The History of the First Medicine, The invention of medicine is undoubtedly considered the most precious and beneficial in human civilization. The history of medicine shows a remarkable journey of how we humans have approached different illnesses and diseases from the early periods till date. Some of the early medicine traditions come from Babylon, China, Egypt, and India. Though, there isn’t much record of when and how plants were used as a healing agent. But, from ancient drawings discovered worldwide, it is believed that early humans used medicinal plants as healing agents. Here, we will study the history of medicine, the History of doctors, and the first medicine to be invented.

Prehistoric Medicine

Early humans were unaware of the various diseases and their medications. Early humans used the trial and error method to discover the medicinal benefits of plants and herbs. They considered common cold and constipation as a part of human existence and treated it with various herbs. The unidentified diseases were believed to be supernatural or cast of spells. There’s a common belief that in the world, the first doctors were sorcerers and magicians.

Magic and religious prayers played an essential role in prehistoric medicine. In ancient Mesopotamia, the people were not able to distinguish between magic and medicine. And if a person suffering from illness came to a doctor, the doctors would prescribe medicinal treatment and magical words to be recited. In the ancient era, the Babylonians, along with Egyptians, implemented diagnosis, physical examinations, and treatments. Early Egyptians were considered the healthiest with a notable healthcare system.

Traditional Medicine in India, China, and Japan

The Indian civilization was well developed in medicine with herbal treatments. The Atharvaveda, which belongs to the early iron age, throws light on the fact that early Indians used medications and ailments from herbs and other medicinal plants. 

The period from 800 BCE till 1000 BCE is considered the golden age of medicine in India with the introduction of medical treaties by Chakra, a physician, and Sushruta, a surgeon of ancient India. The knowledge of anatomy in ancient India was minimal as the Hindus were not allowed to cut dead bodies. The Indian physicians used all five senses in the diagnosis of diseases. The Indians were known to have identified around 700-800 medicinal plants in ancient times. They were also known for using animal parts for remedies.

On the other hand, Chinese medicine was of great importance in history. The Chinese considered the human body to be made up of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. As the Chinese’s religious beliefs forbade them from tearing the dead bodies, therefore their anatomy knowledge was based on assumptions. According to the ancient Chinese Anatomy, The body contained five organs: heart, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidney, and the blood vessels contained blood and air.

Japanese medicine, on the other hand, is considered interesting for its slow start and rapid modernization. Japanese medicine took a turn in 608 CE when few Japanese physicians were sent to China for study. The Chinese have a significant influence on the Japanese medical system. 

The oldest Japanese medical work dates back to 983 CE, which Tamba Yasuyori wrote. In his works, he has discussed different kinds of diseases and their treatment. These diseases and treatments are classified according to body parts.  

Speaking of ancient medicine, you must have thought of the world’s first doctor. The first doctor in the world was from the Egyptian civilization. According to the medical information given in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, which dates back to 3000 BC, Imhotep is credited with being the first doctor in the world. 

Now you may even ask who discovered medicine or who invented medicine? The answer to this is Hippocrates. Yes, Hippocrates is credited with being the man who invented medicine. He was a Greek physician who wrote the Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of seventy medical works. He is also accredited with the invention of the Hippocratic Oath for physicians.

Modern Medicine

The Renaissance brought about a significant change in the history of medicine. The period between the 16th and 18th centuries was remarkable for medicine. This period saw a rapid increase in experimental investigations and advanced anatomy. Even the first medicine was discovered during this period. The first modern medicine was developed in 1804 by Friedrich Serturner, who was a german scientist. He invented morphine which served as a painkiller in the 18th century. Later in this period, quinine and paracetamol were also invented. The practice of medicine took a rapid turn with physicians being more systematic in the diagnosis of diseases. The development and use of antiseptic and anaesthesia also increased in operations. Effective cures to many fatal diseases were discovered during this era. Improvement in public health was given utmost importance, and many hospitals were developed. The mid 18th century and early 19th century was the period when medicine was heavily professionalized. With the advancement in medicine, new career options opened up for women as well. They were appointed as nurses and physicians.

Thanks for your question Bridget. It depends on what we mean by medicine! People have been using different plants and minerals to treat illnesses for thousands of years. While these folk cures often had more to do with religion than science, doctors in Ancient Egypt, China, India, Greece and Rome did use early versions of laboratories to mix them.

Many of these potions, powders and creams didn’t really work, and some were actually poisonous. But others contained useful ingredients that we still use in our medicine today. For example, the plant milkweed – a traditional treatment for warts and tumours – is now an effective remedy for skin cancer.

For a long time, remedies were based on trial and error, superstition, and confused ideas about how our bodies work. Over the 1500s and 1600s people in Europe started using opium – a milky sap from the poppy plant – to treat pain.

Laudanum was a mixture made of opium, alcohol and herbs that helped with pain, insomnia, coughing and diarrhoea. Because there were so many horrible diseases in Europe at the time (and so few medicines that really did anything) laudanum was used to treat nearly everything, from colds to the Black Plague! Unfortunately, it was also very addictive.

Over the next 150 years, scientists learnt more about chemistry and biology. The first modern, pharmaceutical medicine was invented in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, a German scientist. He extracted the main active chemical from opium in his laboratory and named it morphine, after the Greek god of sleep.

Doctors used morphine to treat severe pain, and we still use it for that purpose in hospitals today. Sadly, Sertürner became addicted to his own drug, and warned people to be very careful with it.

Next came quinine, a cure for malaria, in 1820. Paracetamol was invented in 1877 and in the 1890s scientists first made aspirin from the bark of the willow tree. We still use these to treat headaches, fever and inflammation. And the first antibiotic, penicillin, was accidentally discovered in a lab in 1928.

Thousands of new remedies have since been made in laboratories. Right now, in 2019, more and more medicines are being developed using new and exciting biotechnologies.