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The history of medicine dates back to the beginning of human life, predating the creation of permanent settlements and Prehistory. When you think about the cures and healing practices people were undergoing several years ago, you're probably thinking about something primitive or repulsive, involving a lot of pain or nasty ingredients. However, aside from those attention-grabbing details, the history of medicine and healthcare paints an extraordinarily detailed picture of the changes and innovations that gradually brought society to the specialised techniques and practices of today.

Prehistory

Human populations formed relatively isolated communities during much of Prehistory, and they only rarely interacted with someone outside of their group. The medical practices these communities used depended on the locations they found themselves in. Archaeology is widely used for this time period, focusing on the illnesses that would have been common for the people living at that time, fossilised plants that may have been used to create cures and other practices. Birch polypore, a species of fungus found in alpine areas, may have been used as a laxative, while psilocybin mushrooms dating back to 6000 BCE Sahara were most likely recognised for their psychoactive qualities. The use of earth and clays, both internally and externally, was popular in pre-industrial societies and remains common in aboriginal peoples, being used most often in order to treat wounds and as a post-surgical treatment.

Speaking of which, one of the most widespread forms of surgery during Prehistory was trepanning, a procedure involving the creation of a hole in the skull. There is a high concentration of the practice in prehistoric Peru, and there is substantial evidence that many patients could survive the procedure. In the Americas, ant pincers were used to close wounds, and clay would have been used to cover a bone fracture and set it in place. Thirteen thousand years ago, in what is now Italy, teeth fillings were made from a mixture of plant fibres, hair, and bitumen.

Antiquity

As societies started developing to resemble the forms we are more accustomed to nowadays, technology also evolved. Healing theories began to include religion, nature, and more complex ideas about the human body. Antiquity has also brought us the first physicians we know by name, including Hippocrates, Penthu, Asclepiades, Herophilus, and Zhang Zhongjing. Historians have uncovered Sumerian drug prescriptions and descriptions of surgical procedures, as well as exorcisms. The Babylonians and Egyptians introduced the concepts of prognosis, diagnosis, and physical examinations.

The Mesopotamians were also aware of the importance of preventative measures to contain the propagation of diseases and the existence of mental illnesses and strokes. Ancient China developed acupuncture and moxibustion, the practice of burning dried mugwort on different parts of the body to decrease the risk of a breech birth or help with ulcerative colitis, hypertension, and chronic pain, among many other things.

The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages are often stereotyped as times of improper hygiene and sanitation. Nowadays, you can look up how are NHS negligence payouts calculated if you encounter health damage in the aftermath of a procedure, but back in those days, people would have had no chance at justice or recovery and may have even passed away as a result of the lacking treatments. That is, however, a very uncharitable view of this period, during which many innovations took place. Contemporary beliefs such as Humorism (which actually predates the Middle Ages, going back to Ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia and being more systemised by the Greeks) and the Miasma Theory, which considered unpleasant odours to be the root of all illnesses, no longer apply, but the Middle Ages nonetheless brought in a lot of developments.

The first known instance of conjoined twins being successfully separated took place in the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century. Muslim physicians have also contributed quite significantly to a wide range of medical fields, including ophthalmology, pharmacology, surgery and general anatomy. Abu Bakr al-Razi was a Persian polymath known for his developments in the field of medicine, but also for his work on astronomy, grammar and logic. He is known as the father of paediatric healthcare but also made breakthroughs in infectious diseases, neurology, and public health. In Europe, monastic hospitals offered care for the common people, but it was mostly palliative.

The Schola Medica Salernitana opened in Salerno in the 9th century. The University of Bologna began training doctors in 1219, and the University of Padua started in 1222. Virdimura, who lived in the late 1300s, practised medicine in Sicily at the time. She was the first woman to receive official certification as a physician in the area. She was of Jewish origin and used traditional practices, with most of her patients being disabled or impoverished.

Later on

In 1628, English physician William Harvey accurately described the human body's circulatory system. Dutch microbiologist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first to document microscopic observations of bacteria, red blood cells, muscle fibres and the blood flow in the capillaries. The doctors operating at this time were familiar with conditions such as hydrocephalus and nasal polyps. Catholic nuns provided the ailing poor with free nursing, while the Catholic elites funded hospitals as a means of salvation, a belief rejected by the Protestants who closed many convents in England and, by extension, many of these early healthcare institutions as well.

Italian entomologist Agostino Bassi, who discovered the germ theory of disease in the 1830s, preceded Louis Pasteur in this finding. In the late 1840s, Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis pioneered antiseptic procedures after discovering that women were less likely to develop sepsis after giving birth if doctors washed their hands before assisting them. However, his fellow physicians vehemently attacked his theories.

French scientist and chemist Louis Pasteur conducted experiments showcasing how contagious diseases form, and his discoveries led to the identification of the potentially deadly anthrax bacteria by Casimir Davaine. Although the theory was again rejected by most, British surgeon Joseph Lister introduced antisepsis to wound treatments in 1865. Robert Koch ushered in breakthroughs for experimental pathology after reproducing anthrax in the laboratory, and Florence Nightingale revolutionised nursing by ensuring wards were sanitised and well-ventilated, that both the patients and staff bathed regularly, and that clean water and good nutrition were provided.

Nowadays, contemporary medicine is still facing challenges such as antibiotic resistance, the ongoing HIV pandemic, and the possible outbreaks of new viruses. Yet, rising innovations brought by stem cell therapies, DNA sequencing, and gene therapy could hold the answer to eradicating many of these issues. Although discoveries have come so far, research continues as many illnesses remain incurable. And although it may seem very far removed from our present day, it's fascinating to realise that all of this began when prehistoric humans first attempted to use plants for healing.

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