For many centuries, in the culture of various peoples, medical knowledge was very basic and was associated with religion and magical practices.
Medicine was fundamentally of a practical nature, remedies were tried and the medical recommendations most of the time did not lead to a cure but to the death of the patient. Nowadays these treatments are considered absurd. However, some of them were considered effective by various cultures, and ended up becoming inspirations for some techniques used today.
In those days, it was believed that the illnesses were punishments sent by the gods or were evil spirits that had introduced themselves into the patient's body and could only abandon him through amulets, spells and rituals.
Much of the knowledge of that time has not reached our days because it has been lost over time, due to various factors such as bad weather, fire or war, which destroyed the places where knowledge was gathered, as happened with the disappearance of the Royal Library of Alexandria.
It is known that the fabulous Egyptian culture was very advanced and that it flourished for more than 3,000 years BC. The Ebers Papyrus (dated approximately 1550 BC), one of the oldest medical treatises that has survived until our days, mentions numerous diseases such as infections and dental caries, and also prescriptions, balms and other treatments that included fruits, honey, resins, incense and countless plants, as documented by some of the ancient herbaria found in archaeological excavations.
Dental prostheses and restorations were performed in some societies in antiquity. A human tooth was found in northern Italy, dating back about 14,000 years, with evidence that it had undergone treatment.
For tooth decay, Avicenna (ca 980-1037) recommended “burning a mixture of goat fat, henbane and onion around the patient”, while Pliny the Elder (23-79) suggested for toothaches “capturing a frog at midnight and spitting in its mouth, uttering ‘healing’ words”.
The Egyptian culture gave great importance to the existence of prostheses for the living, but mainly for the dead, as they assumed that after death the body should reach the afterword in a complete manner, accompanied by everything necessary for the journey.
Egyptian medicine was very developed, its practitioners had a huge notion about human anatomy, due to the practice of mummification. During the preparation of the bodies, they had the opportunity to analyse them. According to their presentation, they associated them with the diseases that people had suffered in life, which provided them with enough knowledge to practice the surgery, the drilling of skulls and the removal of tumours.
In order to treat mental illnesses, epileptic seizures and migraines, which were supposed to originate from demons and evil spirits that had got inside the patient, it was common to perform trepanation, which consisted of perforating the patient's skull.
Trepanation is considered the oldest surgical intervention. It is thought that it was already practiced in the Mesolithic period (10,000 BC), according to the human remains found. This practice was used at various times, from the pre-Hispanic American culture to the Renaissance period. However, we do not know if some of these patients survived this practice.
At the time of Hippocrates (460-370 BC) it was believed that epilepsy arose by the will of God. This Greek physician believed that this illness was caused by cold, sun or wind. In the Middle Ages, they suggested treating this disease with prayers and holy water.
In the mid-19th century, the swivel chair combined with “cold showers, laxatives, insulin coma therapy and frontal lobotomy” were used in the treatment of mental illnesses. The chair spun until the patients passed out. In this way, the patient was supposed to cure "schizophrenia and other mental illnesses by ‘shaking’ the contents of the brain".
Some information has come down to us about how “doctors” in antiquity anesthetized patients for the practice of surgery. In Mesopotamia, opium and alcohol were used, in ancient Egypt the anaesthesia used was produced “from the extract of mandrake fruits”, while in China and India cannabis, frankincense and aconite were used.
In order to perform surgeries to relieve the suffering of patients, several procedures were also used by some people, such as the "Partial Strangulation" method, obtained by asphyxiation until unconsciousness, at which time the surgeon intervened, the "Brain Concussion” obtained by hitting the patient's head with a piece of wood and with enough strength to break an almond, but without causing a fracture of the skull; compression of the carotids and jugular veins, compression of nerve roots, cold and “freezing of parts of the human body”.
Until the Middle Ages, the adequate form of many treatments to cure many of the illnesses was still unknown, as well as their conditioning factors. Surgery was only performed when the patient was in danger of death. The instruments used were very elementary and there was no proper hygiene.
In the treatment of diabetes, physical exercises and healing herbs were advised, but they quickly found that the patients did not get better and ended up dying. Also skin diseases like psoriasis were incurable and believed to be contagious. In this case, people suffering from this disease "had to use a bell to warn others that they were approaching".
Since ancient times, many diseases were treated through bloodletting, a method that has been used for many centuries.
This method consisted of placing leeches on the skin so they could “clean” the impurities. It was believed that “the blood contained malignant liquid which should be released for the cure of the sick”. This practice was initially carried out in Egypt and ancient Greece. This method, popular both in India and in Arab countries, was widely used by barbers during the Middle Ages. George Washington (1732-1799) was subjected to this method to cure the pneumonia he suffered from, which was ultimately the cause of his death.
In ancient times, in the field of obstetrics, women chose to give birth squatting or standing. In India, it was known how to turn the fetus when it was in an incorrect position to perform the birth. Tribes in Africa performed Caesarean sections with very rudimentary instruments.
Throughout the Middle Ages, there was a sharp setback in the knowledge of obstetrics. This was due to people ignoring the old information obtained during previous centuries, and to the fact that there was no development in this area under the influence of the Church, which resulted in a high number of deaths, both of new-borns and mothers during childbirth.
Prior to the invention of antibiotics (penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming), the fight against infections was carried out using remedies based on poisons from some plants and on toxins from snakes. Some researchers have now proven that these substances contain elements that “killed bacteria or had bactericidal effects”.
In the Middle Ages, dissected snakes and scorpions were added to the formulas of these remedies.
The development of the practice of healing had as one of its beginnings, the advanced knowledge in medicine left by various peoples such as the Egyptians. They were well acquainted with human anatomy. Plants were used to cure illnesses and the Romans also played a very important role in the classical era of medicine, with the invention of various instruments used in surgery, such as scalpels, scissors, tweezers or needles.
Hippocrates, considered the greatest critic of Modern Medicine, also disagreed with the concept of that time, that “only the gods were decisive for all causes of disease”. He dedicated himself to “studying the symptoms of diseases and their evolution in other patients”. Galen, author of more than 400 books, including 70 dedicated to Medicine, defended the study and observation of the environment and the relationship between human beings, as a way to identify the causes of illnesses related to physical problems, which also contributed to the development of Medicine.
Despite the development of some medicines in the Dark Ages, diseases were once again attributed to divine forces. At that time, the evolution of medicine was based on the knowledge left by the Persians, Arabs and Jews. Through their dedicated studies in the codification of Greek medicine and supported by Egyptian and Indian writings, they gave rise to some discoveries, such as the “contagious nature of infectious diseases; distinction between smallpox and measles, and allergic reactions”.
From the Renaissance onwards, the change in thinking (the idea that the cause of disease had a divine origin was abandoned) contributed to an enormous advance in medical knowledge in the following centuries. The 16th century saw the beginning of much more in-depth laboratory tests and an evolution in knowledge of both anatomy and surgery. In the 17th century, the discovery of the blood circulatory system by William Harvey revolutionized the concepts of anatomy, bringing other sciences such as Pharmacy or Biology to support Medicine. There was a broader "physiological knowledge that enabled diseases to be identified more accurately".
In the 19th century, the invention of the achromatic microscope made possible the identification of the bacteria causing several diseases and “the theory of germs developed by Pasteur”. In the 20th century, there was huge development in Medicine due to technological advances that contributed to the creation of equipment to diagnose diseases that had no curable treatment. At the end of the 19th century, the X-Ray was created under the responsibility of one of its creators, the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. This discovery has contributed especially to orthopaedic treatments, helping "to examine anatomical structures without having to perform invasive procedures on the patient".
At the beginning of the 20th century, Willem Einthoven invented the electrocardiogram device that allowed the study of the functioning of the cardiac muscle.
In 1972, the tomograph was created by Allan Cormack and Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield, and in the middle of the same decade, magnetic resonance equipment was invented by Edward Purcell and Felix Bloch. This device allowed the performance of examinations in humans, and more accurately diagnose various ailments.
This important device, in addition to providing internal images of the body with excellent spatial resolution, does not use ionizing radiation (potentially carcinogenic) in comparison with radiographs and CT scans.
With the use of telemedicine through information and communication technologies, it is possible to transmit and share information, documents, diagnoses or medical exams between health professionals who are in distant locations.
The first communications were made in the 19th century by telegraph and telephone. In the 20th century, telemedicine, taking advantage of the use of the internet, revolutionized communication in the medical universe. Currently, it is possible for a doctor to evaluate a patient wherever he is, guiding him and giving him indications in order to ensure that the disease does not progress.
In the last decade of the 20th century, the introduction of the most recent technological innovations (3D printing and robotics) and new digital resources caused a new evolution in Medicine. Robotic surgery, which aims to perform surgeries at a distance, even in very distant places, stands out. On the other hand, this brings huge advantages as machines are more accurate and are not influenced by various things such as tiredness or tremors.
Without all these great advances and technological innovations that have taken place in the last century, it would be very difficult to better understand the human body, carry out studies and research with the aim of creating new treatments, medicines, vaccines and other solutions that can respond to the various health issues. It also applies to the prevention of diseases, counteracting the risk of death, increasing the longevity and quality of life of human beings.
References:
- 5 tratamentos bizarros que a medicina antiga considerava como eficazes. Available at: https://www.megacurioso.com.br/medicina-e-psicologia/69535-5-tratamentos-bizarros-que-a-medicina-antiga-considerava-como-eficazes.htm. [Retrieved on 11-09-2021]
- Como se deu a evolução da Medicina ao longo dos anos? Available at: https://medicina.ucpel.edu.br/blog/evolucao-da-medicina/. [Retrieved on 11-09-2021]
- Conheça a história da medicina e sua evolução ao longo dos anos. Available at: https://www.ceen.com.br/conheca-a-historia-da-medicina-e-sua-evolucao-ao-longo-dos-anos/. [Retrieved on 11-09-2021]
- As práticas médicas do Egito Antigo que são usadas até hoje. Available at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-40634202. [Retrieved on 11-09-2021]
- 7 tratamentos médicos estranhos que ficaram no passado. Available at: https://incrivel.club/criatividade-saude/8-tratamentos-medicos-antigos-que-devem-ficar-no-passado-para-sempre-332610/. [Retrieved on 11-09-2021]
Lurdes Barata
Library and Information Area
Editorial Team
