History
Modern Medicine
Modern medicine refers to the current practice of healthcare that integrates advanced technology, evidence-based research, and a holistic approach to patient care. It encompasses a wide range of medical specialties, including surgery, pharmacology, and preventive medicine, and is characterized by a focus on disease prevention, early diagnosis, and personalized treatment plans.
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8 Key excerpts on "Modern Medicine"
eBook - ePubThe Foundations of Primary Care
v. 1, Satisfaction or Resentment?
- Joachim P. Sturmberg, James Dearman(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
SECTION ONEHistorical perspective of medicine: from shaman to modern physician
Medicine… is a human creation cradled in the primate programme.Tiger and Fox1Any system is grounded in its own history - the past lives on in the present. Gaining a historical perspective on medicine is a very useful way of achieving a greater depth of understanding of medicine and, in particular, primary health care at the beginning of the 21st century. This section of the book traces the thought and achievements of the leading thinkers, researchers and educators and their contribution to the growth of our discipline.History shows us how changes in thinking can lead to the revision of conventional wisdom. It explains the impact these changes have on the discipline and on society at large. History also teaches us that at times changes may turn full circle - nowhere is this more obvious than in the return to a holistic model of health and health care and the rejection of the pure biomedical (man-machine) model of disease based on Descartes’ mind-body split.Chapter 1 will give a brief outline of the historical origins of our healing profession. Care for the sick and injured helped to secure the survival of the small group in hunter and gatherer societies. Medicine is both a social and a scientific construct. As a social act medicine developed its specific rituals, which in turn shaped societal expectation relating to health and health care. The Romans translated the knowledge of environmental factors on the health and wellbeing of the population into the development of a sophisticated public health system.Chapter 2 traces some of the ‘milestones of medicine’ in anatomy and physiology, population health, diagnostic technologies and therapeutics, all of which have given us the ability to successfully treat specific disease entities (as opposed to illness).In Chapter 3 the influence of medical education on shaping medical frameworks and practices cannot be underestimated. Historically, medical training aimed to achieve ‘educated men’ over and above providing them with specific technical skills. A good education was seen as transcending subject matter, it was regarded as important to open the student’s mind to the interconnected nature of man’s life experiences. The education process made him a doctor
eBook - ePub- Gregory L. Weiss(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Today’s healing practices and health care systems have developed through centuries of efforts to understand disease and illness and to find effective means to protect and restore health. Understanding this historical development is important both as an end in itself and as a means to a better understanding of current patterns.Compiled histories of medicine are not in short supply, but few of these histories attempt to place the development of medicine within a societal context. A “sociological approach to the history of medicine” includes at least the following: (1) a “sociology of medical knowledge”—that is, the ways in which societies “socially construct” medical knowledge; (2) the development and evolution of the primary activities in which physicians engage, including patient education, prevention, examination and diagnosis, prognosis, curative techniques, and palliative care (relief from suffering); (3) the evolution of the organization of medical practice, including medical specialization and the relationship to hospitals and corporations; (4) the development of hospitals and their changing role within society; and (5) the development and evolution of public health measures, including nutrition, sanitation, and public education (McKeown, 1970; White, 2009).This chapter gives some attention to all of these themes, but focuses primarily on the first theme by describing the historical development of scientific medicine and tracing the ascendancy of scientific medical authority in America. It demonstrates that the discovery and acceptance of medical knowledge can be understood only in social context and are, at the very least, partially dependent on both cultural values (including orientation toward medicine) and the configuration of powerful interests within the society. In particular, notice the following:
eBook - ePubFrom Hippocrates to COVID-19
A Bibliographic History of Medicine
- Dale A. Stirling, Dale A. Stirling(Authors)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- Jenny Stanford Publishing(Publisher)
500–1450. New York: Facts on File, Inc.- Kelly , K. 2009. The History of Medicine: The Scientific Revolution and Medicine 1450–1700. New York, Facts on File, Inc.
- Khushf , G. 2013. A framework for understanding epistemologies. J Med Philos . 38:461–486.
- Kilgour , F.G. 1962. Modern Medicine in historical perspective. Bull Med Libr Assoc . 50(1):42–56.
- King , C.R. 1991. The historiography of medical history: From great men to archaeology. Bull NY Acad Med . 67(5):407–428.
- King , L.S. 1975. Viewpoints in the teaching of medical history. I. Introductory comments. Clio Med . 10(2):129–132.
- King , L.S. 2013. The Philosophy of Medicine: The Early Eighteenth Century . Harvard University Press.
- Kleinman , A.M. 1973. Medicine’s symbolic reality: On a central problem in the philosophy of medicine. Inquiry . 16(1–4):206–213.
- Kushner , H.I. 2008. Medical historians and the history of medicine. Lancet . 372(9640):710–711.
- King , L.S. 1963. The Growth of Medical Thought . University of Chicago Press.
- King , L.S. 1971. A History of Medicine: Selected Readings . Middlesex: Penguin Books.
- King , L.S. 1978. The Philosophy of Medicine: The Early 18th Century . Harvard University Press.
- Kock , W. 1976. A survey of the history of medicine. Nord Medicinhist Arsb . 5–20. [Swedish]
- Kock , W. 1981. A survey of medical history. Nord Medicinhist Arsb . 5–23. [Swedish]
- Koutsouris , D. 2017. The evolution of medical care: From the beginnings to personalized medicine. Health Technol . 7:34.
- Kutumbiah , P. 1971. The Evolution of Scientific Medicine. Madras , India: Orient Longman Ltd.
- Labisch , A. 1996. History, social history and sociology of medicine. An imaginary controversy with Christian Probst. Sudhoffs Archiv . 80(1):1–27. [German]
- Lachmund , J. 1998. Between scrutiny and treatment: Physical diagnosis and the restructuring of 19th century medical practice. Sociol Health Illn . 20(6):779–801.
- Leavitt , J.W. 1990. Medicine in context: A review essay of the history of medicine. American Historical Review
eBook - ePubThe Development of Modern Medicine in Non-Western Countries
Historical Perspectives
- Hormoz Ebrahimnejad, Hormoz Ebrahimnejad(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
In Japan, the adoption of modern science and technology was directly aimed at bringing Japan on a par with the European powers. 41 The introduction and development of Modern Medicine, along with other sciences, in both its theoretical and technical aspects, did not occur in a vacuum but within a context that could both favour and condition them. Political allegiance and diplomatic relationships sometimes proved fundamental in determining a specific course of medical development. 42 Sociologist Karl Mannheim has underlined the link between interest, whether political, economic, public or private, and intellectual activity or creativity and pointed to the social-situational roots of knowledge and dismissed any absoluteness of ‘truth in itself’. 43 Although cultural values 44 or sometimes religious ethics might favour or retard the development of science, they can themselves be affected by social and historical contexts to the extent of producing opposite effects under different conditions, 45 a fact that once more goes against the idea of division between Western and non-Western medical ‘systems’ based on fundamentally different values or cultures. There have been various studies on the encounter of modern Western medicine with local contexts in individual countries. 46 The history of medicine in non-Western countries has also been studied, as in a volume edited by H. Selin. 47 But, as far as the latter is concerned, it does not examine the development of Modern Medicine in the countries under study. The present volume, on the other hand, provides a panoramic view to various cases of modernisation processes in different countries by examining how indigenous socio-political, institutional, and intellectual factors have informed the integration and development of Modern Medicine
eBook - ePubIntegrative Approaches for Health
Biomedical Research, Ayurveda and Yoga
- Bhushan Patwardhan, Gururaj Mutalik, Girish Tillu(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Scientific innovations during the two world wars of the last century also led to several discoveries, space missions, and to the endorsement of the value of modern science. In the process, the humanity also witnessed the misuse of science and technology through changes in socioeconomic fabric, growing violence, ill health, new diseases, industrial pollution, and ecological degradation. History is full of bloody violence, however, weapons of mass destruction are a gift of modern technology!Sir William Osler gave a lucid overview of the evolution of Modern Medicine in series of lectures delivered on “Evolution of Modern Medicine” at the Yale University. The lectures give an exhaustive account of the history of ancient medicine, and the emergence of Modern Medicine. This lecture series has been published as a 233-page book, which provides an excellent overview of primitive and traditional medicine including Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese medicines, with landmark contributions from Hippocrates, Galen, and Harvey. Surprisingly, Osler did not mention India or Ayurveda anywhere in the Yale lecture series, or even in the book [26] .Modern Medicine grew from the firm foundations of modern science. However, during its evolution some of the important theories were left behind, and escaped serious attention. Those omitted include the theory of conditional probability proposed by Thomas Bayes during the mid-seventeenth century, and the theory of falsification proposed by Karl Popper in early 1930s. Among different schools of thoughts in the philosophy of science, the most popular position is empiricism, which claims that knowledge is created by a process involving observations. Empiricism also holds that scientific theories are the result of generalizations from such observations. Karl Popper challenged the empirical approach in science. Popper rejected the connection between theory and observation. He claimed that theories are not generated by observation; rather, observation is made in the light of theories. Popper coined the term critical rationalism
eBook - ePubMedical Philosophy
Conceptual Issues in Medicine
- Mario Bunge(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- WSPC(Publisher)
That is why many medical treatments involve educating the patient or helping her alter her social environment. For example, thanks to the reform instituted by Philippe Pinel (1794), the individuals diagnosed as schizophrenics, who used to be confined or even beaten up, were promoted to the category of sick poople, and are now treated with psychopharmaceutical drugs. The drug addicts, who used to be regarded as perverts or delinquents, are now being treated as mental patients capable of being re-educated. And of course the homosexuals, who used to be persecuted, segregated, or even subjected to cruel treatments, have been demedicalized. In sum, contemporary medicine is neither reductionistic nor inhumane.The preceding characterization of the rise of Modern Medicine is bound to disappoint the admirers of Michel Foucault (1963), who is currently the most cited scholar in the humanities. For example, Foucault claimed that Modern Medicine is empiricist to the point of rejecting theory and philosophy, whereas we have emphasized the role of hypothesis in biomedical research and practice, as well as the strong impact of philosophy on the discipline since antiquity. Foucault also claimed that the crucial difference between modern and traditional medicine is linguistic, whereas our account has focused on biological discoveries, such as Harvey’s, medical inventions such as the vaccines, and philosophical presuppositions such as rationality, realism, and materialism. Lastly, whereas Foucault mentioned only Frenchmen, we, following the professional historians of medicine, have mentioned scientists and physicians from half a dozen European countries. A relativist would say that the choice among alternative historical and medical “narratives” is just a matter of taste, convention, or politics. They reason like Groucho Marx when he said, “Those are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have got others.” Let the reader choose.2.2From the Enlightenment to Experimental MedicineDuring the eighteenth century, the biomedical investigators kept advancing in the direction suggested by their precursors in the previous century. One of the many accomplishments of the Siècle des Lumières
eBook - ePubThe Old Age Challenge to the Biomedical Model
Paradigm Strain and Health Policy
- Charles F. Longino(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
CHAPTER4The Rise of Scientific Medicine
Scientific medicine developed as a result of adopting and applying science to medical concerns. Once science was accepted culturally, the stage was set for medicine to move into a new arena. In short, science came first. Also, although science, in its pure form, has always been primarily concerned with understanding the measurable (i.e., physical) world, the focus of scientists is on basic processes and mechanisms, and not necessarily the application of scientific principles to human goals such as health or welfare. Bio-physical science found its major applications in medicine, much as physics found its primary application in engineering. Indeed, the science courses in medical schools are usually taught by instructors whose ID tags carry a Ph.D. rather than an M.D. after their names.The theory that health came from a harmony or balance of the four fluids (humors) in the body—blood, mucus, yellow bile, and black bile—dominated Western medicine for most of its early history. Zaner explains that those physicians who based their understanding of medicine on humoral theories took symptoms as signs of invisible inner bodily events, i.e., humoral imbalances [1 ]. Physicians who believed in these dogmas had to understand these symptoms and make diagnoses based on them. The treatment they prescribed, however, was aimed not at the symptoms but at restoring balance within the body. For example, they would draw blood from the different parts of the body to restore harmony, depending on how certain symptoms were interpreted. The instrument for drawing blood was the “lancet,” a tool that was adopted as the name of the leading medical journal in England today. Additionally, leeches could be found often in apothecaries in the United States into the nineteenth century, for the purpose of bleeding a person.The point is that physicians of earlier centuries did not ignore the body’s curative and restorative powers. Instead, Zaner argues that “empiric” tendencies were also present in “pre-scientific” medicine; interventions were not guided solely and always by dogma [1 , pp. 137 -140
eBook - ePub- Elliott, James, Sir(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Perlego(Publisher)
The medical profession deserves censure for neglect of its own history, and pity 'tis that so many practitioners know nothing of the story of their art. For this reason many reputed discoveries are only re-discoveries; as Bacon wrote: "Medicine is a science which hath been, as we have said, more professed than laboured, and yet more laboured than advanced; the labour having been, in my judgment, rather in circle than in progression. For I find much iteration, and small progression." Of late years, however, the History of Medicine has been coming into its kingdom. Universities are establishing courses of lectures on the subject, and the Royal Society of Medicine recently instituted a historical section.The material I have used in this book has been gathered from many sources, and, as far as possible, references have been given, but I have sought for, and taken, information wherever it could best be found. As Montaigne wrote: "I have here only made a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own but the thread that ties them together."I have to express my indebtedness to my friend, Mr. J. Scott Riddell, M.V.O., M.A., M.B., C.M., Senior Surgeon, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, for his great kindness in reading the proof-sheets, preparing the index and seeing this book through the press and so removing one of the difficulties which an author writing overseas has to encounter; also to my publishers for their courtesy and attention.James Sands Elliott. Wellington, New Zealand.January 5, 1914.CONTENTS.
- Page
- PREFACE. vii
- CONTENTS. ix
- ILLUSTRATIONS. xii
- CHAPTER I.
Early Roman Medicine. 1
- Origin of Healing
- Temples
- Lectisternium
- Temple of Æsculapius
- Archagathus
- Domestic Medicine
- Greek Doctors
- Cloaca Maxima
- Aqueducts
- State of the early Empire
- CHAPTER II.
Early Greek Medicine. 13
- Apollo
- Æsculapius
- Temples
- Serpents
- Gods of Health
- Melampus
- Homer
- Machaon
- Podalarius
- Temples of Æsculapius
- Methods of Treatment
- Gymnasia
- Classification of Renouard
- Pythagoras
- Democedes
- Greek Philosophers
- CHAPTER III.
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