When you feel unwell, they are always ready to save you - traditional medicine and alternative medicine walking hand in hand
Medicine today is an inalienable part of our lives. When we are ill we hastily call the ambulance, go to the chemistry to buy the meds we need and if something is radically wrong with us receive a sick leave to be able to stay at home and get well. Have you ever thought that things were not always like that? Here are some interesting facts about the development and main kinds of modern medicine.
The word medicine is derived from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine today is a completely scienctific activity, but you should also know that it is a sort of art - the art of curing humans. The main functions of contemporary medicine is maintaining and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of various health issues. Mainstream medicine started as many healing arts and systems based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.
By the way, alternative medicine today has a definite power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes official medicine is unable to cure a number of vicious illnesses and injuries such as cancers, diabetes, AIDS, autoimmune diseases, spinal injuries etc. The point is mainstream medicine is perfect at finding out symptoms typical for definite health disorders and injuries and at prescribing medications and medical handling able to lessen the patient’s pain and tribulation. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the health disorder breaks out. On the contrary, complementary medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you accumulate inside you as well as negative emotions you have day by day damage your soul, litter your head and crush your body.
Unlike chaotic approaches of healers, up-to-date medicine is empoweredl with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and treat injuries and diseases of all sorts. As a rule it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The majority of physicians try to remember how essential it is for the ill man or woman to feel care and compassion, to have a close contact with the MD, that is why they follow the strict set of rules known as bedside manner.
Many millennia ago our forefathers noticed that certain plants, animal parts and minerals help healing injuries and wounds and treat different health issues. It was not the knowledge for everyone - priests, shamans, healers and medicine men believed them to be purely magical substances.
From ancient records we find out that medicine is a very old activity. Texts about ancient Egyptian medicine, Babylonian medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, classical Chinese madicine, ancient Greek and Roman medicine prove that even millennia ago some persons tried to help others in getting well! Imhotep is the first name of the doctor preserved in the history of medicine. He was an Egyptian and lived about 3rd millennium BC! The stunning truth is that ancient texts and encryptions tell us that many centuries ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals these days) and numerous surgical operations including plastic surgery!
You surely know that ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is considered to be “the father of medicine” for establishing rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates invented the famous Hippocratic Oath for physicians. Believe it or not, it is still in use today, as relevant and wise as ever before! What is more, Hippocrates managed to see illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, contemporary MDs use numerous special words invented by Hippocrates - relapse, resolution, paroxysm, peak, exacerbation, crisis, convalescence are only a few of them!
Surprisingly, the Western world did not develop eminent ideas of ancient doctors after the fall of the Roman Empire and the onset of the Dark Ages. Eastern world, on the contrary, kept and developed the Greek and Roman ways in medicine. A prominent Islamic medical man who made a great contribution to medicine, was Avicenna. He introduced the famous Cannon of Medicine.
Medical science interested Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries when deadly bubonic plague ravaged Europe killing up to 30-60% of its population. This incredibly dangerous pandemic made physicians reject the ‘traditional authority’ approach to science and medicine and seek new ways out. Doctors like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job developing or criticizing numerous theories from the past.
But the new age of medicine began in the 18th century when Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical investigation has become one of the major proofs in medicine, while ancient traditions started fading. Around 1880 Robert Koch discovered the transmission of diseases by bacteria and soon in 1908 Paul Ehrlich discovered the first antibiotics.
The 20th century was a real whirl of medical events and investigations. It is impossible to enumerate all the outstanding medical people whose innovations and experiments led to new treatments and the use of revolutionary drugs!
Present-day pharmacology inherited the old knowledge of herbalism and incorporated many ideas of the chemistry, but all the same, a long list of pills are still derived from plants. For instance atropine used in ophthalmology and gastroenterology, ephedrine effective for people with asthma, warfarin used to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots, aspirin we take for a number of reasons, digoxin irreplaceable in cardiology and a number of other essential men and women are received from plants. But the technology applied today is brand new! A number of pills reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new medications are designed for absolute compatibility with a human body!
Today you don’t even have to stand in line in the waiting room to get your prescription. You can easily find a realiable online drugstore no prescription required and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality cheap pills available. You can chose to buy brand meds or generic drugs. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic medication is much more affordable.
Up-to-date medicine can be named an evidence-based science, and unlike it was in ancient healing systems its major purpose is sharing information and clinical experience. The point is that the ‘best practice’ approaches tend to suppress new ideas of treatment, that is why there a number of systematic medical reviews available.
Modern medicine is first of all the practice where doctors meet patients to examine, diagnose and treat them. So, as you understand the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a typical practitioner at all! When you make an appointment with a doc the standard procedure is like that:
- it starts with studying the patient’s medical history; then goes a detailed medical interview and a thorough physical examination. If necessary the examination is followed by medical tests - blood test, urine test, smear, biopsy etc. Please, keep in minds, it is very important for the doctor to know every truthful sign and symptom - otherwise right diagnosing is impossible! Stop being shy or squeamish when you visit your practitioner - tell him or her everything that you find unusual and suspicious - that might be helpful. The medical appointment is documented in the special medical record and your personal medical history, which is a legal document.
The process of medical handling depends on the case. You get a sick leave if the problem is simple and take the meds prescribed by your medical man. Serious cases may take weeks and several specialists to handle and the patient is likely to be hospitalized.
Medicine these days is a part of health care system of every civilized country. It is essential to ensure that every personality has access to medical care irrespective of the man or woman’s ability to pay for the service. That is why it is so essential to establish state-owned and charitable hospitals and clinics.
The medical personnel consist not only of physicians. Well-trained nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians help their persons go the whole way through his or her case and recover as soon as possible. We cannot live without the service of radiographers, dietitians, surgeons, dentists, anaesthetists etc as well. The quality of national health service (NHS) depends exceptionally on the knowledge and practical skills of all these individuals. That is exactly why medical specialty in universities should meet the highest standards of education imaginable! What is more, in all Western European countries, USA and other countries of the world a medical doctor must be licensed or registered before he or she can begin medical practice. If the practitioner fails to use all his or her possibilities to help the patient, if he or she is careless or deliberately harmful, this physician can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when docs were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule men and women choose to be doctors because it is their calling! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with sick and nervous patients for all the professional life!
Tags: complementary medicine, conventional medicine, discount drugs, discount online drugstore