History of Medicine

The Family Tree of Medicine

In this picture, Mercury (Standing, Left) approach Asclepius (Physician) and his three children (Meditrine, Hygeia and Panacea) who were known as the 'Naked Graces'.

(Reference: http://www.medspirit.com/logo/emblem/index.htm, Retrieved 2 April 2014)

The history of Western Medicine is a fascinating look at a profession that continues to change and adapt with the times. Whether it is technology or ethics, medicine has never hardened, and remain clay in civilization's hand. Like a genealogical look back at a family's history, I will attempt to offer a tiny glimpse into the genealogy of medicine.

As one may notice, there is much common ancestry (Kissing Cousins?!) among Ethics, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Business, Politics, Law, etc. It is kind of like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon where any two people on earth are only six steps apart from each other (Six Degrees of Separation Theory.

Medicine is no exception! It is the one discipline that everyone on earth since time began has either received or given. Let's start the journey!

Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (supposedly!)

Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094647/Leonardo-da-Vincis-Vitruvian-Man-copied-Giacomo-Andrea-da-Ferrara.html

During the Renaissance period da Vinci along with Michelangelo and others, incorporated their artistic gifts to capture the marvels of the human body. Today, there is debate as to whether da Vinci is the true artist of the rendering (see link above) from 1487.

We see this pictorial representation of man in many academic institutions and physician offices. It shows the fascination we have with the human body, how myriad of systems works together in harmony, how it self-heals; the marvels are unending! Regardless of one believes in the Genesis account of how Man was created on the Sixth Day, or a result of evolution, both camps will always agree that the human body is an incredible work of art.

An Abbreviated Timeline of the History of Medicine

This is by no means exhaustive, and includes people, places, and things that I find fascinating and important to the advancement of medicine. The history of medicine is intertwined with mythology, old-wives tales, legends, religion and science. Over the centuries, we witness an untangling of these threads until we have what we term as 'Modern Western Medicine'.

The basis of my description comes from DOCTORS: The Illustrated History of Medical Pioneers, by Sherwin B. Nuland and Builders of Trust: Biographical Profiles from the Medical Corps Coin, edited by Sanders Marble.

1. Heraclides: Island of Cos, Greece

a. Contemporaries: Herodotus and Aristotle

b. Itinerant physician in the Aegean Islands

2. Hippocrates (Son of Heraclides): ~460 BC

a. Followed his father around the islands b. Contemporaries were: Socrates, Pericles, Plato, Sophocles and Euripides

c. Began separating the human body and health from the fate of the gods.

d. Division on the Island

i. Cnidian: Disease-centered, experimental method not possible, dissection was taboo

ii. Hippocratic: Patient-centered, observational

e. Heavy influence from Aesculapius, son of Apollo

i. Hygeia- clean living

ii. Panacea- healing and recovery

f. The Humors and the balance of the body in nature

g. The Hippocratic Oath

i. The covenant

ii. The ethical code: Primum non nocere: first, do no harm

iii. 'With purity and with holiness I will pass my live and practice my art.'

3. Galen of Pergamum (120-201 AD)

a. Greece and Alexandria b. Inspired by a series of dreams and vision

c. Proponent of direct observation and planned experiments

d. Allowed theology and philosophy to influence his interpretations

e. Influence of Gnosticism of Rome on the rise

The History of Western Medicine: Unwinding Centuries of Entanglement

Click on the picture above, or the Power-point below for a more detailed look.

This display is not exhaustive, but only an abbreviated look at a few individuals who advanced medicine to new heights.