The Nile river is known almost universally by historians as the cradle of medicine because it passes through the great region of Egypt. Egypt greatly contributed to the western civilization. Their knowledge was far superior to any previous civilization, and many civilizations to come. One of their greatest achievements was in the field of medicine because they replaced myth with medical fact, this laid the foundations for modern medical practice. They discovered the cause of various illnesses and developed a cure. They practiced both medical and spiritual healing so the worlds of religion and science could coexist. With the discoveries of several papyrus’, we are learning more and more about their knowledge of the human anatomy.
The literature discovered by archaeologists dates back to over 7000 years ago. In the early Egyptian times, medicine was practiced most often by priests, not doctors or physicians. There were three main types of early healers, the priest physician, lay physician, and the magician-physician. The priest physicians were ranked highest among physicians because they practiced a combination of clinical and spiritual medicine. The priest physicians were in such a high favor that it is most likely they were part of the Egyptian hierarchy, and involved with the state officials and pharaohs. It is unknown if the priest physicians ever received medical training. They were permitted to examine patients and participate in minor tasks. All diseases except those of the eye, were treated by a clergy who specialized with their own rule and hierarchy known as the Priests of Sekhmet. Gradually the physicians would gain their medical knowledge and would combine it with their knowledge of magic to become an effective and respected healer.
The lay physicians also practiced a combination of clinical and spiritual healing. Unlike the priest physician, the lay physicians were most likely trained to practice medicine. They were most likely derived from priests who had knowledge of the anatomy, and from magicians because they weren’t associated with any particular god or temple. The role of a lay physician wasn’t only open to males, unlike the priest physicians, there are records of women physicians. Although the duties of the lay physician are vague due to the lack o...
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...ion, organizing fisheries, and he also preserved food. Imhotep built the first pyramid in the world, the step mastaba of Saqara. It was erected over the resting place of
Pharaoh’s wife who was buried in the Nile Delta.
It is now known that Egyptian medicine contributed greatly to modern medicine. Many of the therapies used today are similar to those used in ancient Egyptian times such as the method of treating a fractured bone. They were the first to use electrotherapy to cure pain, and also have an understanding of what happened. The first ever mummification was in Egypt and the process was used for centuries to come by all Egyptian peoples. With the discoveries of more and more papyrus’, ancient Egyptian’s are now getting the credit they deserve for their contributions to modern medicine. Bibliography Atkinson, D.T. Magic, Myth and Medicine. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1956.
Dawson, Warren R. Ancient Egyptian Medicine. The Story of Medicine. New York: Golden Press, 1968.
Stetter, Cornelius. The Secret Medicine of the
Pharaohs: Ancient Egyptian Healing. Carol
Stream: Quintessence Publishing Company,
1993.
There are many roles that were played to raise the potential for changes in the book of medicine. There were women, men, doctors, theorists, apprentices, herbalists, and more who have contributed to the rise of modern medicine. Their pitch in trying to find new ways to explain or enhance their outdated ways of healing patients impacted the many generations who will change the medicine world as they did.
A Medieval doctor and present day doctor have the same principles, but they acquire the skills different ways. Nowadays, if anybody had a specific condition, there is a doctor for that specific acquired condition that he or she may have. During the middle Ages, surgeons were considered to be craftsmen, skilled with tools. They became capable of carrying out a wide variety of tasks. The man who cut your hair was often the one who operated on you if you were ill. Present day doctors do not cut hair and they acclaim a specific job assigned to them. Doctors now have to go the college and get a degree, where in the middle ages they were not taught into a medical practice. Many believe the practice became useless, but these Nim Gimmers were much needed throughout the Medieval Times. (Nosow Pg.7)
Physicians were only for royalty and the wealthy. Most common folk, if sick, would visit locals with medical knowledge they gained from ancestors or experience. If they did end up visiting a doctor, it would be one painful experience. Bloodletting was a very common procedure done in sickness and health. It was a procedure done to let out the ‘bad blood.’ It was done in 2 ways, leeching and venesection. Leeching was only used for royalty. The leech was placed on the most infected part of the body. Venesection is the act of directly opening the vein using a fleam, a long half inch blade, and catching the blood in a bowl to measure the amount of blood drained. Other common ones include burning a candle near your tooth for a toothache. If you have evil spirits in your head, then you would have a procedure called trepanning done, which involves cutting a hole in your skull to release the bad spirits.The cure to most general illnesses is pilgrimaging to a holy shrine. Supernatural healing, healing the sick by using herbs and demonic magic. There were only a few healing herbs and they were brought in through trade by travelers. Some examples are sassafras brought from West Indies and guaiac wood that was known to treat syphilis and many similar
The quality of doctors during the Renaissance was a small step up from the Medieval era. There were a few medical schools that had started and doctors were beginning to have the option of a formal education. The only problem was that people didn't need a license to be a doctor. Many "quacks" practiced medicine. And doctors had no specialization; there were no dentists, no surgeons, and no physicians. So a doctor may have not known anything about one of those areas but still attempted to treat it.
Thematic analysis is espoused to be the foundational approach to qualitative analysis and methods (Saunders et al., 2016 as stated in Braun and Clarke, 2006: 78) and it is a useful method used to identify and analyse the order and patterns of qualitative data (Attride-Stirling, 2001). Qualitative research method depicts the correlation that exists between data and events, creating the pictorial representation of what one thinks a given data says (Saunders et al., 2016). They also opined that, qualitative data analysis is cogent, interactive and iterative. Also, Joana and Jill (2011) and Saunders et al (2016) postulate that, qualitative research brings meanings from words and images as opposed to numbers. However, despite its robustness and rigour of its application, it is skewed more to the interpretivist ideologies since researchers draw conclusion from participants and the hypothesis being forecasted (Joana and Jill, 2011; Saunders et al., 2016).
Throughout time, mankind has persistently been seeking ways to maintain their health and to cure those that had not been so fortunate in that task. Just about everything has been experimented with as a cure for some type of illness whether physical, spiritual or mental. There has always been evidence of spiritual healing and it will continue to be an important part of any healing process, large or small. In particular, the roots of Native American Medicine men (often a woman in some cultures) may be traced back to ancient times referred to as Shaman. A special type of healer used by the Indians is referred to as a medicine man (comes from the French word medecin, meaning doctor).
There are many things which can drive a teen to commit suicide some of them are as simple as making fun of the “fat” kid in class; others can come from the mental images from witnessing a shooting. There are four major issues which contribute to teen suicide such as depression, family problems, risk factors, and teens reactions to there climate. Depression, unfortunately, is one of the biggest factors of today’s teenage suicide problems and some of the reasons for it are from the student’s own peers, “being depressed is triggered by loss or rejection (Joan 59).” Depression can be f...
The Romans used both scientific and mythological methods in their medicine. By adopting the methods of Greek medicine; the Romans obtained a solid foundation. They copied Hippocrates, who separated the study of medicine from philosophy and had an overall approach to the health of humans. Hippocrates also observed the habits and environment of humans to accurately determine illnesses and discover treatments. The Romans adapted the Hippocratic method and combined it with mythical and religious views. The Romans used Greek methods, and also included prayers and offerings to the gods. Although all gods had healing powers, Aesculapius, the god of healing, was the most important.
To fully comprehend Greek medicine, one must first endeavour to acquire knowledge on how it all begins. “In Greek mythology, a demi-god hero by the name of Asclepius was conceived by Apollo, the god of music, healing and prophecy and Coronis, a mortal princess. The mother of Asclepius, Coronis, was unfaithful to Apollo. Apollo then killed her for her unfaithfulness to the god. She was placed upon a funeral pyre so her body can be cremated. As her body commenced to burn, Apollo felt sorrow for his unborn son and snatched the child Asclepius from his mother's corpse, saving him from death. The god then handed Asclepius to the Centaur Chiron who became his tutor and mentor in the art of healing” (Leadbetter). Asclepius later becomes the god of medicine and healing. “In Epidaurus, his most famous sanctuary was establish in addition to throughout the Greek world. The cult of Asclepius became very popular during the 300s BCE and the cult centres (known as an Asclepieion) were used by priests to cure the sick. ‘The cult develop...
Early Greek medicine was more of a divine matter. It was believed that the God Asclepius was the god of medicine. Priests would live at his temples and claimed they knew the ways of healing people. It was not until around 500 B.C., a Greek physician named Alcmaeon began to dissect animals to observe their skeleton, muscles, and brain. This was most probably the first ever to describe a phenomenon through objective observations. Through his observations, he believed that illness was due to an imbalance in the body. This idea prevailed for many centuries in the history of medicine.
Many people didn’t believe in medicine at all. The most commonly used treatment was prayer. Ordinary people relied on methods their parents and grandparents used, such as lucky charms, magic spells and herbal cures. Some of the herbal cures were quite useful.
Doctors and Medical Treatments of the Elizabethan Era The Elizabethan customs were based on the knowledge from the teachings of Hippocrates and Aristotle (Patterson, White). The beliefs were widely accepted. The emphasis on magic and astrology, however, lessened in Elizabethan times. Some physicians did still believe if the planets were not aligned, an individual would get sick.
Although it is not apparent whether or not Ancient Egyptian physicians had formal training or not, their methods for diagnosing and handling illnesses were very efficient at times. As a matter of fact, we still use some of their remedies today when we make medicines. Examples of the diagnosis and remedies for diseases in Ancient Egypt can be found in the Ebers Papyrus. This is one of the oldest known documentations of ancient medical practices, dating as far back as fifteen hundred BC. Steven Gilbert, the author of A Small Dose of Toxicology: The Health Effects of Common Chemicals, defines the text as “approximately one hundred and ten pages on anatomy and physiology, toxicology, spells, and treatment recorded on papyrus. The papyrus also has many prescriptions showing the treatment of many disorders by animal, plant, and mineral toxins that still occur today.” Modern-day examples of medical ailments mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus include Asthma, Cancer, and Belly Aches. Oddly enough, the heart, rather than the brain, was regarded as the headquarters of human knowledge in the body because this was where the abundance of emotion was said to be drawn forth from. The heart was also thought to be a means of communication between the people and the gods because people were given insight and instruction pertaining to the gods will through this organ of the body. The Egyptians did not understand how important the heart was in terms of blood circulation, as we understand it today. Their belief was that the heart was connected to all the other parts of the body, via canals, which were used to transport bodily fluids and waste to their appropriate locations. The brain’s only purpose was to transport mucus to the nose, and therefore it wa...
The most important and influential discovery was the practice of surgery. With this invention, human life became more sophisticated, humans lived longer, and we obtained a knowledge of ourselves sufficient enough to break the boundaries built by ignorance. Lacking prescription drugs, accurate tools, computer technology, and any background experience to build from, our ancestors struggled to learn how to repair the human body. They did an suprisingly competent job of treating the sick and injured. Some of the medical technology developed in ancient times surpassed anything available in the modern world until the 18th century or 19th century. In eras wherein religious views took precedence over medicine and logic, surgical advancement was difficult. The knowledge we have now was obtained from these people's exploits.
As the Egyptian people believe in eternity, they had to come up with the methods to keep the deceased’s physical bodies eternally existing. As As a result, dealing with mummies became an important subject at that time. and Egyptians studied anatomy to develop a better understanding of the human body. In this way, medical science developed quickly. The connection between architecture and medicine is an example of how art integrated with science.