medicine, history

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Medical science has developed by gradual steps from very early times. There is evidence of trepanning (cutting holes in the skull to relieve pressure) being practised in the prehistoric medicine of Stone Age peoples. In the earliest societies, medical practice was part of the duties of the priests; it relied more on the influence of the gods than on the value of the methods adopted. In ancient Greek medicine, even the priests of Asclepius, the god of healing, relied mainly on religious exercises to effect a cure. The main advances in medical practice came in the 1800s and 1900s, and today physicians and surgeons have a record of some success in treating and curing disease and injuries.

For a long time many people practised sympathetic medicine, in which plants were used to cure the organs they were thought to resemble. Others believed that herbs were under the influence of one or other of the planets. Great advances in medical practice came in the 1700s and 1800s, with a more scientific approach to the use of drugs. Surgery was difficult because of the lack of anaesthetics and the frequency with which wounds became septic and killed the patient. The advent of antiseptics, and of reliable anaesthetics, revolutionized surgery, and the development of the nursing profession improved patient care.

In the 1900s modern advances in drugs and surgical practices have revolutionized medicine, and as a result more people are able to enjoy good health and live longer. (See also doctors, history of, public health, and medicine: factors of development.)

Red represents the blood of Jesus. Effective date: c. 1862. >>