Evolving Medical Wisdom

As mankind's knowledge about healing the human body has evolved over centuries, different medical philosophies have held sway at different times. The first known surgical treatment, used in prehistoric times, involved cutting a hole in the skull, probably in an effort to release evil spirits and thereby restore good health.

Until about 2,400 years ago, belief in the supernatural as the main cause of disease was common. The Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived at that time, put those beliefs to rest, showing that human diseases had natural and not supernatural causes. He was one of the first to approach medicine from the perspective of science rather than from religious superstition.

Many medical advances came about in the 16th century after the Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings of the human body, based on dissections, spread knowledge about anatomy. During that time, for example, doctors stopped pouring boiling oil on wounds to prevent infection and began using gentler measures.

Doctors used alcohol, opium and other depressants to dull patients' pain during surgery until the mid-19th century. Those drugs were largely abandoned following the discovery in the 1840s that ether gas could anesthetize patients temporarily. The introduction of antiseptic surgical practices shortly thereafter also revolutionized medicine. Until then, nearly half of all surgical patients died of infection due to ignorance about cleanliness.

Also about mid-century, doctors began to organize, standardize and reform medical practices, which varied widely. Many people relied on folk remedies or mysterious and untested elixirs to treat illness, for example. It was also common, even into the 20th century, for doctors to "bleed" patients by placing blood-sucking leeches on them, believing that the removal of "bad blood" would restore wellness.

The American Medical Association (AMA), founded in 1847, began the reform effort. In the late 19th century, states began to establish boards to license doctors. In 1910, a report released by educator Abraham Flexner asserted that of the 155 medical schools operating in the U.S. and Canada, only one, Johns Hopkins University Medical School in Baltimore, Md., provided an adequate education. The report inspired nationwide reforms that used Johns Hopkins as a model.

Penicillin, the first antibiotic, or germ-killing drug, was discovered in 1928 and became widely available in the 1940s. Antibiotics have become the most important and widely used tools to treat infectious diseases. Over the past 50 years, a huge array of potent drugs have been developed to treat disorders and illnesses ranging from acne to high blood pressure and cancer. Major medical breakthroughs have meant that surgical procedures, such as heart bypass surgery, and organ and bone marrow transplants, can save and extend lives.

Sources

Day, Kathleen. "Finding a Prescription for Economic Pain." Washington Post (January 16, 1997): E1.

Facts On File World News Digest (February 25, 1993). "Alternative Medicine Seen Popular": 122.

Guernsey, Diane. "Alternative Medicine." Town & Country (January 1997): 97.

Herman, Robin. "Therapies Outside the Mainstream." Washington Post (August 1, 1995): 10.

Jaroff, Leon. "Bee Pollen Bureaucracy." New York Times (October 6, 1997): A19.