Medicine, A Pan-Historical, Pan-Cultural Science-Juniper Publishers
JUNIPER PUBLISHERS-OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY &
CARDIOVASCULAR THERAPY
Health is not just the lack of disease or disability,
it is a human right. The pursue of health reveals our constant struggle
that derives from our human nature; that is the battle against death.
Health in the terms of wellbeing, from the ancient times, has been
related with a sound mind, body and psyche. As such medicine lies in the
heart of human effort not only for physical, mental, and social
well-being but also to understand nature. In the face of this science
philosophers, scholars, professionals, researchers, and not only, have
been always joining forces in the name of its progress regardless their
religion, culture, and geography; creating a unique pan-historical and
pan-cultural science, nowadays moving on the path to become also a
science free of geographical barriers.
Introduction
Hopefully we are all well aware that health is not
simply the lack of disease or disability, but can be defined as a
condition of full physical, mental, and social well-being. Timeless is
the tendency of humankind to combat disease, a reaction that stems from
self-preservation instinct, and enjoy health and longevity. In the
“heart” of health lies medicine; a science that, from the era of
Hippocrates (and not only), among others father of medicine, unites
people under a common goal.
Medicine is both a broad science and a personal art
at the same time. From the magical invocations of the primitive man
towards some higher force to its present time form of a systematic
scientific methodology aimed to restore the balance between an
individual’s internal and external environment, medicine has been
characterized, amongst others, by the constant observation of the
various functions of the body and the mind as well as people’s awe at
disease. Just like with most scientific directions, the foundations of
modern medical thought were established in ancient times, within the
restless spirit of the Ancient Greek thought. Let’s not forget that many
terms used until today in medicine also derive from Greek words. eg.
Cardiovascular from cardio (from Greek kardia/καρδιά=heart) + vascular.
Of course, integrated therapeutic systems were developed not only in
Greece, but within the framework of other great civilizations, and are
still evolving until today with the contribution of the entire medical
community.
The history of medicine is pretty long and remarkable
as since the dawn of humanity, there has had to be a way to cure the
sick from all kinds of ailment or disease, and comfort a troubling body
or mind. Inevitably when we talk about ancient medicine in particular,
there are at least five countries to be mentioned, China, Egypt, Greece,
India and Iran; the presentation is done alphabetically as to not
comment on which country offered the most important contribution. A
contribution not done only by men, as most thinks, but also from women.
Medicine is at least one scientific field where all
humanity is united in the name of its progress; the mindset of the
entire medical community could be characterized as set in the new step,
the new discovery, the new piece of information. It surpasses sex,
political borders and religious relations, although religious beliefs
influence medical decisions and at times may conflict with medical care
[1], as it is a body of knowledge that benefits all people. This science
stands alone as the field that is in a constant state of progress, a
field that always moves forward, and if the medical field sometimes
looks in the past, it is to find answers based on previous knowledge.
Current medicine is a one
of a kind field were all mankind unites, medicinal researchers
of all nationalities are cooperating with each other and new
information are in constant flow.
In ancient times, the various traditional medicines of
different countries may have shared similarities, as dealing
with the same diseases, but at the same time were separated
by fundamental philosophical differences. Each culture had
its very own approach towards what illness is, how diagnosis
and treatment should be done, its very own beliefs and points
of view. Western medicine and Easter approach today, or to
the untrained eye, seems different from each other, however
if we take a look to the traditional medical systems of various
countries (or at least of the five mentioned above) we will see
the similarities in their holistic approach, the exchange of ideas
will be revealed to us, and we could be astounded by the volume
of communication between practitioners. After all, ideas and
practices in the past traveled much more than we tend to believe
today. In the past the scientists of Islam, for instance, got many
ideas from Greece and India, they combined and evolved them,
and now, modern medicine owes a lot to the work of Islam’s
doctors, that still applies.
Current examples vary from providing telemedicine services
in conflict areas, to the case of Pharmacogenomics, the promising
field of personalized treatment for patients suffering from many
common diseases, and as action taken by initiative, mentioned
by Mitropoulos K et al. [2], to disseminate the knowledge or the
resources to individualize drug therapy globally [3-5].
Medicine has had a long history; it is a science evolving for
many years and still is in a constant move forward. Of course
there have been cases in the past where medicine has used to
evolve findings of research that has been done under, to say at
least, unclear situations; but these are just some isolated cases.
However this element will be tackled in future work.
Medicine is not just a scientific field but the “idea” of a “higher
purpose” that unites all under a common umbrella. People have
been, and are still being collaborating leaving their differences
on the side, focusing on the common ground, and now with
the evolution of technology they are also breaking down the
geographical barriers.
For more articles in Open Access Journal of
Cardiology & Cardiovascular Therapy please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/jocct/index.php
Comments
Post a Comment