When you really need them, they are always there for you - conventional medicine and alternative medicine walking hand in hand
Medicine today is an integral part of our lives. When we are sick we hastily call our doc, go to the chemistry to get the medicines we need and if something is radically wrong with us receive a sick leave to be able to stay at home and get better. Have you ever thought that things were not always like that? Here are some stunning facts about the development and main types of present-day medicine.
The word medicine comes from the Latin “ars medicina”, meaning “the art of healing”. Medicine today is a profoundly scienctific activity, but you should also know that it is a sort of art - the art of curing humans. The major tasks of up-to-date medicine is maintaining and restoring health by means of prevention and treatment of different health troubles. Mainstream medicine sprang up as a number of healing arts and techniques based on traditional story-told non-scientific practices.
By the way, alternative medicine today has a definite power, too. Why, you might ask? You see, sometimes traditional medicine is powerless to cure a number of awful diseases and injuries such as cancers, diabetes, AIDS, autoimmune diseases, spinal injuries etc. The point is traditional medicine is perfect at finding out symptoms typical for certain illnesses and injuries and at prescribing meds and medical procedures able to abate the patient’s pain and tribulation. But often it is unable of finding the reason why the health disorder breaks out. On the contrary, complementary medicine still remembers that we possess intellect, body and soul. Anger and hate that you hide inside you alongside with negative emotions you have daily hurt your soul, stuff up your head and crush your body.
Unlike chaotic approaches of healers, contemporary medicine is equipped 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 bulk of practitioners try to remember how essential it is for the ill patient to feel care and compassion, to have a personal contact with the medical man, 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 issues. It was not the knowledge for everyone - priests, shamans, healers and medicine men treated them as purely magical substances.
From ancient records we learn 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 doctor 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 many centuries ago there were dedicated medicinal treatment facilities for patients (like hospitals today) and numerous surgical operations including cosmetic surgery!
You surely know that ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is believed to be “the father of medicine” for sticking to rational approach to medicine. Hippocrates wrote 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 illnesses as acute, chronic, endemic and epidemic. In addition to it, present-day medical men use numerous special words proposed by Hippocrates - relapse, resolution, paroxysm, peak, exacerbation, crisis, convalescence are only a few of them!
Surprisingly, the Western world did not support outstanding 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 developed the Greek and Roman ways in medicine. A notable Islamic doctor who made a great contribution to medicine, was Avicenna. He wrote the famous Cannon of Medicine.
Medical science interested Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries when deadly bubonic plague ravaged Europe killing up to 30-60% of its population. This awful pandemic made physicians reject the ‘traditional authority’ approach to science and medicine and seek new ways out. Practitioners like Ibn al-Nafis and Vesalius did a great job supporting or criticizing numerous approaches from the past.
But the new era of medicine began in the 18th century when Edward Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine. Since then biomedical investigation has become one of the major proofs in medicine, while ancient traditions started fading. Around 1880 Robert Koch discovered the transmission of illnesses by bacteria and soon in 1908 Paul Ehrlich discovered the first antibiotics.
The 20th century was a real parade of medical events and investigations. It is hard to enumerate all the prominent medical people whose innovations and experiments resulted in new treatments and the use of revolutionary medicines!
Present-day pharmacology inherited the old knowledge of herbalism and incorporated numerous ideas of the chemistry, but all the same, a long list of meds are still derived from plants. For example atropine used in ophthalmology and gastroenterology, ephedrine effective for patients 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 patients are received from plants. But the technology applied today is brand new! A number of medicines reduced their side-effects due to innovative ways of production and what is more, new drugs are designed for complete 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 drugstore no prescription necessary and enjoy immaculate support team and swift service! All you have to do is to orders high-quality discount drugs available. You can chose to purchase brand medicines or generic meds. They share the same formula and are equally effective, but the price of any generic pill is much more lower.
Modern medicine can be named an evidence-based science, and unlike it was in ancient healing systems its major purpose is exchanging information and clinical experience. The point is that the ‘best practice’ approaches tend to suppress new ideas of treatment, that is why there numerous systematic medical reviews available.
Contemporary medicine is first of all the practice where doctors meet patients to examine, diagnose and treat them. So, as you realize the famous TV diagnostic genius Gregory House is not a standard practitioner at all! When you see a doc the standard procedure is like that:
- it starts with studying the patient’s medical history; then goes 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 right diagnosing is impossible! Forget about being shy or squeamish when you see your medical man - tell him or her everything that you find strange and suspicious - 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 issue is simple and take the medications prescribed by your doctor. 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 important to ensure that every patient has access to medical care irrespective of the personality’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 medical men. Well-trained nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians help their humans go the whole way through his or her case and recover 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 humans. That is exactly why medical specialty in universities should meet the highest standards of education achievable! 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 start medical practice. If the MD fails to use all his or her possibilities to help the patient, if he or she is careless or deliberately harmful, this medical man can be charged of medical malpractice. You can find many cases when practitioners were subjects to professional, civil or criminal sanctions. Fortunately, cases like that are seldom and as a rule men and women choose to be doctors because it is their calling! Who else but a willing creature agrees to deal with sick and unbearable patients for all the professional life!
Tags: Alternative Medicine, cheap drugs, conventional medicine, reliable online pharmacy