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Medicine has become an imprescriptible part of our lives. When we are ill we hastily call our parctitioner, go to the chemistry to buy the drugs we need 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 imagined that things were not always like that? Here are some interesting facts about the development and main sorts of modern medicine.

The word medicine comes from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine these days is a profoundly scienctific activity, but you should also remember that it is a sort of art - the art of curing humans. The major tasks of up-to-date medicine is maintaining and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of various health troubles. Official medicine started as many healing arts and techniques based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.

By the way, complementary medicine today has a definite power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes official medicine is powerless to cure a number of terrible illnesses and injuries such as cancers, diabetes, AIDS, autoimmune diseases, spinal injuries etc. The point is usual medicine is perfect at finding out symptoms typical for definite health disorders and injuries and at prescribing drugs 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, alternative medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you keep inside you as well as negative emotions you have every day of your life hurt your soul, litter your head and crush your body.

Unlike unsystematic approaches of healers, up-to-date medicine is equipped with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and handle injuries and diseases of all sorts. traditionally it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The bulk of medical men 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 practitioner, 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 healing injuries and wounds and treat various health issues. It was not the knowledge for everyone - priests, shamans, healers and medicine men treated them as purely magical substances.
From early records we find out 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 persons 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 stunning fact 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 building rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates invented 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 see health issues as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, modern docs use a number of 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 outstanding ideas of ancient practitioners after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the onset of the Dark Ages. Eastern world, on the contrary, kept and supported the Greek and Roman tradition in medicine. A notable 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 deadly bubonic plague ravaged Europe killing up to 30-60% of its population. This incredibly dangerous pandemic made practitioners reject the ‘traditional authority’ approach to science and medicine and look for alternative decisions. Practitioners like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job developing or criticizing many theories from the past.

But the new age of medicine started in the 18th century when Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical investigation has become one of the major proofs in medicine, while ancient traditions started fading. Around 1880 Robert Koch deciphered the transmission of diseases by bacteria and soon in 1908 Paul Ehrlich discovered the first antibiotics.

The 20th century was a real parade of medical events and investigations. It is impossible to enumerate all the talented medical people whose investigations and experiments led to new treatments and the use of revolutionary drugs!

Present-day pharmacology inherited the ancient knowledge of herbalism and incorporated a number of ideas of the chemistry, but nevertheless, a long list of meds are still derived from plants. For example atropine used in ophthalmology and gastroenterology, ephedrine effective for persons 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 patients 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 meds are designed for absolute compatibility with a human body!

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 rx required and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality discount drugs available. You can chose to purchase brand meds or generic pills. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic medication is much more lower.

Present-day medicine can be named an evidence-based science, and unlike it was in ancient healing systems its major purpose is exchanging information and clinical experience. The point is that the ‘best practice’ approaches tend to suppress new ideas of treatment, that is why there a number of systematic medical reviews available.

Modern medicine is first of all the activity where doctors personally assess patients to examine, diagnose and handle them. So, as you see the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a standard practitioner at all! When you see a doc the standard procedure is like that:
- it starts with studying the patient’s medical history; then follows 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 normal diagnosing is impossible! Stop being shy or squeamish when you visit your practitioner - tell him or her everything that you find strange and suspicious - 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 medical handling depends on the case. You stay at home if the case is simple and take the meds prescribed by your practitioner. 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 each civilized country. It is essential to ensure that every man or woman has access to medical care irrespective of the personality’s ability to pay for the service. That is why it is so vital to support 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 humans 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 possible! 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 intentionally harmful, this doc can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when docs were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule humans choose to be doctors because it is their calling! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with ill and unbearable patients for all the professional life!