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Medicine today is an integral part of our lives. When we are ill we hastily call our family doctor, go to the drugstore to purchase the pills we need and if something is radically wrong with us get a sick leave to be able to stay at home and get better. Have you ever imagined that things were not always like that? Here are some interesting facts about the development and major types of contemporary medicine.

The word medicine comes from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine these days is a totally scienctific activity, but you should also know that it is a sort of art - the art of healing humans. The main functions of present-day medicine is supporting and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of different health disorders. Conventional medicine sprang up as numerous healing arts and systems based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.

By the way, complementary medicine today has a definite power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes conventional medicine is powerless to cure many terrible diseases 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 diseases and injuries and at prescribing medications and medical handling able to abate the patient’s pain and tribulation. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the health problem starts. On the contrary, complementary medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you keep inside you alongside with negative emotions you have daily stain your soul, litter your head and destroy your body.

Unlike unsystematic approaches of healers, contemporary medicine is empoweredl with health science, biomedical research and medical technology - it can diagnose and manage injuries and diseases of all kinds. As a rule it applies medication, surgery and some other forms of therapy. The main part of MDs try to remember how essential it is for the ill patient to feel care and compassion, to have a personal contact with the doctor, 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 treat various health problems. It was not the knowledge for everyone - priests, shamans, healers and medicine men treated them as 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 individuals tried to help others in getting well! Imhotep is the first name of the physician preserved in the history of medicine. He was an Egyptian and lived about 3rd millennium BC! The stunning fact is that ancient texts and encryptions tell us that so long ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals these days) and numerous surgical operations including aesthetic surgery!

You surely know that ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates is believed to be “the father of medicine” for building 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 categorize health troubles as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, contemporary physicians use many special words invented by Hippocrates - relapse, resolution, paroxysm, peak, exacerbation, crisis, convalescence are only a few of them!

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

Medical science returned to Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries when devastating bubonic plague ravaged Europe killing up to 30-60% of its population. This incredibly dangerous pandemic made doctors forget about the ‘traditional authority’ approach to science and medicine and seek new decisions. Physicians like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job developing or criticizing numerous approaches from the past.

But the new age of medicine launched in the 18th century when Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical investigation has become one of the main 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 stream of medical events and investigations. It is impossible to enumerate all the outstanding doctors whose innovations and experiments resulted in new treatments and the use of revolutionary drugs!

Present-day pharmacology inherited the ancient knowledge of herbalism and incorporated many ideas of the chemistry, but nevertheless, a long list of drugs are still derived from plants. For example atropine used in ophthalmology and gastroenterology, ephedrine effective for humans 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 drugs reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new medications are designed for full 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 rx and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality discount medications available. You can chose to buy brand medicines or generic meds. 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 systems its major purpose is sharing information and clinical experience. The point is 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 activity where doctors face patients to examine, diagnose and handle them. So, as you realize the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a standard practitioner at all! When you call a practitioner the standard procedure is like that:
- it begins 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 essential for the doctor to know every truthful detail and symptom - otherwise normal diagnosing is impossible! Forget about being shy or squeamish when you visit your practitioner - tell him or her everything that you find unusual 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 get a sick leave if the issue is simple and take the drugs prescribed by your medical man. Serious cases may take weeks and several specialists to cope with and the patient is likely to be hospitalized.

Medicine these days is a part of health care system of each powerful country. It is important to ensure that every man or woman has access to medical care irrespective of the patient’s ability to pay for the service. That is why it is so essential to support 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 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 men and women. 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 MD fails to use all his or her possibilities to help the patient, if he or she is careless or intentionally harmful, this doc can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when medical men were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule humans decide to be doctors because it is their vocation! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with ill and unbearable patients for all the professional life!