The History of Medical Sciences
"Hypocretys" was the first man to sow the seeds of modern medical sciences.But, he could not understand the need of drugs in treating an ailment .What he suggested were all about natural tips.But this could not serve the need of mankind for a long time. In those days , Rome was very prosperous in terms of every aspect. So, a trend was noticed among the intellectuals to get settled in Rome.In this way doctors from the countries like Greece, Alexandria and Rome all gathered in Rome. They exchanged each other’s views and a new world to medicine opened to menthe views of all these doctors of that time were put in words for the first time by the court physician of the then king Nyro , Dyokrydis in a book called “Meteria Medica”. That book contained about the good and bad effects of all the medicines that were in use those days.
Galen did the critical analysis of that book, "Meteria Medica" Galen’s views were opposed by a very proud professor Paracelsus. He for the first time introduced the use of chemical substances in preparing drugs.Galen said that if any medicine causes loose motion then it would definitely be the cure for constipation.Paracelcus opposed. He said that the drug that causes fever is the cure for fever.That view of Paracelcus was first experimented by Haniman. He invented a new branch of medical studies called homeopathy .In this branch of medical study two opinions of Paracelcus were considered :
- The drug that causes an illness is the means of cure for the same. “Symilia Symilibs Curanter”.
- The stars lay emphasis on the drugs used to cure an illness “Doctrine of Signatures” e.g., the body part that looks like the roots of an orchid , any illness in that part could be cured by the drugs made from the orchid roots.
The third view of Haniman was “Dissymmetry” i.e.,the dose of a drug is inversely proportional to its curing capabilities. The other doctors (whom Haniman named as Allopaths) who used to think Haniman’s drugs to be nothing other than water were astonished by seeing that they were actually useful to cure diseases while theirs were not being successful .From that realization actually started pharmacology, the study of proportion of a drug needed in order to cure a disease.
In the mean time doctors noticed that phenomenon of transmission of diseases among human beings This question was answered by the discovery of microscope by Luenhayek. He for the first time observed the presence of various microorganisms , under his microscope. After this discovery Louis Pasteur started working with yeast.He observed that yeasts and various other micro organisms are responsible for rottening of things.Since Pasteur was not a doctor , he could not understand the significance of his discovery in medical science.
Reading Pasteur’s journal a professor surgery Lyster understood the reasons behind the rottening of human bodies after surgery.He showed that this could be prevented by killing harmful micro organisms by using carbolic acid.Nowadays surgery has quite advanced and now sterilization is in use to kill germs.This step of Lyster took Pasteur away from the path of chemistry to medicine.Further he discovered the bacteria causing cholera in fouls , he also invented the vaccine for anthrax. And in this way brought about revolution in medical science.
After that a German scientist Robert Cokh detected the bacteria causing tuberculosis, and cholera. Cokh found the choleral bacteria while working with the pathology department in Calcutta Medical College. Paul Elyrkh found out the method of staining in detecting bacteria. He introduced the procedure of killing a harmful virus or bacteria inside the human body by injecting another such thing inside the body. He invented the vaccine for syphilis and named it as 606 magic bullet “salverson.” Inspired by the works of Elyrkh a professor of medicine of our country Upendranath Brahmachari invented the drugs antimonial tartaret and urea stybamine for kalaazar.
Using Elyrkh’s staining process a European ,Garhard Domeg made “prontcyl” from red stain. From this the “sulpha” family of drugs were introduced.Prontcyl started working miraculously on bacteria like streptococcas .Prontcyl had various side effects so it was replaced by sulphapyridine, sulphadyogiene, sulphagoyanidin, etc.
After almost seven years of Domeg’s work professor Alexander Flamming discovered penicillium notatum and from that the wonder drug penicillin came into being.This was the first anti-biotic ever made.It was named anti-biotic as it could fight the living micro organisms.After that , other antibiotics like streptomycin for tuberculosis chlorophenicol for typhoid were made. Then came more advanced drugs like P-amino salicylic acid, isonyazide etc. that saved mankind from the clutches of the tuberculosis. The success story of medical science is still continuing. Yet man has to find useful drugs to do away with diseases like cancer , AIDS, etc.Yet we have along way to go.