Prehistoric Medicine Essay Example for Free

Prehistoric Medicine EssayThey used herbalism the practise of using herbs to heal people. In each tribe there were shamans who would exorcise ill people demons and apothecary. They had medicine men who were shamans and witch-doctors. They would provide supernatural treatments like charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits. If mortal was ill the medicine man would initiate a ceremony over the patient where they would use magic formulas prayers and drumming. People thought that the medicine men could conform to the spirits or Gods so people looked up to them. They used healing clays to heal their internal and external wounds and just after surgery. Prehistoric people besides used trepanning mainly in Peru. This was when they would drill a hole in a persons skull to relieve pressure. It was mainly done as an unavoidableness operation after a head wound to remove shattered bits of bone. They believed it would treat epileptic seizures, migraines and mental disorders. Th ey would keep the bit of skull around their neck as they thought it would ward off evil spirits. Nowadays people use a modernised trephine instrument in a corneal transport surgery.Early medicine for Greeks and RomansHippocratesBorn 470 BCE Father of Modern Medicine He had a theory of the 4 humours. He thought that the human body contained 4 important liquids called humours. They thought if the humours became unbalanced then people would become ill. The 4 humours were black bile, yellow bile blood and phlegm. His theory was wrong but it was a breakthrough in medicine because it made people think that infirmity was caused by something natural inside your body instead of the Greek Gods. Quote from a book in the Hippocratic Collection of books Mans bodyhas blood, phlegm, yellow bile and melancholy (black) bile. These make up his parts and through them he feels illness or enjoys health. When all these elements are truly balanced and mingled, he feels the most perfect health. Illness o ccurs when one of these humours is in excess or is decrease in amount or is entirely thrown out of the body.Hippocrates invented the Hippocratic Oath which was taken by all physicians this is still in use today.Herophilus He was the 1st anatomist. He introduced the experimental method to science. He discovered that the brain controls how the body works, not the heart by dissecting human bodies. He also place parts of the stomach. He did a lot of work on nerves.Claudius GalenHe was the Roman Emperors doctor. Galens work was based on the Hippocratic Collection. He was one of the Great surgeons of the ancient world. He added his own theory to the 4 humours theory. He developed a theory called the treatment of opposites. So if an illness was caused by heat he would cool them down and vice versa. Galen also emphasized the importance of clinical observation and would take detailed notes on his tryout of his patients. He was one of the 1st physicians who used experiments in his medical i nvestigation. Through that he proved that urine was formed in the kidney as opposed to the bladder. His most important discovery was that the arteries carried blood but he never discovered circulation.