History of Medicine

Avicenna (980-1037 AD) was a renowned Persian physician, who is regarded as the one of the greatest scholars of the Islamic Golden Age. He was also one of the most influential philosophers of the pre-modern era (Middle Ages), whose teachings extended beyond medicine into astronomy, alchemy, geography, psychology, poetry, and philosophy.  Avicenna is the Latinized version of the Arabic name, Ibn Sina, which means Son of Sina. His formal Arabic name was quite a mouthful: Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Sīnā. Rather than make any new medical discoveries, Avicenna studied the Greco-Roman, Persian and ancient Indian texts widely, and helped bring their teachings into the western world, eventually forming the basis of modern medicine. He and other Arab scholars extensively studied Indian mathematical systems, astronomy, and medicine and combined them with Greco-Roman teachings, particularly that of Galen. Avicenna wrote two famous books, The Book of Healing

Even though Cajal is considered the father of neuroscience, his contribution came centuries after the first insights into the nervous system. As I wrote in my earlier posts, ancient doctors pondered over the nervous system, trying to understand what controlled the mind and body. Of these doctors, one that stands out is Galen, whose contribution to the understanding of the nervous system was fundamental to neuroscience. Through anatomical experiments, Galen was the first to observe and teach the functioning of nerves in the body. For these experiments, which he wasn’t shy about demonstrating to the public, Galen is regarded as the founder of experimental physiology. Galen is considered one of the most prominent and influential doctors in history, second only to Hippocrates. Galen was a staunch follower of Hippocrates and helped spread his teachings from Greece to the vast Roman Empire. Claudius Galenus, commonly know as Galen, was born in 129 AD in Pergamum in modern-day Turkey to a

Just as the purpose of the brain and the heart confused ancient scientists, so did the nervous system. Nerves had been identified fairly early but they proved difficult to categorize. Some thought it was similar to arteries and formed some sort of connective system for tissues. In fact, the word nerve is Greek for tendon or sinew, suggesting that it was thought to be some sort of physical connection. Despite the confusion about its exact mechanism, ancient medical practitioners seemed to understand its function. Nerves were attributed to both movement and sensation correctly, even though there were opposing views on what controlled these functions. Aristotle argued that nerves originated and were controlled by the heart, while others argued nerves were controlled by the brain. Centuries later, Galen proved that nerves emanated from the brain, scoffing at those “who know nothing of what is to be seen in dissection." Galen was the first to conclude that the spinal cord was an

In my previous post, I wrote about the appreciation shown towards healthcare workers during the current pandemic. Not just during this crisis, but people, in general, have a lot of respect for the medical profession. Unfortunately, it seems it wasn’t so in the Ancient Roman civilization. Medicine wasn’t a very highly regarded profession in Ancient Rome. One of the main reasons for this was because many doctors were actually freed Greek slaves, so they were not respected very much. Also, becoming a doctor required no formal training -- it was mostly from apprenticeship. As a result, there was a lot of trial and error in treating patients, which resulted in a low success rate and therefore, skepticism and even scorn towards doctors.  The first Greek doctor who came to Rome was Archagathus of Sparta in 219 BC. He specialized in healing battle wounds, but Romans were skeptical of his methods of cutting and burning the flesh, which earned him the nickname, carnifex or 'butcher'.