific point of view. Gymnastics was distinguished separately from all medicine as a way to treat dislocations and develop your body.

The deeper the knowledge penetrated into ancient medicine Egyptians, the more experienced doctors appeared with new methods. One of these fathers of medicine was Hippocrates. He has more deeply developed surgical practices. He could perform craniotomy, removal of pus, puncture chest, abdominal cavity. The only problem there were operations with a large amount of blood - not knowing how to work with blood vessels, Hippocrates refused such his patients.

All medicine of ancient Rome was built on achievements previously borrowed from Greek doctors. The situation is repeating itself - how Japanese medicine was built on the basis of Chinese medicine. Initially, all the medicine of Rome was based on pleasant and enjoyable methods: walks, baths. Further, based on the teachings of Hippocrates, methodical school, the school of pneumatics tried to improve them, but in a scientific way. The best physician in Rome was Galen. He studied anatomy in detail and wrote more than 500 treatises on medicine. I studied muscle function more thoroughly.

MEDICINE, science and practical activities for the prevention and treatment of diseases. At the dawn of its history, medicine was mainly concerned with the treatment, rather than the prevention of disease; in modern medicine, preventive and therapeutic areas are closely related, and great attention is also devoted to the problem of public health.

Bacteria are among the most early forms life and, judging by the available data, caused animal diseases back in the Paleozoic era. Rousseau's famous theory of the healthy and noble savage belongs to the realm of fiction; man has been susceptible to disease from the very beginning of his existence: the femur of Pithecanthropus from the island of Java, Homo(Pithecanthropus)erectus, who lived a million years ago, has pathological growths - signs of exostosis.

Modern knowledge of prehistoric medicine is based primarily on the study of fossil remains of prehistoric man and his tools; Some information is also provided by the practice of a number of surviving primitive peoples. Fossil remains bear traces of skeletal lesions such as bone deformations, fractures, osteomyelitis, osteitis, tuberculosis, arthritis, osteoma and rickets. There is no information regarding other diseases, but most likely almost all modern diseases existed in prehistoric times.

Primitive medicine was based on the assumption of a supernatural cause of illness, namely the malicious influence of evil spirits or sorcerers. Therefore, treatment consisted of magic spells, incantations, chants and various complex rituals. Evil spirits had to be scared away by noise, deceived by masks or by changing the name of the patient. Mostly sympathetic magic was used (based on the belief that a person could be supernaturally influenced by his name or an object representing him, such as an image). Magical medicine is still practiced in the islands of Polynesia, parts of central Africa and Australia.

Magical medicine gave birth to witchcraft - apparently the first human profession. Cro-Magnon drawings preserved on the walls of a cave in the Pyrenees, more than 20 thousand years old, depict a healer-sorcerer in the skin and with the antlers of a deer on his head.

People involved in treatment formed a special social group that surrounded itself with mystical secrets; some of them were keen observers. Many superstitions contain a grain of empirical truth. The Incas, for example, knew the therapeutic properties of mate (Paraguayan tea) and guarana, the stimulating effect of cocoa, and the effect of plant narcotic substances.

The Indians of North America, although they used witchcraft and spells, at the same time had quite effective healing methods. For fever, a liquid diet, cleansing, diuretics, diaphoretics and bloodletting were used. Emetics, laxatives, carminatives, enemas were used for stomach disorders; lobelia, flax and jars - with respiratory diseases. Of the 144 medicinal substances used by the Indians, many are still used in pharmacology. The Indians were especially skilled in surgery. They adjusted dislocations, applied splints for fractures, kept wounds clean, applied sutures, used cauterization, and poultices. The Aztecs also used splints and surgical instruments skillfully made from stone.

Primitive man, who used sharpened stones as surgical instruments, showed amazing surgical skill. There is evidence that amputations were already carried out in ancient times. Ritual operations such as infibulation (staples), castration and circumcision were common. But what is most surprising is that craniotomy was widespread in prehistoric surgery.

The technique of trepanation, common in the Neolithic era, probably dates back to the Late Paleolithic. From one to five round holes were cut into the skull bones. The growth of bone along the edges of the holes proves that patients quite often survived this dangerous and complex operation. Skulls with traces of trepanation have been found throughout the world, with the exception of Australia, the Malay Peninsula, Japan, China and sub-Saharan Africa. Trepanation is still practiced by some primitive peoples. Its purpose is not entirely clear; Perhaps this was the way to release evil spirits. On the Pacific Islands, it was used to treat epilepsy, headaches and insanity. On the island of New Britain it was used as a means of ensuring longevity.

Among primitive peoples, mental illness was believed to arise from possession by spirits, not necessarily evil ones; those suffering from hysteria or epilepsy often became priests or shamans.

With the fall of Rome, the advent of Christianity and the rise of Islam, powerful new influences completely transformed European civilization. These influences were also reflected in further development medicine.

The Renaissance period, which began in the 14th century. and lasting almost 200 years, was one of the most revolutionary and fruitful in the history of mankind. The invention of printing and gunpowder, the discovery of America, the new cosmology of Copernicus, the Reformation, the great geographical discoveries - all these new influences contributed to the liberation of science and medicine from the dogmatic shackles of medieval scholasticism. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 scattered Greek scholars and their priceless manuscripts throughout Europe. Now Aristotle and Hippocrates could be studied in the original, and not in translations into Latin from Hebrew translations of Arabic translations of Syriac translations from Greek.

One should not, however, think that old medical theories and methods of treatment immediately gave way to scientific medicine. Dogmatic approaches were too deeply rooted; in Renaissance medicine, original Greek texts simply replaced inaccurate and distorted translations. But in related disciplines, physiology and anatomy, which form the basis scientific medicine, truly enormous changes have taken place.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was the first modern anatomist; he performed autopsies and opened maxillary sinus, conducting bundle in the heart, ventricles of the brain. His expertly executed anatomical drawings are very accurate; unfortunately they were not published until very recently.

Anatomical works by another master, however, were published in 1543 along with remarkable drawings. Brussels-born Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), professor of surgery and anatomy at Padua, published a treatise About the structure of the human body(De humani corpore fabrica, 1543), based on observations and autopsies. This landmark book refuted many of Galen's misconceptions and became the basis of modern anatomy.

The pulmonary circulation was discovered independently and almost simultaneously by Realdo Colombo (1510–1559) and Miguel Servetus (1511–1553). Gabriele Fallopius (1523–1562), successor of Vesalius and Colombo in Padua, discovered and described a number of anatomical structures, in particular the semicircular canals, sphenoid sinuses, trigeminal, auditory and glossopharyngeal nerves, the facial nerve canal and the fallopian tubes, still often called fallopian. In Rome, Bartolomeo Eustachius (c. 1520–1574), formally still a follower of Galen, made important anatomical discoveries, describing for the first time thoracic duct, kidneys, larynx and auditory (Eustachian) tube.

The work of Paracelsus (c. 1493–1541), one of the outstanding personalities of the Renaissance, is full of contradictions characteristic of that time. In a number of aspects it is extremely progressive: the scientist insisted on bridging the gap between medicine and surgery; demanded that wounds be kept clean, not recognizing the idea of ​​the need for them to fester; simplified the form of recipes; in denying the authorities of antiquity he went so far as to publicly burn the books of Galen and Avicenna, and instead of Latin, he lectured in German. Paracelsus described hospital gangrene, noted the connection between congenital cretinism in a child and an increase in thyroid gland(goiter) in his parents, made valuable observations regarding syphilis. On the other hand, he was deeply immersed in alchemy and sympathetic magic.

If the plague raged in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance fell victim to another terrible disease. The question of where and when syphilis first appeared remains unresolved, but the sudden spread of its acute and transient form in Naples in 1495 is a historical fact. The French called syphilis the “Neapolitan disease”, and the Spaniards called it the “French disease”. The name "syphilis" appeared in a poem by Girolamo Fracastoro (1483–1553), who can be considered the first epidemiologist. In his main work About infection... (De contagione...) the idea of ​​the specificity of diseases replaced the old humoral theory. He was the first to identify typhus, describe various ways infection, indicated the infectious nature of tuberculosis. The microscope had yet to be invented, but Fracastoro had already put forward the idea of ​​​​the existence of invisible “seeds of infection” that multiply and penetrate the body.

Surgery during the Renaissance was still in the hands of barbers and, as an occupation, was inferior to medicine. As long as anesthesia remained unknown, and suppuration was considered necessary for wound healing, significant progress could not be expected. However, some operations were performed for the first time at that time: Pierre Franco performed a suprapubic cystotomy (opening Bladder), and Fabricius Gildan carried out the amputation of the femur. Gasparo Tagliacozzi, despite the opposition of clerical circles, did plastic surgery, restoring the shape of the nose in patients with syphilis.

Famous for his numerous discoveries in the field of anatomy and embryology, Fabricius Acquapendente (1537–1619) taught anatomy and surgery in Padua from 1562 and summarized the surgical knowledge of his time in a two-volume work Opera chirurgica, published already in the 17th century. (in 1617).

Ambroise Pare (c. 1510–1590) was noted for his simple and rational approach to surgery. He was a military surgeon, not a scientist. At that time, boiling oil was used to cauterize wounds. Once during a military campaign, when the supply of oil was exhausted, Paré applied a simple dressing, which gave excellent results. After this, he abandoned the barbaric practice of cauterization. His belief in the healing power of nature is expressed in the famous saying: “I bandaged him, and God healed him.” Pare also restored an ancient but forgotten method of applying ligatures.

Perhaps the most significant contribution of the Renaissance to medicine was that it dealt a crushing blow to the authoritarian principle in science and philosophy. Rigid dogma gave way to observation and experiment, blind faith to reason and logic.

The relationship between medicine and philosophy may seem far-fetched, however, as already noted, the flourishing of Hippocratic medicine was closely connected with the development of Greek philosophy. Likewise, the methods and basic concepts of the major philosophers of the 17th century. had a significant impact on the medicine of that time.

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) emphasized inductive reasoning, which he considered the basis of the scientific method. René Descartes (1596–1650), the father of modern philosophy, began his reasoning with the principle of universal doubt. His mechanistic concept of the organism belonged to the medical school of "iatrophysicists", whose opponents were equally dogmatic "iatrochemists". The first iatrophysicist Santorio (1561–1636) invented many useful tools, and among them is a clinical thermometer.

The greatest physiological discovery of the century, which was destined to revolutionize all medicine, was the discovery of blood circulation ( see also CIRCULATORY SYSTEM). With Galen's authority already in decline, William Harvey (1578–1657), an English physician who had studied in Padua, was free to make observations and draw conclusions that were published in his landmark book About the movement of the heart and blood(De motu cordis et sanguinis, 1628).

Harvey's discovery was subject to fierce criticism, especially from the Paris Faculty of Medicine, one of the most conservative schools of the time. There the teaching of Harvey's teachings was prohibited, and deviations from Hippocrates and Galen were punishable by exclusion from the scientific community. The pompous quackery of the French doctors of that time was immortalized in Moliere's sharp satire.

Harvey wisely ignored the vociferous speeches of his opponents, waiting for approval and confirmation of his theory. The road was open for rapid advances in physiology. Harvey was sure of the existence of a connecting link between the smallest arteries and veins, but could not detect it. This was done using primitive lenses by Marcello Malpighi from Bologna (1628–1694). Malpighi is not only the discoverer of capillary circulation, he is also considered one of the founders of histology and embryology. Among his anatomical discoveries are the innervation of the tongue, skin layers, renal glomeruli, The lymph nodes, cells of the cerebral cortex. He was the first to see red blood cells (erythrocytes), although he did not understand their real purpose, mistaking them for fat globules.

Red blood cells were soon described by another famous researcher, the inventor of the microscope, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723). This Dutch merchant, who designed more than 200 microscopes, devoted his leisure time to studying a new, exciting microworld. The scale of magnification he was able to achieve was small, 160 times at most, yet he was able to detect and describe bacteria, although he was unaware of their disease-causing properties. He also discovered protozoa and sperm, described the striation of muscle fibers, and made many other important observations. The assumption of a connection between microorganisms and disease was first put forward by Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680), who noticed many “tiny worms” in the blood of plague patients. Perhaps these were not the actual pathogens of the plague ( Bacillus pestis), but the very assumption of such a role for microorganisms was very important, although it was ignored over the next two centuries.

The result of active intellectual and scientific activity 17th century was the formation of several scientific societies in England, Italy, Germany and France, which supported research and published results in individual publications and scientific journals. First medical journal New discoveries in all areas of medicine(Nouvelles descouvertes sur toutes les parties de la médecine) published in France in 1679; English medical journal Entertaining medicine(Medicina Curiosa) appeared in 1684, but both did not last long.

The most prominent medical society was the Royal Society in England; four of its founders created the modern teaching of breathing. Robert Boyle (1627–1691), better known as a physicist and the founder of modern chemistry, showed that air was necessary for combustion and the maintenance of life; his assistant Robert Hooke (1635–1703), a famous microscopist, conducted experiments on artificial respiration on dogs and proved that it was not the movement of the lungs itself, but the air - the most important condition breathing; a third colleague, Richard Lower (1631–1691), solved the problem of the interaction of air and blood by showing that blood turns bright red when exposed to air, and dark red when artificial respiration is interrupted. The nature of the interaction was clarified by John Mayow (1643–1679), the fourth member of this Oxford group, who proved that not air itself, but only a certain component of it, is necessary for combustion and life. The scientist believed that this necessary component was a nitrogen-containing substance; in fact, he discovered oxygen, which was named so only as a result of its secondary discovery by Joseph Priestley.

Anatomy did not lag behind physiology. Almost half of the anatomical names are associated with the names of 17th century researchers, such as Bartholin, Steno, De Graaf, Brunner, Wirsung, Wharton, Pachyoni. A powerful impetus to the development of microscopy and anatomy was given by the great medical school of Leiden, which became in the 17th century. center of medical science. The school was open to people of all nationalities and religions, while in Italy a papal edict did not admit non-Catholics to universities; As has always been the case in science and medicine, intolerance led to decline.

The greatest medical luminaries of that time worked in Leiden. Among them was Francis Sylvius (1614–1672), who discovered the Sylvian fissure of the brain, the true founder of biochemical physiology and a remarkable clinician; It is believed that it was he who introduced clinical practice into Leiden teaching. The famous Hermann Boerhaave (1668–1738) also worked at the medical faculty in Leiden, but his scientific biography dates back to the 18th century.

Clinical medicine also reached in the 17th century. great success. But superstition still reigned; witches and sorcerers were burned in the hundreds; The Inquisition flourished, and Galileo was forced to renounce his doctrine of the motion of the Earth. The king's touch was still considered a sure cure for scrofula, which was called the "royal disease." Surgery still remained beneath the dignity of a doctor, but the recognition of diseases had advanced significantly. T. Willisy differentiated diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus. Rickets and beriberi were described, and the possibility of contracting syphilis through non-sexual contact was proven. J. Floyer began to count his pulse using his watch. T. Sydenham (1624–1689) described hysteria and chorea, as well as the differences between acute rheumatism and gout and scarlet fever from measles.

Sydenham is generally recognized as the most outstanding clinician of the 17th century; he is called the “English Hippocrates.” Indeed, his approach to medicine was truly Hippocratic: Sydenham did not trust purely theoretical knowledge and insisted on direct clinical observations. His treatment methods were still characterized - as a tribute to the times - by the excessive prescription of enemas, laxatives, and bloodletting, but the approach as a whole was rational, and the medications were simple. Sydenham recommended the use of quinine for malaria, iron for anemia, mercury for syphilis, and prescribed large doses of opium. His persistent appeal to clinical experience was extremely important in an era when too much attention in medicine was still given to pure theorizing.

For medicine of the 18th century. became primarily a time of generalization and assimilation of previous knowledge, rather than great discoveries. It is marked by improvements in medical education. New medical schools were founded: in Vienna, Edinburgh, Glasgow. Famous doctors of the 18th century. famous as teachers or as authors of works on the systematization of existing medical knowledge. Remarkable teachers in the field of clinical medicine were the previously mentioned G. Boerhaave from Leiden and W. Cullen from Glasgow (1710–1790). Many of their students took an honorable place in the history of medicine.

The most famous of Boerhaave's students, the Swiss A. von Haller (1708–1777), showed that muscle irritability does not depend on nerve stimulation, but is a property inherent in itself. muscle tissue, while sensitivity is specific property nerves. Haller also developed the myogenic theory of heartbeats.

Padua was no longer a significant center of medical knowledge, but it produced another great anatomist - Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682–1771), the father of pathological anatomy. His famous book On the location and causes of diseases identified by the anatomist(De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis, 1761) is a masterpiece of observation and analysis. Based on more than 700 examples, it integrates anatomy, pathological anatomy and clinical medicine through careful comparison of clinical symptoms with autopsy findings. In addition, Morgagni introduced the concept of pathological change organs and tissues.

Another Italian, Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729–1799), demonstrated the ability gastric juice digest food, and also experimentally refuted the then prevailing theory of spontaneous generation.

In clinical medicine of this period, progress was noticeable in such an important field as obstetrics. Although forceps for obstetrics were invented in the 16th century. Peter Chamberlain (1560–1631), they remained a secret of the Chamberlain family for more than a century and were used only by them. Several types of forceps were invented in the 18th century and became widely used; The number of male obstetricians also increased. W. Smellie (1697–1763), an outstanding English obstetrician, wrote Treatise on Obstetrics(Treatise on Midwifery, 1752), which accurately describes the process of childbirth and indicates rational procedures for facilitating it.

Despite the lack of anesthesia and antiseptics, surgery in the 18th century. has come a long way. In England W.Chislden (1688–1752), author Osteography(Osteographia), performed an iridotomy - dissection of the iris. He was also an experienced stone cutter (lithotomy). In France, J. Petit (1674–1750) invented a screw tourniquet and was the first to perform successful operations on the mastoid process of the temporal bone. P. Deso (1744–1795) improved the treatment of fractures. Surgical treatment of popliteal aneurysm, developed by the most remarkable surgeon of that era, John Hunter (1728–1793), has become a classic of surgery. Also a talented and diligent biologist, Hunter conducted a variety of research in the fields of physiology and comparative anatomy. He was a true apostle of the experimental method.

This method itself, however, has not yet become so established as to put a barrier to arbitrary theorizing. Any theory, since it lacked truly scientific justification, was opposed by another, equally arbitrary and abstract. Such was the dispute between materialists and vitalists at the beginning of the 18th century. The problem of treatment was also solved purely theoretically. On the one hand, J. Brown (1735–1788) believed that disease is inherently the result of insufficient stimulation, and the sick body must be stimulated with “maximum” doses of drugs. An opponent of the “Brownian system” was S. Hahnemann (1755–1843), the founder of homeopathy, a system that still has adherents today. Homeopathy is based on the principle “like cures like”, i.e. If a medicine causes some symptoms in a healthy person, then very small doses of it treat a disease with similar symptoms. In addition to theoretical theories, Hahnemann made significant contributions to pharmacology, studying the effects of many drugs. Moreover, his requirement to use medicine in small doses, at long intervals, and only one medicine at a time, allowed the body to restore its own strength, while other doctors exhausted patients with frequent bloodletting, enemas, laxatives, and excessive doses of drugs.

Pharmacology, already enriched with quinine (the bark of the cinchona tree) and opium, received a further impetus for development with the discovery of the medicinal properties of digitalis (digitalis) by W. Withering (1741–1799). The diagnosis was facilitated by the widespread use of special one-minute clocks for counting pulses. The medical thermometer was invented by Santorio, but was rarely used until J. Curry (1756–1805) introduced it into practice. An extremely important contribution to diagnostics was made by the Austrian L. Auenbrugger (1722–1809), who wrote a book on percussion (tapping). The discovery of this method was not noticed in a timely manner and became widely known only thanks to Napoleon’s personal physician J. Corvisart.

The 18th century is generally considered the century of enlightenment, rationalism, and the rise of science. But this is also the golden age of witchcraft, charlatanism and superstition, an abundance of secret miracle potions, pills and powders. Franz A. Mesmer (1734–1815) demonstrated his “animal magnetism” (a harbinger of hypnotism), causing extreme fascination with it in secular society. Phrenology was then considered a serious science. Unprincipled charlatans made fortunes from the so-called. “temples of healing”, “heavenly beds”, various miraculous “electrical” devices.

Despite its misconceptions, the 18th century came close to one of the most important medical discoveries - vaccination. For centuries, smallpox has been the scourge of mankind; unlike other epidemic diseases, it did not disappear and remained as dangerous as before. Only in the 18th century. it claimed more than 60 million lives.

Artificial weak infection with smallpox has already been used in the East, especially in China and Turkey. In China it was carried out through inhalation. In Turkey, a small amount of fluid from a smallpox vesicle was injected into a superficial skin incision, which usually led to mild disease and subsequent immunity. This type of artificial infection was introduced in England already in 1717, and this practice became widespread, but the results were not always reliable, and sometimes the disease was severe. Moreover, this did not allow getting rid of the disease itself.

A radical solution to the problem was found by the modest English country doctor Edward Jenner (1749–1823). He found that milkmaids do not become infected with smallpox if they have already had cowpox, a harmless infection transmitted by milking sick cows. This illness caused only a mild rash and went away fairly quickly. On May 14, 1796, Jenner first vaccinated an eight-year-old boy, taking fluid from the smallpox blister of an infected milkmaid. Six weeks later the boy was vaccinated with smallpox, but showed no symptoms. terrible disease didn't appear. In 1798 Jenner published a book Research into the Causes and Actions of Variolae Vaccinae(Inquiry into the Cause and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae). Very quickly in most civilized countries this terrible disaster subsided.

Medicine is a science that studies human health and disease, determines the norms of these two conditions, and also looks for ways to maintain and improve health, cure the disease, and prevent it from spreading.

History of medicine

Medicine has existed as long as humanity has existed. As soon as a person received one of those properties that distinguishes him from an animal - the ability to empathize - the desire to help a suffering loved one appeared. Through observations and experiments with surrounding plants and objects, people accumulated an information base. This useful knowledge and skills began to be passed on to selected members of the tribe - this is how priests appeared.
Having very limited data (compared to today), and a natural human desire to provide clues to the essence of phenomena, the priests explained the onset of diseases by the penetration of evil spirits into the patient’s body. Thus, in the interweaving of myth and real knowledge, medicine was born.

Medicine and religious institutions were closely linked until the 20th century.

With the emergence of cities, priests went to temples, but people needed daily - close and accessible - help. This is how secular medicine arose, and in the villages and among the lower strata of society - the direction that is now commonly called “traditional medicine,” namely witchcraft.

Great achievements were achieved by physicians from developed ancient cultures - Ancient India and China, Egypt, Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Consistently adopting the accumulated information, doctors improved their skills, deepened their knowledge, passing on their experience in books.

Amazing facts:

• Already in the 5th century BC. Doctors performed operations under anesthesia, and the operated patient was successfully decontaminated.
• In Ancient, plastic surgery was performed: doctors could restore a damaged ear or nose.
• In the Ancient One a craniotomy was performed

The Middle Ages were a step backward for medicine. Scientific books were destroyed, folk healers were recognized as sorcerers and witches. Medicine, disadvantaged and downtrodden, huddled in monasteries. However, even in the Middle Ages, the thirst for knowledge lived in people. Alchemists persecuted by the church (for example, Paracelsus) were engaged in experiments, many of which were medical.

During the Renaissance, the scientific knowledge of the ancients began to gradually return, learned a lot from Arab doctors, who in turn became the successors of the ancient Hindus.

Today medicine receives comprehensive support from society and the state. There are a huge number of tasks ahead, both in the treatment of diseases and in the prevention of their occurrence.

Fields of Medicine

Here are just some branches of medical science:

Formal, non-traditional and
ethnoscience

Scientifically proven treatments include: official medicine. However, there are many ways to help a person, tested for centuries, but still not fully studied, and therefore, despite all the variety of examples of effectiveness, not recognized by official science.

Alternative medicine methods include:

• acupuncture - effects on organs through certain points of energy concentration on the human body, incl. acupuncture, reflexology;
• homeopathy - treating like with like, taking small doses of drugs that cause the same symptoms as the disease;
• Natural medicine (naturopathy) – treats with natural remedies; includes many methods, including aromatherapy, leech therapy, herbal medicine, and mud therapy.

Traditional medicine is often referred to as alternative medicine . Her methods and methods of treatment are part of folk wisdom, passed down from generation to generation. To the professionals traditional medicine One can include healers whose methods include treatment, incantations, and prayers. Traditional medicine for a long time were deliberately discredited by representatives of official science, and such propaganda was necessary to defeat anti-scientific superstitions.

However, in this struggle, many recipes, the effectiveness of which has been proven to date, were lost.

Therefore, now we are once again recalling the forgotten recipes of herbalists in search of a replacement for chemically synthesized drugs to reduce the drug burden. In defense of traditional medicine methods, one can also cite the fact that many “scientific” methods practiced by eminent doctors later turned out to be harmful, unnecessary, and dangerous.

For example, the famous bloodletting treatment, or a barbaric method of treating the insane, which consisted of spinning the patient on a carousel-type device for a long time.

Modern challenges of medicine

Today people want not only to cure the disease, but also to maintain health for as long as possible. If in the Middle Ages life expectancy was approximately 30 years, now we want to live to 90, while still being expected to maintain the activity and quality of life of a healthy person.

Modern medical science is looking for ways to prolong life, and not just methods of treating diseases.

When did medicine emerge, or rather, the beginnings? medical care, exactly unknown. There are many opinions and theories on this matter.

The most common version: medicine arose simultaneously with the emergence of man; it turns out that medicine arose several hundred thousand years BC. If we turn to the words of the famous, prominent scientist I.P. Pavlov, he wrote: “ Medical activities- the same age as the first person.”

Traces of first aid were discovered during the period of the primitive communal system. It must be said that the primitive tribal community experienced two periods in its development:

1) matriarchy;

2) patriarchy.

Let us briefly trace the main points in the development of the primitive tribal community:

1) people began to live in small communities, which were then divided into clans, as well as clan unions;

2) the use of stone tools to obtain food and hunt;

3) the appearance of bronze (hence the name “Bronze Age”), and then the appearance of iron. In fact, this changed the way of life. The fact is that hunting began to develop, and since hunting is the domain of men, a transition to patriarchy occurred.

With the advent of various tools, the number of injuries that people could receive increased. If you pay attention to the rock paintings, you can clearly see that hunting and various military battles caused people a lot of trouble and, naturally, injuries, wounds, etc. Here you can see primitive first aid techniques - removing an arrow, etc.

It should be noted that initially no division of labor as such existed. Long before the beginning of civilization and the formation of the state, and especially during the period of matriarchy, women were a kind of guardians of the home - this included caring for the community, tribe, as well as providing medical care. Proof of this can be considered the fact that today, in the coastal steppes and other places of the first settlement, stone sculptures are found - rough figures of women - guardians of the tribe, clan, etc.

The next period of development was when people received fire. Let us turn to the words of F. Engels: “...The production of fire by friction for the first time gave man dominance over a certain force of nature and thereby finally separated man from the animal kingdom.” Due to the fact that people received fire, their food became more varied. In fact, the production of fire accelerated anthropogenesis, accelerated human development. At the same time, the cult and importance of women as guardians of the hearth and healers weakened. Despite this, women continued to collect plants, which they then ate. Detection of poisonous and medicinal properties plants occurred purely empirically.

Thus, from generation to generation, knowledge about plants was passed on and accumulated, about which of them can be eaten, which cannot, which can be used for treatment, and which should not. Experimentally, they added to herbal remedies medicinal products animal origin (for example, such as bile, liver, brain, bone meal, etc.). Primitive man also noticed mineral remedies for treatment and prevention. Among the mineral means of treatment and prevention, one can identify a very valuable product of nature - rock salt, as well as other minerals, including precious ones. It must be said that by the period of Antiquity, a whole doctrine of treatment and poisoning with minerals, especially precious ones, had appeared.

In connection with the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, the role of women, in particular the economic one, decreased, but the medical role remained and even strengthened. Over time, the man became the master of the tribe, clan, and the woman remained the keeper of the home.

The history of medicine goes back only a few thousand years. Despite everything, the medicine of primitive communities still deserves serious attention and study. After all, it was then that traditional medicine appeared and began to develop. People's knowledge, obtained by empirical methods, accumulated, healing skills improved, and at the same time the question of the causes of diseases began to arise. Naturally, people of that time did not have such an arsenal of knowledge as they do today, and could not explain the occurrence of diseases from a scientific point of view, therefore people considered the causes of diseases to be some kind of magical forces that were unknown to man. From another point of view, people found a magical explanation for the causes of the disease later, and the initial explanations were of a purely materialistic nature, which was associated with the experience of obtaining a means of living. During the period of late matriarchy, when well-being and life became more and more dependent on the results of hunting, the cult of an animal - a totem - arose. Totemism from the Indian means “my family.” It should also be noted that until recently, and among the Indians in America to this day, the names of tribes were associated with the name of some animal or bird, the hunt for which provided food for the tribe - the monkey tribe, the bull tribe, etc. Moreover, , some even connected their origin with some animal. Such representations are called animalistic. Hence the wearing of amulets. In addition to all this, people could not help but notice the effect of weather conditions on life and health.

There is an opinion that primitive people were very healthy. The fact is that, of course, at that time there was no impact on people of adverse factors of a technogenic nature - air pollution, etc. However, they constantly fought for their existence with natural conditions, were also sick infectious diseases, died in wars with each other, were poisoned by low-quality food, etc. It is believed that the average life expectancy of people of that time was 20–30 years. Now let's turn to such a concept as paleopathology.

1. Paleopathology – is a science that studies the nature of diseases and lesions of ancient people. Among these diseases one can name such as necrosis, alkalosis, poliomyelitis, periostitis, rickets, bone fractures, etc.

As society developed, it came to such phenomena as fetishism, that is, the direct personification and exaltation of natural phenomena, and later animism.

2. Animism – spiritualization of all nature, populating it with diverse spirits and supernatural beings, supposedly acting in it.

Already during the times of patriarchy, the so-called ancestor cult appeared. An ancestor, that is, some individual personality, perhaps even born of a person’s imagination, could become the cause of a disease, could move into the body of a person and torment him, causing illness. Accordingly, in order for the illnesses to stop, the ancestor must be appeased by sacrifice or expulsion from the body. Thus, we can say that such ideas largely formed the basis of religion. Shamans appeared who were “specialists” in expelling or appeasing spirits.

Thus, along with materialistic ideas and the rudiments of knowledge acquired by people, animistic, religious views develop. All this shapes traditional healing. There are two principles in the activities of traditional healers - empirical and spiritual, religious.

Although, of course, there are still healers who limit themselves to ordinary collecting herbs, preparing potions, and so on, without “theoretical and religious” beliefs.

The concept of folk hygiene is very closely related to the concept of “traditional medicine”, the separation of which from medicine is very conditional, since traditions and rules, observations about the dangers of unclean air, water, poor quality nutrition and others, entered the arsenal of traditional medicine and were used in the treatment and prevention of various diseases.

It is necessary to define the concept of “traditional medicine”, which is given in the orders of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation.

Ethnoscience - these are methods of healing, prevention, diagnosis and treatment, based on the experience of many generations of people, established in folk traditions and not registered in the order, established by law Russian Federation.

Now we need to decide whether folk medicine can be called traditional. The fact is that traditional medicine developed, as if emerging from the depths of traditional medicine. So, from this point of view, it would be correct to talk about traditional folk medicine.

Thus, the beginnings of medical science appeared along with the advent of man, and from the very beginning medicine was folk medicine, as it was carried out by healers, healers, and so on with the help of various drugs of plant, animal, mineral origin, as well as with the use of elementary “medical instruments” for applying a bandage in the treatment of fractures and wounds, bloodletting, craniotomy, etc.

Medicine is one of the most important aspects social life society. Medicine as a science has existed as long as humanity has existed. The level of development of medical knowledge has always directly depended on the level of socio-economic development.

Information about initial stages We can learn about the development of medicine from ancient drawings and ancient medicinal supplies that were found by archaeologists. We also learn information about medicine of past times from written sources: the works of thinkers of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, in chronicles, epics and thoughts.

In the early stages of the development of medicine, observational methods were mainly used. The first diagnoses were made after examining the external manifestations of the disease, unlike, for example, modern dentists, who can make a diagnosis based on your feelings if you know everything about your smile.

IN different points medicine developed separately around the world. In China already in 770 BC. there was a book on medicine. Despite the fact that all the methods and treatment tips in this book were mainly based on legends and myths, it still contained genuine information about human health. It is known for certain that in the 5th century BC. were even carried out in China surgical operations using the first forms of modern surgical techniques.

In 618 BC. doctors of ancient China first announced the existence infectious diseases, and in 1000 BC. The Chinese even vaccinated against smallpox.

In another Asian country, Japan, medicine did not develop so successfully. The Japanese drew their basic knowledge from the experience of Chinese medicine.

The real breakthrough in medicine occurred in Ancient Greece. The first schools of doctors appeared here, making medical education accessible to secular people.

It was thanks to the activities of one of these schools that Hippocrates received all his knowledge about medicine. The role of this thinker in the development of medicine cannot be overestimated. His works combine all the scattered accumulated information about the treatment of people. Hippocrates identified the causes of disease. The main reason, in his opinion, was a change in the ratio of fluids in the human body.

Hippocrates' conclusions became the basis of modern practical medicine, and his description of surgery surprises even modern doctors. Hippocrates described methods of treatment that are widely used even today.

Of course, many famous scientists contributed to the development of medicine even after Hippocrates. Thanks to their work, modern medicine reached unprecedented heights. In addition, modern technologies are used to train doctors.