Article directory search Surfing4saintsWeb Articles directory is a free article submission service

Medicine has become an inalienable part of our lives. When we are ill we hastily call our family doctor, go to the drugstore to buy the medicines we need and if something is radically wrong with us receive a sick leave to be able to stay at home and get well. Have you ever imagined that things were not always like that? Here are some stunning facts about the development and main types of contemporary medicine.

The word medicine is derived from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine today is a completely scienctific activity, but you should also know that it is a kind of art - the art of healing humans. The major functions of up-to-date medicine is supporting and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of various health troubles. Mainstream medicine sprang up as a number of healing arts and systems based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.

By the way, alternative medicine today has a definite power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes official medicine is powerless to cure a long list of hard health disorders and injuries such as cancers, diabetes, AIDS, autoimmune diseases, spinal injuries etc. The point is traditional medicine is really good at finding out symptoms typical for definite diseases and injuries and at prescribing medicines and medical handling able to relieve the patient’s pain and suffering. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the health disorder breaks out. On the contrary, complementary medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you have inside you as well as negative emotions you face daily damage your soul, litter your head and crush your body.

Unlike chaotic approaches of healers, modern medicine is equipped with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and manage injuries and diseases of all kinds. As a rule it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The main part of physicians try to remember how essential it is for the ill man or woman to feel care and compassion, to have a close contact with the physician, that is why they follow the strict set of rules known as bedside manner.

Many millennia ago our forefathers noticed that certain plants, animal parts and minerals help curing injuries and wounds and treat various health troubles. It was not the knowledge for everyone - priests, shamans, healers and medicine men believed them to be purely magical substances.
From early records we learn that medicine is a very old activity. Texts about ancient Egyptian medicine, Babylonian medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, classical Chinese madicine, ancient Greek and Roman medicine demonstrate that even millennia ago some men and women tried to help others in getting well! Imhotep is the first name of the physician preserved in the history of medicine. He was an Egyptian and lived about 3rd millennium BC! The fascinating truth is that ancient texts and encryptions tell us that so long ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals today) and numerous surgical operations including cosmetic surgery!

You surely know that ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates is believed to be “the father of medicine” for establishing rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates created the famous Hippocratic Oath for physicians. Believe it or not, it is still in use today, as relevant and wise as ever before! What is more, Hippocrates managed to see health troubles as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, present-day practitioners use numerous special words invented by Hippocrates - relapse, resolution, paroxysm, peak, exacerbation, crisis, convalescence are only a few of them!

Surprisingly, the Western world did not support prominent ideas of ancient physicians after the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Dark Ages. Eastern world, on the contrary, kept and supported the Greek and Roman ways in medicine. A prominent Islamic medical man who made a great contribution to medicine, was Avicenna. He wrote the famous Cannon of Medicine.

Medical science interested Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries when awful Black Death ravaged Europe killing up to 30-60% of its population. This incredibly dangerous pandemic made practitioners forget about the ‘traditional authority’ approach to science and medicine and seek new ways out. Practitioners like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job supporting or criticizing many theories from the past.

But the new era of medicine started in the 18th century when Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical research has become one of the main proofs in medicine, while ancient traditions became a history. Around 1880 Robert Koch deciphered the transmission of illnesses by bacteria and soon in 1908 Paul Ehrlich discovered the first antibiotics.

The 20th century was a real stream of medical events and research. It is hard to enumerate all the talented doctors whose research and experiments resulted in new treatments and the use of revolutionary drugs!

Contemporary pharmacology inherited the old knowledge of herbalism and incorporated many ideas of the chemistry, but all the same, a long list of pills are still derived from plants. For instance atropine used in ophthalmology and gastroenterology, ephedrine effective for men and women with asthma, warfarin used to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots, aspirin we take for a number of reasons, digoxin irreplaceable in cardiology and a number of other essential men and women are received from plants. But the technology applied today is brand new! A number of pills reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new meds are designed for absolute compatibility with a human organism!

Today you don’t even have to stand in line in the waiting room to get your prescription. You can easily find a good online drugstore no prescription needed and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality cheap pills online available. You can chose to take brand drugs or generic medicines. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic pill is much more lower.

Up-to-date medicine can be named an evidence-based science, and unlike it was in ancient healing systems its major purpose is sharing information and clinical experience. The fact ramains that the ‘best practice’ approaches tend to stifle new ideas of treatment, that is why there numerous systematic medical reviews available.

Contemporary medicine is first of all the practice where doctors personally assess patients to examine, diagnose and treat them. So, as you realize the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a mainstream practitioner at all! When you make an appointment with a medical man the standard procedure is like that:
- it starts with studying the patient’s medical history; then goes a detailed medical interview and a thorough physical examination. If necessary the examination is followed by medical tests - blood test, urine test, smear, biopsy etc. Please, bear in mind, it is very important for the doctor to know every truthful detail and symptom - otherwise normal diagnosing is impossible! Forget about being shy or squeamish when you visit your physician - tell him or her everything that you find odd and suspicious - that might be helpful. The medical appointment is documented in the special medical record and your personal medical history, which is a legal document.

The process of medical handling depends on the case. You get a sick leave if the problem is simple and take the medicines prescribed by your doc. Serious cases may take weeks and several specialists to handle and the patient is likely to be hospitalized.

Medicine these days is a part of health care system of every powerful country. It is essential to ensure that every personality has access to medical care irrespective of the personality’s ability to pay for the service. That is why it is so vital to establish state-owned and charitable hospitals and clinics.

The medical personnel consist not only of physicians. Well-trained nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians help their men and women go the whole way through his or her case and get well as soon as possible. We cannot live without the service of radiographers, dietitians, surgeons, dentists, anaesthetists etc as well. The quality of national health service (NHS) depends exceptionally on the knowledge and practical skills of all these men and women. No wonder medical specialty in universities should meet the highest standards of education imaginable! What is more, in all Western European countries, USA and other countries of the world a medical doctor must be licensed or registered before he or she can begin medical practice. If the doctor fails to use all his or her possibilities to help the patient, if he or she is careless or intentionally harmful, this practitioner can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when MDs were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule people decide to be doctors because it is their calling! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with ill and nervous patients for all the professional life!