Ancient Medicine

Since ancient times, people have tried to understand and explain the causes of disease and find drugs against them. Some ancient traditions are still alive, for example, the use of medicinal plants.

Medical traditions of ancient times were sent orally, but only with the appearance of a written word, we can talk about the emergence of drugs as an organized system of knowledge. The oldest known medical texts are found in China and Egypt and date back to 2000 BC. e.

** The origin of the drug **
Drugs are believed to originate in China in the mid-millennium III BC. E., when the earliest known medical treatise "Huang-in Neijing" ("Treatise on the internal") arose, the authorship associated with the legendary Chinese ruler Huang-di (Yellow Emperor). This work (for 3 thousand years significantly added) is the basis of traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese doctors diagnose and treat illness, based on one's interaction with the environment and using meditation and acupuncture techniques.

In the same millennium, approximately. 2600 BC. In ancient Egypt, Imhotep, an architect and scientist, was declared a god of healing. It is believed that "Papyrus Edwin Smith", dates from 1700 BC. (based on his text, is the oldest known treatise on operations, where magic miraculously gives way to reality when it comes to diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of disease.

Within two centuries it was created, ca. 1500 BC. e., Babylonian treaty "Manual for diagnosis" mentions Urlugaledin - the oldest known surgeon, who lived around 4000 BC. e.

The Ayurveda medical knowledge system (literally "Knowledge of Long Life", "Life Science") originated in the Indus Valley even earlier, probably in 9000 BC. e. Today forms the basis of traditional Indian medicine and promotes healthy lifestyles, including herbs, massage and yoga. The body of knowledge written about Ayurveda, for example the surgical part of the "Sushruta Samhita" tract, appears later, ca. 500 BC. e. It describes various methods of surgical intervention, in particular, plastic surgery, cataract removal and caesarean section.

** Ancient Greek medicine **
The first medical school in Ancient Greece opened in 700 BC. e. on the island of Knidos. Ancient Greek medicine, like Ancient Egyptian and Indian medicine, focuses on diet, lifestyle and hygiene.

In 300 years Hippocrates founded his own medical school on the island of Kos. He first gave descriptions of many diseases and introduced the terms used today, such as acute and chronic forms of illness.

The Hippocrates school rejected the idea that the disease was sent by the gods, and demanded to seek their physical cause. The observation and prognosis of the course of the disease, a careful description of certain cases made Hippocrates school a pioneer of modern clinical medicine.

Hippocrates is also the founder of the humoral theory, which states that the four major body fluids - black bile, mucus, yellow bile and blood - must be correlated in certain proportions. Their balance violation is the cause of the disposition of spirit and illness. Followers of Hippocrates,
Roman physician Claudius Galen (Greek based on citizenship) (130 - about 200 AD), complements this view with the proviso that the blood continuously produced in the body can stagnate. This provides the basis for a questionable practice of bloodshed, aimed at restoring the "juice balance". Only in 1543, Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius proved that many of Galen's provisions were wrong.

** Medical **
In the V century n. e. Greek scientists, who were persecuted in Byzantium, fled to Persia, set up medical centers at the Gundishapur Academy, and then a training hospital. The Golden Age of Islam (VIII-XIII century) witnessed the emergence of the first pharmacies and public hospitals in Baghdad. The Middle Ages of Islam have medical channels from extraordinary scientists like Ibn Sina. During this period, Arab thinkers Ibn Sina, among others, initiated the application of experimental methods in medicine, defining the development of this discipline for many years to come.