History of Medicine

The medicine ball or fitness ball is such a common sight in gyms that we take it for granted. For those who don't frequent gyms, a medicine ball is a slightly heavy (weighted) ball used for strength training. It is also used in sports medicine and physical therapy to improve strength and neuromuscular coordination. Modern exercise with a medicine ball While it looks like a modern concept, its origin can actually be traced back to ancient Greece and Hippocrates who used such balls to help injured people regain mobility. Of course, the original version differed from the modern medicine ball -- the balls Hippocrates gave his patients were made from stuffed animal skins or bladders filled with sand. Galen also wrote extensively about them in the self-explanatorily named treatise,  On Exercise with a Small Ball, noting: The form of exercise most deserving of our attention is therefore that  which has the  capacity  to provide health of the body, harmony of the parts, and virtue in the s

A New Year's resolution is the most common way to mark the new year for Americans, with over half of New Year's resolutions being to lose weight. Not only is exercise a great way to lose weight but it is also has a positive effect on both mental and physical health. Modern neuroscience research has shown that running (or any exercise really) can boost mood and lower stress. The benefits of exercise on health are well documented today. So in reality, sports and physical exercise are closely related to medicine and this was certainly well known to our ancestors.  The ancient Indian physician, Sushruta, who lived around 600 BCE, was the earliest known physician to prescribe daily moderate exercise to his patients. A few centuries later, another prominent physician of ancient India, Charaka advocated daily exercise, relating it to an alleviation of the doshas, particularly kapha, which controls muscles and strength. These ancient physicians also knew that exercise in moderation was

Another year has gone by (seriously, where did 2021 go?) and once again a new year has arrived with much promise and hope. This year, I am excited to begin my college journey, my first step outside the proverbial nest. I'm super excited to see what the new year brings! In honor of the new year, here's a look at how Classical civilizations celebrated the beginning of the year and its significance. (Some of the information is rehashed from last year's new year post.) New year celebrations have taken place for over 4000 years when Mesopotamians began celebrating it around 2000 BCE. It wasn't on January 1, however, because they did not have a calendar, but on the vernal equinox in mid-March, when the length of the day equals the length of night. Other civilizations picked other astronomically significant dates as the beginning of the new year – Egyptians on the fall equinox, and Greeks on winter solstice. Many people in India still celebrate the new year in spring, as I wro

After a full day at school, I am sometimes too tired to even think, but I still welcome my violin lesson. Many a time, I have gone to the lesson dreading spending an hour standing upright, only to feel relaxed and lighthearted within minutes of playing my violin. It has an inexplicable effect on both my body and my emotions as I continue playing- it's almost like I feel the stress slipping away with each stroke of the bow.  And there is ample evidence for the therapeutic effects of music. It has been proven that upbeat music can lift spirits and cheer a person, while a slower tempo can relax muscles and calm the mind. Music is known to increase dopamine- the "feel-good" hormone- levels in the body. Stanford researchers even found that music can change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.  Music therapy has now become a recognized medical discipline. It is used to treat disorders ranging from depression and trauma to schizophrenia and high blood pressure. Th

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that COVID-19 can be spread through the air, which is why wearing masks is so effective (far more than social distancing) and arguably necessary to stem the spread of the disease. This is particularly true indoors where ventilation is limited and the air carries the virus for longer than outdoors where the wind can blow it away.  Representation of miasma or bad air that can cause disease What is interesting is that this theory was not accepted by many virologists (or even the WHO who resisted the claim that the virus can be carried in the air. It took more than 200 experts arguing in support of the airborne nature of the virus to convince the WHO to declare it so. The reason for this discrepancy (and resistance to the airborne theory) is interesting, and surprisingly, relates to none other than the granddaddy of medicine, Hippocrates.  It was Hippocrates who first noticed (back in 5th century BCE) that people in one region often got sick with

In my previous post, I explored the history of cancer. Since we know it existed in ancient times, it follows that so did its name. In fact, the name "cancer" was coined by none other than the great Hippocrates (well, not the exact name but the root of the name). Hippocrates in fact, used two terms,  carcinoma and carcinos,  to describe ulcerous and non-ulcerous tumors respectively. He named the tumors after Carcinus (or Karkinos), a giant crab in Greek mythology that was sent by the Goddess Hera to help Hydra fight against Hercules. As to why Hippocrates chose to name the tumor after a crab is not quite clear but there are several theories:       -  The hardness of a malignant tumor reminded him of the hard shell of a crab.      - The pain induced by a malignant tumor is similar to a sharp pinch of a crab's claw.     -  The tenacity of cancer is similar to the determination with which a crab bites and grabs on to a person.  While all these theories seem plausible, the

With COVID-19 grabbing much of the world's attention in the last two years, all other diseases have taken a backseat, yet they remain no less dangerous. One such disease getting buried in the covid hysteria is cancer. The second leading cause of death in the United States, cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases of modern times. A chilling fact is that nearly one in three (33%) Americans will get cancer in their lifetime. The mortality rate is equally grim—an estimated 600,000 people died of cancer in 2020 in the United States alone, nearly double the number of deaths (~350,000 in 2020) attributed to the coronavirus! Purple ribbon symbol for cancer. While there's no doubt that the incidence of cancer has increased in recent times, it is by no means a modern disease. Cancer has existed since ancient, even pre-historic times! Paleontologists recently discovered cancer in dinosaur fossils from 70 million years ago. In humans, the earliest evidence of cancer was found in a