History of Medicine

Today (April 25) is World Malaria Day, so I figured it would be apt to write about the disease which is related to my recent posts on artemisinin and quinine, and also has a strong connection to the ancient times.  Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that is widespread in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. It causes flu-like symptoms including fever, headache and vomiting, and can be fatal if untreated. Every year, there are over 200 million cases and around 500,000 deaths, 95% of which are in Africa. Malaria was also responsible for several epidemics in the Americas in the 1700 and 1800s, until it was discovered that mosquitos carried the disease and anti-mosquito measures were widely utilized. Malaria pathogen attached to red blood cell Not only is malaria one of the most common diseases in the world, it is also one of the oldest. References to malaria are found in practically all ancient medical texts, including from the Classical period. In fact, it is thought that the d

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

Today, my family, who hail from the southern part of India, celebrated the beginning of the New Year  known as Ugadi (Yug= Era; Adi= New beginning). I discovered that many other communities in India and Southeast Asia also celebrate their new year today under various names such as Vishu, Puthandu, Baisakhi, and Chaitra Navratri. While it may appear strange to celebrate the beginning of the new year four months into the calendar year, I found that it is actually not at all uncommon around the world and historically.  Spring is the season of new beginnings, with fresh blossoms and nature coming alive after the long, desolate winter months. The new growth signifies rebirth and renewal in most cultures. As a result, spring was the natural time to celebrate the new year for many cultures and civilizations. The most common date to celebrate new year was the Vernal Equinox, on March 20 when the length of day and night is equal. Vernal is derived from the Latin word vernare meaning "to bl

Considering cancer is one of the oldest diseases of mankind, dating back to prehistoric ages, it is astounding that there is yet no real cure for cancer! Not only that, we have yet to fully understand what causes cancer in humans, and how to stop it. The Egyptians have the earliest record of identifying and treating cancer as far back as 3000 BC. The Edwin Smith Papyrus describes 8 different types of cancer and mentions there is no cure for it. At the same time, it describes surgery and cauterization, which involved destroying tissue with a hot instrument called “the fire drill” as treatments used on tumors. Ancient Egyptians were able to distinguish between benign tumors from malignant (cancerous) tumors. Edwin Smith papyrus The ancient Greeks also made a detailed study of cancer, with Hippocrates being the first and perhaps the most significant. Hippocrates identified malignant and non-malignant tumors and likened its appearance to a crab, thus giving rise to the nam

Recently, I wrote about the anti-malarial properties of artemisia. Artemisia was also recently in the news for its potential effectiveness against covid-19, and I explored that a few months ago in "Artemisia for COVID Treatment." Turns out the plant might have other hidden wonders: it is also being investigated as a cancer therapy. Artemisia, whose medicinal origins can be traced back to 200 BCE in ancient China, is one truly impressive medicinal plant! Artemisia has active phytochemicals that have a list of medicinal properties— antimalarial, antioxidant, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial to name a few. It has recently also been found that the bioactive compounds of the plant target multiple pathways in the case of cancer.  A study by University of Washington researchers found artemisinin to be very effective in killing specific cancer cells—up to 1200 times more effective than current treatments! The UW researcher described it as “ like a special agent plantin

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Last year, I wrote about the history of beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Today, I decided to explore the history of the shamrock which is a symbol of symbol of Ireland and represents good luck. The word shamrock comes from the Gaelic word seamróg, meaning “little clover.” It generally represents a plant in the trifolium family, which is characterized by three leaves.  The three-leafed shamrock holds special meaning to the Irish for many reasons, but most importantly because it was used by St. Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, to explain the Christian Holy Trinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit to peasants in the 5th century. The four-leaf clover is a genetic mutation and considered lucky because it is very rare (1 in 10,000)—the fourth leaf is said to represent God's grace, thereby bringing luck. Besides its religious significance, the clover leaf was also well known for its medicinal properties in ancient times. The clover leaf i

Just as we owe most of our medical knowledge to the physicians of ancient times, there are some medicines in use today that are directly taken from ancient medicine. One such ancient medicine that is still used today, albeit in a different form, is aspirin. Aspirin is arguably the most commonly used drug in the world today. It  has  appeared in the Guinness Book of Records as the most frequently sold pain reliever in the world and is also  “one of the most endurably successful commercial products of all time."   Its use ranges from simple pain relief to heart attack and stroke prevention.  The active ingredient of Aspirin is the medicinal compound salicin, which is refined from willow bark, and that's the ancient connection. Willow bark was used extensively by the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians for pain relief, and later advocated by Hippocrates in Greece and Pliny the Elder in Ancient Rome. Willow bark continued to be used as a pain reliever in its natural form until the mid