Medicine As A Body Of Knowledge

The Greeks went even further, introducing the concepts of medical diagnosis, prognosis, and advanced medical ethics. The Hippocratic Oath, still taken by doctors up to today, was written in Greece in the 5th century BCE. The germ theory of disease in the 19th century led to cures for many infectious diseases. Public health measures were developed especially in the 19th century as the rapid growth of cities required systematic sanitary measures. Advanced research centers opened in the early 20th century, mid-20th century was characterized by new biological treatments, such as antibiotics. These advancements, along with developments in chemistry, genetics, and lab technology led to modern medicine. Medicine was heavily professionalized in the 20th century, and new careers opened to women as nurses and as physicians. The 21st century is characterized by highly advanced research involving numerous fields of science.

The bio-medical model of ill health has been at the forefront of western medicine since the end of the eighteenth century and grew stronger with the progress in modern science. This model underpinned the medical training of doctors. Traditionally medicine had relied on folk remedies passed down from generations and ill health was surrounded in superstition and religious lore with sin and evil spirits as the culprit and root of ill health. The emergence of scientific thinking questioned the traditional religious view of the world and is linked to the progress in medical practice and the rise of the biomedical model. Social and historical events and circumstances were an important factor in its development as explanations about disease

Healthcare, and Medicine is advancing more and more each day. As healthcare workers, our understanding of health and healing has improved and changed in the way we care for our patients. Dossey believed in the three eras of medicine. Era 1 began in the 1800s and its focus was solely on the body. The belief that healing and overall health are totally physical. The therapies and treatment were either medications or surgical procedures. The thought that healing all humans based on bodily functions, and how they can be treated will change as time changes. Era 2 began in the 1950s and it focused on the mind and body. Health care providers realized that

During the 18th Century, medicines were considered a trial and error methodology. If chemists were mixing concoctions in their man made labs, doctors theorized the treatment of a particular diagnosis. In the journal Two Centuries of American Medicine written in 1976, authors Bordley and Saunders wrote “Tinctures, poultices, soups, and teas were made with water- or alcohol-based extracts of freshly ground or dried

Nowadays, medicine is tested and approved before it hits the market. Back in the days a person would pass treatments through word of mouth and could seriously injure or make the disease worse. People in historical times would believe that illnesses involved certain spiritual, psychological and social aspects of a person. This was back in the time where there was no scientific evidence that traditional medicine could aid an affected person. Traditional medicine has been around much longer than modern medicine and they were an important part of recorded history. People back in the old days had to dispel and challenge folklore with scientific evidence. Doctors back in the old days had to not only find a way to dispel folklore, but also get ordinary people to listen to them and to help them believe in their practices. Without all of these people, medicine would be nowhere near as it is

Another popular type treatment modality is that from ERA I, the biomedical model of care. This model is known to be one of the oldest and most popular types; Biomedicine achieved its success by combating infectious disease promoting healthy child birth and child care and developing new surgical techniques. It works in treating the problem. Diseases are explained as abnormalities of genes caused by some sort of dysfunction. Once diagnosed treatment follows either by repairing, removing, attacking or modifying the problem. The biomedical model of illness and healing focuses purely on biological factors and excludes psychological environmental and social on goings in a patient’s life. In this model each illness had one underlying cause and once that is removed the patient will be healthy again. (Williams, 2014)

Guidance on a treatment is important but more is required to achieve high quality care and effectiveness, such as the patients physical, psychological and social assessment. A good thorough patient assessment is crucial as it helps with finding the right treatment for the patient and increases patient participation. Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) can be defined as the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care (Sackett et al, 2000). Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is a practice which requires that decisions about health care are based on the best available, current, valid and relevant evidence and the decisions should be made by those receiving the care and those providing the care (Dawes M. et al, 2005). Professions such as Physiotherapists use Evidence Based Practice as an aid when it comes to choosing the correct and

The practice of medicine has been shaped through the years by advances in the area of diagnostic procedures. Many of these advances were made possible by scientific breakthroughs made before the 20th century. Modern medicine arguably emerged. Both normal and abnormal functions (physiology and pathology) were increasingly understood within smaller units, first the tissues and then the cells. Microscopy also played a key role in the development of bacteriology. Physicians started to use stethoscope as an aid in diagnosing certain diseases and conditions. New ways of diagnosing disease were developed, and surgery emerged as an important branch of medicine. Above all, a combination of science and technology underpinned medical knowledge and

Medicine has come a long way from the Greek period. Theories composed of the four elements were used to explain the sick phenomenon that happens to our bodies. Many of the those theories are not relevant as of now. Medicine and remedies has begun with the Earth, providing all types of compounds and

Great post Danielle, Evidence based medicine provides the best patient outcome, and It is a guide that prevents providers from ordering unnecessary treatments. Due to the frequent changes in healthcare, providers needs to stay current, and the best way to do that is to adopt the evidence-based practice. Clinicians can be misled into bad practice; when they adopt medical practices that are based on expert opinion (Mayer, 2006). Evidence-based practice will prevent them from such practices; they will assess the evidence and decide whether it would benefit the patient or not. Also, the patient can participate in the decision-making process.

Human beings are aware and observational creatures. Once confronted with an issue, they often find a solution that relates to their observations and understandings of how something works. This technique commonly pertains to the practice of medicine. In ancient Greece, each observation about health of the body completely shaped the treatment of patients by physicians. Additionally, these ideas went into common practices used in the general maintenance of health.

Hippocrates, often referred to as the "father of western medicine", promoted wine as part of a healthy diet. He also claimed that wine was good for disinfecting wounds, as well as a liquid in which medications could be mixed and taken more easily by patients” Norquist, (2016). Hippocrates similarly used wine to relieve mothers in childbirth pain and to cure lethargy. The delivery of medicine was being explored during this time period and any medication in liquid form was sought after.

Many ancient civilizations, such as the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians, pushed medical knowledge forward until the Middle Ages, when medical knowledge was believed to have slowed down. However, that is not the case. The Middle Ages were a time of change and improvement, they shaped the modern world. The Middle Ages revolutionized medical practices, physicians linked filth to the spread of disease, many practical diagnoses and treatments for common illnesses were discovered, and medical training programs in universities became well established.

The complex structure and foreign nature of Tibetan medicine makes it difficult to relate its practices to Western medicine, making it difficult to determine the clinical efficacy of Eastern medical practice. Several clinical analysis studies have recently been performed in order to determine the efficacy of the “holistic” practices of Eastern cultures. Whether the studies show Eastern or Western practices to be more effective, I believe that the most effective treatment should be a combination of both practices.

Mukherjee (2015) talks about the three laws of medicine however these are his personal laws that may or may not be followed by other health professionals. He explains each law that he had learned through personal experiences with patients. The first law is ‘A strong intuition is much more powerful than a weak test,’ explains that there may be some hidden variable when diagnosing a patient that could be crucial in life or death situations. A variable could be the environment that a person lives in or their lifestyle and this chapter notes to know when to look for small clues that could possibly help. The second law is ‘”Normals” teach us rules; “outliers” teach us laws, ' talks about how normal cases teach and build the rules of what should be done on a regular basis of patients, what is normal. Outliers are the cases where it may untreatable but has the chance to reshape and even advance medicine. The third law is 'For every perfect medical experiment, there is a perfect human bias, ' talks about how we hope for a medical treatment that can help treat a disease but it is biased because it either works or doesn’t work despite a few anomalies. These are laws Mukherjee has learned from experience and applies throughout his career, they may not be followed by all health practitioners.