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Medicine has become an integral part of our lives. When we are sick we hastily call our parctitioner, go to the chemistry to purchase the drugs we require and if something is radically wrong with us get a sick leave to be able to stay at home and get better. Have you ever thought that things were not always like that? Here are some interesting facts about the development and major types of present-day medicine.

The word medicine comes from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine now is a completely scienctific activity, but you should also remember that it is a kind of art - the art of healing humans. The main functions of present-day medicine is supporting and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of various illnesses. Usual medicine started as many healing arts and techniques based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.

By the way, alternative medicine today has a certain power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes traditional 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 mainstream medicine is really good at finding out symptoms characteristic for certain illnesses and injuries and at prescribing medications and medical procedures able to lessen the patient’s pain and tribulation. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the disease starts. On the contrary, alternative medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you have inside you alongside with negative emotions you face every day of your life stain your soul, litter your head and crush your body.

Unlike unsystematic approaches of healers, contemporary medicine is equipped with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and manage injuries and diseases of all sorts. traditionally it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The majority of docs try to remember how important it is for the ill patient to feel care and compassion, to have a personal contact with the doc, that is why they follow the strict set of rules known as bedside manner.

Many millennia ago our ancestores noticed that certain plants, animal parts and minerals help curing injuries and wounds and treat various health problems. It was not the knowledge for everyone - priests, shamans, healers and medicine men believed them to be purely magical substances.
From ancient 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 prove that even millennia ago some people tried to help others in getting well! Imhotep is the first name of the medical man preserved in the history of medicine. He was an Egyptian and lived about 3rd millennium BC! The shocking truth is that ancient texts and encryptions tell us that many centuries ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals these days) and numerous surgical operations including cosmetic surgery!

You surely know that ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is considered to be “the father of medicine” for sticking to rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates created the famous Hippocratic Oath for doctors. Believe it or not, it is still in use today, as relevant and wise as ever before! What is more, Hippocrates managed to classify diseases as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, modern practitioners use many special words proposed 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 tradition in medicine. A prominent Islamic medical man who made a great contribution to medicine, was Avicenna. He introduced the famous Cannon of Medicine.

Medical science interested Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries when devastating bubonic plague ravaged Europe killing up to 30-60% of its population. This awful pandemic made physicians reject the ‘traditional authority’ approach to science and medicine and seek alternative ways out. Doctors like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job developing or criticizing many approaches from the past.

But the new era of medicine started in the 18th century when Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical research has become one of the major proofs in medicine, while ancient traditions started fading. 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 parade of medical events and research. It is impossible to enumerate all the outstanding doctors whose investigations and experiments resulted in new treatments and the use of revolutionary medications!

Contemporary pharmacology inherited the old knowledge of herbalism and incorporated numerous ideas of the chemistry, but all the same, a long list of medications 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 humans are received from plants. But the technology applied today is brand new! A number of medicines reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new medications are designed for full compatibility with a human body!

Today you don’t even have to queue up in the waiting room to get your prescription. You can easily find a trusted online pharmacy no rx necessary and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality discount meds online available. You can chose to take brand drugs or generic pills. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic drug 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 point is that the ‘best practice’ approaches tend to suppress new ideas of treatment, that is why there numerous systematic medical reviews available.

Modern medicine is first of all the practice where doctors meet patients to examine, diagnose and handle them. So, as you guess the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a standard practitioner at all! When you call 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 careful physical examination. If necessary the examination is followed by medical tests - blood test, urine test, smear, biopsy etc. Please, keep in minds, it is very essential for the doctor to know every truthful sign and symptom - otherwise right diagnosing is impossible! Forget about being shy or squeamish when you visit your doctor - tell him or her everything that you find strange and alarming - that might be helpful. The medical appointment is wrote down in the special medical record and your personal medical history, which is a legal document.

The process of treatment depends on the case. You stay at home if the case is simple and take the medications prescribed by your physician. Serious cases may take weeks and several specialists to handle and the patient is likely to be hospitalized.

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

The medical personnel consist not only of medical men. Well-trained nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians help their personalities go the whole way through his or her case and recover 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 persons. That is exactly why medical specialty in universities should meet the highest standards of education achievable! 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 start medical practice. If the physician fails to use all his or her possibilities to help the patient, if he or she is negligent or deliberately harmful, this physician can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when physicians were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule personalities decide to be doctors because it is their vocation! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with sick and nervous patients for all the professional life!