History
of Medicine / Online Action Books
Our
understanding of prehistoric medical practice is from the study of ancient pictographs
that show medical procedures, as well as the surgical tools uncovered from anthropological
sites of ancient societies.
Serious diseases were of primary interest
to early humans, although they were not able to treat them effectively. Many diseases
were attributed to the influence of malevolent demons who were believed to project
an alien spirit, a stone, or a worm into the body of the unsuspecting patient.
These diseases were warded off by incantations, dancing, magic charms and talismans,
and various other measures. If the demon managed to enter the body of its victim,
either in the absence of such precautions or despite them, efforts were made to
make the body uninhabitable to the demon by beating, torturing, and starving the
patient. The alien spirit could also be expelled by potions that caused violent
vomiting, or could be driven out through a hole cut in the skull. This procedure,
called trepanning, was also a remedy for insanity, epilepsy, and headache. Surgical
procedures practiced in ancient societies included cleaning and treating wounds
by cautery (burning or searing tissue), poultices, and sutures, resetting dislocations
and fractures, and using splints to support or immobilize broken bones. Additional
therapy included laxatives and enemas to treat constipation and other digestive
ills. Perhaps the greatest success was achieved by the discovery of the narcotic
and stimulating properties of certain plant extracts. So successful were these
that many continue to be used today, including digitalis, a heart stimulant extracted
from foxglove. Several systems of medicine, based primarily
on magic, folk remedies, and elementary surgery, existed in various diverse societies
before the coming of the more advanced Greek medicine about the 6th century bc. |
