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Medicine

Bloodletting was treatment for infection in the past.

In a world with no antibiotics, how did doctors treat infections?

The development of antibiotics and other antimicrobial therapies is arguably the greatest achievement of modern medicine. However, overuse and misuse of antimicrobial therapy predictably leads to...
Traité des Fardements et Confitures, Lyon 1556.

Treatise on Make-up and Jam: A Bestselling Cookbook by Nostradamus

It is undeniable that Michel de Nostredame (more commonly known as Nostradamus) is most renowned for his published collection of prophecies known as Les Prophéties , or in English as The Prophecies...
Top Ten Historical Health and Medical Discoveries of 2015

Top Ten Historical Health and Medical Discoveries of 2015

There is much more to archaeology than just learning about our past. The study of the ancient world has also led to astounding discoveries that may have real utility in the modern day. As well as...
‘Ayurvedic Medicine. Man of the Medical caste, masseuse.’

Ayurvedic Medicine: A Traditional Knowledge of Life from India that Has Endured the Passage of Time

Ayurveda, known also as Ayurvedic medicine, is an ancient medical system that has its roots in India, and has been considered by many as one of the oldest healthcare systems in the world. In today’s...
Painting entitled ‘Abulcasis blistering a patient in the hospital at Cordova.’

Al-Zahrawi: The Legacy of the Father of Modern Surgery

The period from the 8th century until the 13th century AD is commonly referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. During this era, the Islamic world produced numerous scholars who contributed greatly to...
11th century Pre-Columbian mummy who has surprised scientists with antibiotic-resistant genes.

Ancient Peruvian Mummy Surprises Researchers with Antibiotic-Resistant Genes

A mummy uncovered at the ancient site of Cusco in Peru has surprised scientists with what was contained in its gut. Genes linked to antibiotic resistance have been found in the Pre-Columbian mummy’s...
A five-volume treatise concerning medical matters, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century.

Could ancient textbooks be the source of the next medical breakthrough?

The discovery that won the latest Nobel Prize for Medicine wouldn’t have been much of a revelation to doctors in ancient China. Pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou established that the compound...
Paracelsus

Paracelsus: the Father of Toxicology and the Enemy of Physicians

Toxicology is a branch of knowledge dealing with the scientific study of the characteristics and effects of poisons on living organisms. The man considered to be the ‘father’ of this discipline is...
marijuana

Medical marijuana: Modern hunter-gatherers may use cannabis to treat intestinal infections

It has been found that the more cannabis that modern foraging tribes smoke, the less they are infected with parasitic intestinal worms. Scientists are trying to determine if ancient-hunter gatherers...
De Materia Medica remedies book

Roseroot, an ancient remedy for fatigue and disease, gets new respect

Ancient Greeks, Vikings, Caucasians, prehistoric Siberians and Mongolians, and ancient Chinese emperors were all taken with the medicinal properties of the wild herb Rhodiola rosea (golden root or...
Ancient skull was drilled and harvested for medicine

Ancient skull was drilled and harvested for medicine in the 18th century

The skull of a man who was beheaded in the 15 th century was at the center of a mystery until experts revealed the cranium was harvested to be used as medicine. Within the crypt of Italy’s Otranto...
New tattoos on 5,300-year-old Otzi the Iceman mummy

Scientists discover new tattoos on 5,300-year-old Otzi the Iceman mummy

Scientists have discovered four more tattooed lines on ‘Ötzi the Iceman’, a 5,300-year-old mummy, bringing the total number of tattoos to 61. Researchers are still divided over whether the tattoos...
The Sushruta Samhita and Plastic Surgery in Ancient India

The Sushruta Samhita and Plastic Surgery in Ancient India, 6th century B.C.

Plastic surgery seems to be an invention of the modern age. The desire to attain physical beauty is no doubt one of the factors that has contributed to the popularity of this procedure. Apart from...
A trepannated skull from Neolithic period

Evidence of successful brain surgery and ancient pharmaceutical warehouse found in Turkey

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of ancient surgery among the remains of people who lived in a settlement near Istanbul, Turkey, between the 11 th and 6 th centuries B.C. A skull, buried among...
The ancient village of Deir el-Medina in Egypt

New study sheds light into ancient Egyptian health care system at Deir el-Medina

Stanford archaeologists have undertaken the first ever detailed analyses of human remains found at Deir el-Medina, an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs...
Himalayan ‘Viagra' - caterpillar fungus

Traditional Himalayan ‘Viagra‘ fuels caterpillar fungus gold rush

Overwhelmed by speculators trying to cash-in on a prized medicinal fungus known as Himalayan Viagra, two isolated Tibetan communities have managed to do at the local level what world leaders often...
Death of Socrates

Poison: The Good, the Bad and the Deadly

For thousands of years poisons have been both a deadly threat and a protective tool used around the world. Poisons have played a dominant role in our history and legends, persisting both as evil...
Women and Medicine in Rome

Women and Medicine in Rome

Anyone who has interest, even minimally, in the history of medicine in classical antiquity, knows the names of Hippocrates and Galen. The two Greek physicians were the pillars on which the entire...
Saffron crocus flowers - Minoan fresco

Saffron: Ancient Healing Powers Confirmed by Science

By Sayer Ji , www.greenmedinfo.com Clearly there is something magical about the Crocus sativus flower, from which the spice saffron is derived. If its striking beauty does not immediately cast a...
Bian Que Medical Book

Ancient bamboo medical books uncovered in China belonged to legendary Bian Que

Last year, archaeologists unearthed 920 bamboo strips at a construction site in the south-western city of Chengdu in China, containing recipes for treating ailments that date back 2,000 years. The...
Baghdad Battery as a medical device

Was the Baghdad Battery a medical device?

Through the ages history books have taught us that mankind was ignorant of technology and medicine in ancient times. But there are archaeological and textual clues saying otherwise. In the Journal of...
Cork Tree

Pancreatic Cancer Treated With Ancient Chinese Medicine

Modern science has been paying increasing attention to the value and efficacy of ancient Chinese Medicine. A study earlier this year, for example, found that a Chinese herbal remedy involving the...
Ancient Chinese Herbal Remedy

Ancient Chinese herbal remedy may be solution for chronic pain

A study published in January this year in the journal of Current Biology has provided evidence to support the efficacy of an ancient Chinese herbal remedy that has been used for centuries in the...
Bian Que

Ancient Chinese Medical Texts verified to belong to legendary Bian Que

Several days ago we reported on the discovery of 920 bamboo strips at an archaeological site in China containing recipes for treating ailments that date back 2,000 years. Archaeologists speculated...

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