The Medicine

The history of medicine is like a mystery. Since ancient times, the ancient myths have tried to explain the cause of various diseases that have contributed a lot to today's medicine.

The use of the first medicine goes back to prehistoric man. Even before human beings came on Earth, diseases existed in animals that roamed on the planet. Fossils, bones, and teeth can be used to see how prehistoric men fell to various diseases. In early times men died from lack of food, by traumas, fears, and stresses. The first physician was the man himself. His medicine was based on natural feeling, using methods of self-healing.

Men first began to learn the structure of diseases through accidental wounds or by, cutting up animals. Surgery was done with stone tools. The dried mud was put directly on wounds as the first aid. The fire was not only used for cooking but was used to destroy the useless tissues in the body. After the civilizations flourished around 12,000 BC., diseases were treated with domestic remedies such as herbs, plasters, and massage. If the patient was serious, he was killed to give relief. The old techniques of curing patients were more based on myth and magic. Earlier, the man believed that the cause of the diseases came from the existence of evil dreams or broken taboos. Once the cause was found, it was treated by magic, rituals, massages, and spells.

Magic medicines can still be seen today in some backward communities. There was a tremendous breakthrough in medicine in the 4th century BC with the coming of Greek medicine. At this time, diagnosis and treatment of disease were based on scientific techniques. The most famous Greek doctor, 'Hippocrates'; known as the "Father of Medicine" contributed a lot with his significant book collection called the 'Corpus Hippocraticum'. He provided a logical base for modern medicine from then onwards.