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Medicine today is an imprescriptible part of our lives. When we are sick we hastily call the ambulance, go to the drugstore to buy the meds we require and if something is radically wrong with us get 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 stunning facts about the development and main kinds of up-to-date medicine.

The word medicine is derived from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine now is a profoundly scienctific activity, but you should also know that it is a type of art - the art of curing humans. The main functions of modern medicine is supporting and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of different health problems. Usual medicine started as a number of healing arts and techniques based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.

By the way, complementary medicine today has a certain power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes conventional medicine is unable to cure many terrible diseases and injuries such as cancers, diabetes, AIDS, autoimmune diseases, spinal injuries etc. The point is conventional medicine is perfect at finding out symptoms characteristic for definite illnesses and injuries and at prescribing medications and medical procedures able to lessen the patient’s pain and tribulation. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the health disorder starts. On the contrary, alternative medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you hide inside you alongside with negative emotions you face daily hurt your soul, litter your head and destroy your body.

Unlike unsystematic approaches of healers, modern medicine is equipped with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and handle injuries and diseases of all types. traditionally it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The bulk of docs try to remember how essential it is for the ill personality to feel care and compassion, to have a face-to-face contact with the physician, that is why they follow the strict set of rules known as bedside manner.

Many millennia ago our ancestores noticed that certain plants, animal parts and minerals help healing injuries and wounds and overcome different health disorders. 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 humans 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 fascinating fact is that ancient texts and encryptions tell us that many centuries ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals today) and numerous surgical operations including plastic surgery!

You surely know that ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is said to be “the father of medicine” for sticking to rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates invented the famous Hippocratic Oath for medical people. Believe it or not, it is still in use today, as relevant and wise as ever before! What is more, Hippocrates managed to perceive health issues as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, contemporary practitioners use many special words proposed by Hippocrates - relapse, resolution, paroxysm, peak, exacerbation, crisis, convalescence are only a few of them!

Surprisingly, the Western world did not develop prominent ideas of ancient practitioners after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the onset of the Dark Ages. Eastern world, on the contrary, kept and developed the Greek and Roman tradition in medicine. A notable Islamic medical man who made a great contribution to medicine, was Avicenna. He created the famous Cannon of Medicine.

Medical science interested Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries when awful Black Death 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 search for new ways out. Practitioners like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job supporting or criticizing many approaches from the past.

But the new age of medicine started in the 18th century when Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical research has become one of the major proofs in medicine, while ancient traditions started fading. Around 1880 Robert Koch deciphered 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 hard to enumerate all the talented medical people whose research and experiments led to new treatments and the use of revolutionary meds!

Modern pharmacology inherited the ancient knowledge of herbalism and incorporated a number of ideas of the chemistry, but nevertheless, a long list of pills are still derived from plants. For example atropine used in ophthalmology and gastroenterology, ephedrine effective for individuals 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 people are received from plants. But the technology applied today is brand new! A number of meds reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new meds are designed for absolute compatibility with a human body!

Today you don’t even have to queue up in the waiting room to get your prescription. You can easily find a good online pharmacy no prescription necessary and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality cheapest medications available. You can chose to buy brand medicines or generic medicines. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic medication is much more lower.

Contemporary medicine can be named an evidence-based science, and unlike it was in ancient healing techniques its major purpose is exchanging information and clinical experience. The fact ramains that the ‘best practice’ approaches tend to stifle 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 face patients to examine, diagnose and treat them. So, as you realize the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a typical practitioner at all! When you make an appointment with a physician the standard procedure is like that:
- it starts with studying the patient’s medical history; then follows 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, bear in mind, it is very important for the doctor to know every truthful detail and symptom - otherwise normal diagnosing is impossible! Forget about being shy or squeamish when you see your MD - tell him or her everything that you find strange and alarming - 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 treatment depends on the case. You stay at home if the case is simple and take the medications prescribed by your physician. 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 person has access to medical care irrespective of the individual’s ability to pay for the service. That is why it is so important to establish state-owned and charitable hospitals and clinics.

The medical personnel consist not only of docs. Well-trained nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians help their individuals go the whole way through his or her case and get well 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 people. 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 doc fails to use all his or her possibilities to help the patient, if he or she is negligent or intentionally harmful, this medical man can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when MDs were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule persons decide to be doctors because it is their calling! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with ill and unbearable patients for all the professional life!