HISTORY OF MEDICINE

DR. Ch.N.S. MANASWI, DEPT OF

ORGANON OF MEDICINE
“THE MORE YOU CAN LOOK BACK, THE
FURTHER YOU CAN GO FORWARD.”

–
Winston churchill
 “In the study of any branch of science, an
acquaintance with the historical development of
knowledge is an important element in a clear
understanding of our present conceptions”.
The past supplies the key to the
present and future
ADVENT OF MAN – AND DISEASES
WONDERED MAN
“SCIENCE TEACHES US TO WORK; SCIENCE IS
THEORY. ART TEACHES US TO DO; ART IS
PRACTICE.”

“EVERY ART HAS ITS FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE;

EVERY SCIENCE FINDS ITS EXPRESSION IN
ART”
PRE – HISTORIC PERIOD
 Withthe law of jungle prevailing, there was
undoubtedly the survival of the fittest and therefore
man was always concerned about health.

 Primitiveman extracted thorns, which lodged in his

flesh, he put leaves, mud or clay on his wounds.
When bitten by a venomous animal he sucked the
poison out.
 DEMONIC/SPIRITUAL MEDICINE
History pointed out the stone age man as the primitive
man

To this primitive man the nature surrounding him was a

puzzle.
SUPERNATURAL THEORY OF
DISEASE
PALAEOLITHIC MAN / OLD STONE
AGE MAN
The disastrous famine, floods shocked his innocent
mind.

He thought whatever happened around him was nothing

but the result of an evil power or anger of god upon
them.
The cause of disease and death were the
oldest problems of humankind. The cause
of disease was unknown to early man and
hence he found evil power as the cause.
So, treatments were depended entirely upon the
notions and beliefs of the community.

So, magic became medicine, and the priest as the

healer.
Chicken pox is believed to be the result of the
anger of the goddess Shakti.

The same condition was observed in both the

eastern and the western parts of the world.
NEOLITHIC MAN/NEW STONE AGE
MAN
He took over about 10,000 years ago.

The main difference between Neolithic

man and his predecessors is that he is
food producer.
He became expert in the art of
trephining the skull, that is he cut out
circular disks of bone, and wore the
disks as amulets.

His original idea was to let out evil

spirits; but later the operation was
probably performed for migraine and
epilepsy
By the time Bronze Age (2000 B.C.) the
people had learned to make and use
surgical instrument.

Knives were used to open abscesses and

perform minor operations
MESOPOTAMIAN MEDICINE
It lies between the Euphrates and Tigris
rivers.

Itis often called as the “The Cradle of

Civilization”.

In ancient Mesopotamia, the basic concepts of

medicine were religious, and taught and
practiced by herb doctors, knife doctors and
spell doctors.
Geomancy, the interpretation of dreams and
hepatoscopic divination (the liver was
considered the seat of life) is the characteristic
of their medical lore.

The oldest medical prescriptions comes to us

from Mesopotamia dating back to 2100 B.C.
 Hammurabi, a king of Babylon who lived around
2000 B.C. formulated a set of drastic laws known as
the “Code of Hammurabi” that governed the
conduct of physicians and provided for health
practices.

 Doctors whose proposed therapy proved wrong ran

the risk of being killed
The Hammurabi code of laws, a collection of
282 rules, established standards for
commercial interactions and set fines and
punishments to meet the requirements of
justice.

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

INDIAN MEDICINE / INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION
As it is evident from the historians’ writings, Indian
civilization is one of the oldest civilizations on earth.

Medicalsystems that are truly Indian origin are the

Ayurveda and siddha systems of medicine.
 Ayurvedaby definition implies “Knowledge of life”
or “The knowledge by which life may be
prolonged”.

 Ayuth means “Life” Veda means “to know”.

 Thefour Vedas are: The Rigveda, The Samaveda, The

Yajurveda and the Atharva Veda.
HISTORY OF AYURVEDA
According to Charaka, Ayurveda emanated
from the Creator Brahma, who revealed it in
its entirety to Prajapathi, “Lord of Creatures”.

From him it was passed to Aswins, the divine

twin horsemen the helpers and healers among
Vedic God.

They passed it to Indra, king of Gods and from

him mankind received its divine wisdom.
 It is Bhardwaj, who received from God Indra.

 Accordingto Sushruta, “Brahma first expounded the

Ayurveda to Prajapathi, who taught it to aswini
kumaras. From these twins to Indra and from Indra
to Dhanvantri.

 Dhanvantri is the Hindu God of Medicine who was

born as a result of the churning of the oceans during
the tug of war between gods and demons.
 There are various branches in Ayurveda:
 Kaya Chikitsa (Internal Medicine).

 Baala or Kaumarabhrta Chikitsa (Pediatrics)

 Graha Chikitsa (Psychology)

 Jara Chikitsa (Geriatrics)

 Urdwangs Chikitsa (Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and eye)

 Agada Tantra (Toxicology)