History of Medicine

The coronavirus pandemic has brought a fresh focus on personal habits; we all know the drill by now: wash hands with soap for 20 seconds, use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol and do not touch your face. These simple habits go a long way in protecting us from not just covid-19 but any infectious disease (something to remember next flu season!). Although it helps to be reminded, most people know the value of personal hygiene and its effect on health. Infectious diseases were common in ancient times, and although the cause of such diseases was not well understood, the concept of hygiene was certainly associated with health. The word hygiene itself derives from Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health and cleanliness, who was the daughter of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Statue of Hygieia. Image: Greek Mythology The Greeks had the theory of miasma that attributed diseases to bad air, which was really a primitive concept of hygiene. Hippocrates himself recommended patie

Happy Easter! Every year for Easter Sunday, Christians around the world pray to Jesus Christ, their Savior. It is the fundamental belief of the Christian faith that Christ came on earth to heal humans and rid them of their pains and sicknesses. On this occasion, I thought it would be cool to look at some of the supernatural beliefs related to medicine in the ancient world. Most of the ancient civilizations had a close relationship with god. All suffering and diseases were attributed to the wrath of the gods. This was most evident in the oldest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed that gods, demons, and spirits played a key role in causing diseases. They believed that spirits blocked channels in the body and affected the way the body functioned. They used prayer as a solution to their diseases, and priests played the role of doctors. Similarly, the Babylonians believed spirits were responsible for illness, with each spirit responsible for o

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'.

This post is not really related to ancient medicine but dedicated to the medical professionals that have been working to keep their fellow humans healthy through the ages. People around the world are being urged to practice social distancing and shelter-in-place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. About 4 billion people- half the world’s population- are currently under a lockdown of some sort, with  many schools, offices, restaurants, and stores closed. Most people are leaving their homes only for essential tasks such as grocery or medicine shopping. In the midst of this unprecedented situation, some people have to go about their work every day, putting everything on the line. They are the healthcare workers, emergency services, police and armed services, pharmacists, and all those who are out there working on the front line of fighting the COVID-19 outbreak. We owe these essential workers a great deal, and I think we should take every opportunity to recognize and thank the

Coronavirus has become a household name after the current COVID-19 outbreak. The virus has been identified as a positive sense single-stranded RNA virus and has the technical name, SARS-CoV2. It is also well known that it is highly contagious and is transmitted between humans through coughing and sneezing via respiratory droplets. Scientists have a pretty good understanding of what causes the COVID-19 disease and how it spreads through the population, which makes it easier for people to understand the concept and purpose of social distancing and quarantine. But in ancient times, ideas about the cause of diseases were entirely speculative and there were many interesting theories before the germ theory of diseases was established in the late 1800s. Supernatural Theory Unsurprisingly, the earliest theory was that diseases were caused by supernatural forces. People believed that when gods became angry they unleased their fury upon mankind by sending diseases to cause suffering. For ex

As the world learns a new way of life involving self-isolation amid the global spread of coronavirus, the concept of quarantine has been brought to the forefront. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, quarantine means “to put or hold in isolation to prevent the spread of disease” and that is exactly what we are experiencing right now. Many countries and several states in the U.S. have imposed mandatory isolation of its population to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Although the mass quarantine imposed today might be unprecedented in history, quarantine is certainly not a new concept. The word itself is derived from "quaranta giorni", which in Italian means 40 days. It originated sometime in the mid-14th century, when all ships coming into Venice were isolated before passengers and crew were allowed to disembark during the Black Death plague epidemic. However, the practice of quarantine dates further back, all the way to ancient times. Ancient Greeks were isolating si

Sticking with the wonderful theme of alcohol, here’s a look at wine in ancient medicine. Adapted again from  Tom Standage’s A History of the World in 6 Glasses , but also other sources that have studied the use of wine in ancient civilizations. Although beer is thought to be the oldest drink consumed by humans, wine has an equally ancient history. The only difference is that it took longer for wine to become a common drink. The origin of wine has been traced back to the Neolithic Period, somewhere between 9000 and 4000 BCE, in the Zagros Mountains in present-day Iran and Armenia. Unlike beer, which was drunk by both the rich and the poor, wine was a status symbol associated with wealth and power. It was only consumed by those who could afford the expensive beverage, namely kings and noble men in ancient Greece. It was the Romans who transformed it from a luxury drink to one for the masses. It has been well known since the time of the ancient Greeks that wine can help relax and re