History of Medicine

 I read the book Empire of the Scapel recently.  As far back as 2600 B.C. the Egyptian Imhotep described the diagnosis and treatment of 200 diseases.  For the next several thousand years, medicine progressed, but slowly.  The first known anatomy book was written by Diocles in 300 B.C.  Hippocrates was born in 460 B.C.  So began the scientific study of medicine.  Hundreds of years elapsed between major scientific achievements.

In 910 Persian physician Rhazes identifies smallpox.  The first smallpox inoculations weren't until 1701!  One of the great achievements in science was the discovery of the anesthetic properties  of nitrous oxide.  This was in 1846, and it changed medicine, in a good way.  Surgeries could finally be done without terrible pain and suffering to the patient.  Soon after, Louis Pasteur identifies germs as the cause of disease.  In 1879 the first vaccine for cholera was developed.  Many other vaccines were discovered in the late 19th century, including vaccines for anthrax, rabies (both developed by Louis Pasteur), tetanus and diptheria, and typhoid fever.  

It wasn't until 1928 that penicillin was developed by Alexander Fleming.  This was a landmark development, as now patients could both go through surgery without any extreme discomfort, and not worry about infection, as they had in the past.  But it is the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century where progress in medicine moved at lightning speed.

Vaccines were developed for all the childhood diseases during the 1970's.  The first heart transplant was in 1970, and CAT scans were invented in 1975. Hip replacements and knee replacements are relatively new surgeries.  I was surprised by how much progress has been made in the past 125 years compared to thousands of prior years.  What is even more mind boggling is what is on the horizon for medicine.  Things are changing so fast it will be hard to keep up.  Robotics, AI, Novel drug for Type 2 diabetes,  implanted electrodes for paralysis.  Many of the new therapies are less invasive than regular surgery.  

In other words, medicine has made great advancements over the past few thousand years, but the best is yet to come.  It will be coming soon to a hospital near you.