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Medicine has become an integral part of our lives. When we are ill we hastily call our family doctor, go to the drugstore to get the drugs we require and if something is radically wrong with us receive 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 stunning facts about the development and major kinds of contemporary medicine.

The word medicine is derived from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine today is a profoundly scienctific activity, but you should also remember that it is a kind of art - the art of healing humans. The major tasks of modern medicine is supporting and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of various illnesses. Conventional medicine started as a number of healing arts and techniques based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.

By the way, alternative medicine today has a definite power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes traditional medicine is powerless to cure many wicked diseases and injuries such as cancers, diabetes, AIDS, autoimmune diseases, spinal injuries etc. The point is official medicine is really good at finding out symptoms typical for definite health disorders and injuries and at prescribing drugs and medical handling able to lessen the patient’s pain and suffering. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the health trouble starts. On the contrary, complementary medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you accumulate inside you alongside with negative emotions you face daily hurt your soul, stuff up your head and destroy your body.

Unlike unsystematic approaches of healers, contemporary medicine is equipped with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and handle injuries and diseases of all kinds. As a rule it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The majority of doctors try to remember how important it is for the ill person to feel care and compassion, to have a face-to-face contact with the doc, 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 different health disorders. 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 personalities 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 shocking truth is that ancient texts and encryptions tell us that many centuries ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals today) and numerous surgical operations including plastic surgery!

You surely know that ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is considered to be “the father of medicine” for establishing rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates introduced 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 illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, contemporary medical men 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 develop outstanding 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 ways in medicine. A notable Islamic medical man who made a great contribution to medicine, was Avicenna. He invented the famous Cannon of Medicine.

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

But the new era of medicine began in the 18th century when Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical research has become one of the main 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 whirl of medical events and research. It is impossible to enumerate all the outstanding medical people whose research and experiments led to new treatments and the use of revolutionary medications!

Modern pharmacology inherited the ancient knowledge of herbalism and incorporated many ideas of the chemistry, but nevertheless, a long list of drugs are still derived from plants. For instance 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 individuals are received from plants. But the technology applied today is brand new! A number of drugs reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new meds are designed for complete 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 prescription required and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality discount pills available. You can chose to buy brand pills or generic medications. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic medication is much more lower.

Modern medicine can be named an evidence-based science, and unlike it was in ancient healing techniques its major purpose is sharing information and clinical experience. The fact ramains 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 activity where doctors personally assess patients to examine, diagnose and treat 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 begins with studying the patient’s medical history; then follows a detailed medical interview and a thorough 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 detail and symptom - otherwise right diagnosing is impossible! Stop being shy or squeamish when you see your doc - tell him or her everything that you find odd 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 get a sick leave if the issue is simple and take the meds prescribed by your medical man. 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 each powerful country. It is vital to ensure that every patient has access to medical care irrespective of the personality’s ability to pay for the service. That is why it is so important to establish 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 patients go the whole way through his or her case and get well 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 people. No wonder 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 careless or deliberately harmful, this MD can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when practitioners were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule persons choose to be doctors because it is their vocation! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with sick and unbearable patients for all the professional life!