Medicine, History of

Primitive, Ancient, and Modern Medicine

The word medicine is derived from the Latin word medicus, meaning “physician,” and the feminine declension medicinus, which means “of a doctor.” However, the actual definition of what medicine is has changed as our civilization itself has developed through time.

Medicine in its primitive form could be defined as a ritual practice, sometimes involving a sacred object that a society believes capable of controlling natural or supernatural powers that act as a form of prevention or remedy for physical ailments. This could involve the use of herbs, potions, prayers, or incantations and was usually performed by a specialized member of a society—a shaman or medicine man. These individuals held special status in their societies for their apparent ability to heal. It should also be noted that even though herbs and potions may have been believed to have supernatural effects by those giving and taking them, some of these herbs and potions did have potent pharmacological effects that were not understood as such until the modern era.

Evidence of prehistoric surgical procedures has been found, most notably for trepanation, a process in which a hole is drilled into the skull, evidently for therapeutic purposes. Trepanation is believed to be one of the oldest invasive surgical procedures, and without any doubt it is one of the first neurosurgical procedures. Evidence on prehistoric human skulls and in cave paintings of the Neolithic era (8500 BCE) establishes that this procedure was in fact practiced widely, most likely with the intent to cure aliments such as headaches, seizures, and possibly psychiatric disorders.

Some of the first evidence of ancient medical information and texts can be found in ancient Egypt in the so-called Edwin Smith papyrus, which has been dated to around 3000 BCE. This scroll is also believed to be one of the first ancient textbooks that illustrates in detail the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of a large number of physical ailments. There is evidence of what are believed to be the first surgeries performed in manuscripts from 2750 BCE (250 years after the Edwin Smith papyrus is dated).

In ancient Greece and in early Europe, a natural system of medicine was devised that was called humoral medicine. Hippocrates is often credited with innovating this system, but it was actually derived from Pythagoras's idea of humoral medicine, which was based on the treatment of a patient by balancing what were called the four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. An imbalance in any of these four humors is what was believed to cause physical ailments. (Pythagoras's [Page 843]four humors were influenced in turn by Empedocles's “four elements.”)

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