Origin of the Word Vaccine

Even though the process of vaccination can be traced back to ancient Indian and Chinese civilizations (as I wrote in my earlier post on history of vaccines), the name, like so many other words in the English language, has a Latin root.

Vaccine is derived from the Latin vaccinus, which means "of or belonging to cows". The first western vaccine was developed by English physician Edward Jenner using cow pox, which was called vaccinae. Jenner found that an injection of material taken from cowpox sores protected a person from getting small pox in the future. Because it was taken from cows (vacca in Latin), it came to be called vaccinus, which led to the adjective, vaccinae, and then to vaccine in English.

Cowpox virus

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Rx Symbol

Have you ever wondered why medicines are denoted with an ℞ or Rx symbol? There are actually many theories about its origin but the most common one is that the symbol for prescriptions originated from the "Eye of Horus", which was an ancient Egyptian symbol associated with healing powers. According to Egyptian mythology, Horus lost his eye in battle but his mom used her powers to restore his eye, hence it became a symbol of healing. Eye of Horus In the 2 nd century, Greek physician Galen adapted this symbol to impress his patients. Galen’s influence on medicine was so strong that even the symbol was borrowed through the centuries and it eventually evolved into the modern symbol Rx (the eye of Horus kinda looks like an Rx). Other theories place its origin in Latin and Roman times. One theory is that Rx was used as an abbreviation of the Latin word recipere , meaning “to prepare,” which physicians wrote on medical prescriptions. Yet another theory points to the similarity of...

Hippocrates: Father of Medicine

Another important person in Greek medicine is Hippocrates. Hippocrates is considered the father of modern medicine who continues to influence medicine more than 2000 years later. Although he is as revered as Asclepius, they have very different origins. While Asclepius is a mythological character, considered to be descended from God, Hippocrates is very much a historical figure, whose origin and life is recorded in history. Hippocrates lived from 460 to 375 BCE during the Classical Greece period and practiced medicine in Greece. His contribution to western medicine is rivaled by none other, and his collection of works covers almost every aspect of disease and medicine including infection, hygiene, epidemiology and the human immune system. Bust of Hippocrates Also, unlike Asclepius, Hippocrates practiced medicine as a science, not as divine magic. He was one of the first to separate religion from medicine, and sought to match treatment with symptoms. His observations in the ...

Concept of Qi

The Chinese (those who believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine) believe COVID-19 is caused by an imbalance of qi in the lungs. So what exactly is this qi? It has become a popular concept in the New Age movement, but it isn't very clear what it signifies, so I decided to dig a little deeper into it. Turns out, it is the fundamental basis of ancient Chinese medicine. Ancient Chinese medicine is based on the simple (in theory) principle that every system needs to be in harmony for health, well being and sustainability. When this harmony is broken, an imbalance is created in one direction and that leads to illness, disease, and many other sufferings. But it is more complicated than that- a system is not just a person, but everything that is interconnected and interdependent. That includes a family, community, environment… and the entire world. The harmony is created by two equal and opposite forces or elements: yin and yang. Qi (pronounced "chee") is the vital energy tha...

History of Medicine

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