Download PRE HISTORIC MEDICINE

BY
DR. AMBREESH PANDEY
MD(HOM) PART 1 (PSYCHIATRY)
BAKSON HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE
GREATER NOIDA G.B. NAGAR U.P.
)
 TERM
USED ----- TO DESCRIBE THE USE OF
MEDICINE BEFORE THE INVENTION OF
WRITING.
 ARCHEOLOGISTS AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS
WHO STUDY PREHISTORIC MAN AND PRIMITIVE
TRIBES TELL US HUMAN SOCIETIES HAVE
ALWAYS HAD SPECIAL INDIVIDUAL, BOTH MAN
AND WOMEN, WHO TOOK THE JOB OF HEALER
AND WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR PREVENTING
ILLNESS AND CURING THE SICK AND INJURED.
THEY CALLED AS– SHAMAN.
 THE
TIMING OF THE INVENTION OF WRITING
VARIES PER CULTURE AND RELIGION, THE
TERM “PRE HISTORIC MEDICINE”
ENCOMPASSES A WIDE RANGE OF TIME PERIOD
AND DATES.
 THE
STUDY OF PREHISTORIC MEDICINE RELIES
HEAVILY ON ARTIFACTS AND HUMAN REMAINS,
AND ON ANTHROPOLOGY.
• PRE HISTORIC SOCIETIES BELIEVED IN
NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL THEORY
FOR CAUSE OF THE DISEASE AND FOR
TREATING THE DISEASE.
• FOR SERIOUS AND DISABLING OR
SERIOUS DISEASE, FOR WHICH THERE
WAS NO RATIONAL CAUSE----- BLAME
WAS PLACED ON THE SUPERNATURAL -GODS, EVIL SPRITS, AND SORCERY.
 AT
THAT TIME IT WAS BELIEVED THAT EVIL
SPRITS , CONJURED BY A SORCERE COULD
INHIBIT A PERSONS BODY AND CAUSE ILLNESS
AND THAT THESE SPRITS COULD BE REMOVED
FROM THE PATIENT, THROUGH THE SKULL – BY
TREPANNING AND SOME OTHER TREATMENT
BY – SHAMAN– A MEDICINE MAN.
 LOGIC
AND REASONING WERE USED TO
DEDUCE THE CAUSE OF INJURIES.

INJURIES FOR WHICH THERE WAS A CLEAR
CAUSE, WERE NOT BLAMED ON THE
SUPERNATURAL THEORY.
 IN
1991 IN THE TYROLEAN ALPS IN NORTHERN
VALLY, THE DISCOVERY OF A MUMMIFIED BODY
SUGGESTED THAT PREHISTORIC SOCIETIES
MAY HAVE HAD GREATER KNOWLEDGE THAN
HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN THOUGHT.
 THE BODY, THAT CAME TO KNOW AS OTZI
THE ICEMAN, CONTAINED IN HIS POSSESSIONS
A FUNGUS THAT SCIENTISTS FOUND COULD
KILL INTERNAL PARASITES.
 IN
A LANCET STUDY WHICH FOLLOWED BY , DR.
LUIGI CAPASSO CONCLUDED THAT…. ‘’THE
DISCOVERY OF THE FUNGUS SUGGESTS THAT THE
ICEMAN WAS AWARE OF HIS INTESTINAL
PARASITES AND FOUGHT THEM WITH MEASURED
DOSES OF PIPTOPORUS BETULINUS.’’
 IN
PREHISTORIC ERA --- THERE IS EVIDENCE
THAT MANY PEOPLE SUFFERED FROM ---OSTEOARTHRITIS, CAUSED BY THE LIFTING OF
HEAVY OBJECTS WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN A
DAILY AND NECESSARY TASK IN THEIR
SOCIETIES.
 CUTS, BRUISES AND BREAKAGE OF BONES
WITHOUT ANTISEPTIC FACILITIES OR
KNOWLEDGE OF GERMS, WOULD BECOME
VERY SERIOUS IF INFECTED.
 THE
TRANSPORT OF HEAVY STONES,
INVOLVING HYPEREXTENSION AND TORQUE OF
THE LOWER BACK, WHILE DRAGGING THE
STONES, MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF MICROFRACTURES IN THE
SPINE AND SUBSEQUENT SPONDYLOSIS.
 THERE IS ALSO EVIDENCE OF RICKETS BONE
DEFORMITY AND BONE WASTAGE
(OSTEOMALASIA) , WHICH IS CAUSED BY A
LACK OF VIT. D.
 LIFE
EXPECTANCY WAS LOW 25- 40 YEARS WITH
MAN LIVING LONGER THAN WOMEN IN
PREHISTORIC ERA.
 ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF WOMEN AND
BABIES FOUND TOGATHER SUGGESTS THAT MANY
WOMEN WOULD HAVE DIED IN CHILDBIRTHS,
PERHAPS ACCOUNTING FOR THE LOWER LIFE
EXPECTTANCY IN WOMEN THAN MAN.
 ANOTHER
POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR THE
SHORTER LIFE SPANS OF PREHISTORIC HUMANS
MAY BE MALNUTRITION .
 MAN, AS HUNTERS, GENERALLY RECEIVED
BETTER FOOD THAN THEIR FEMALE
COUNTERPARTS, WHO WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY
HAVE BEEN LESS RESISTANT TO DISEASE.
PLANT MATERIALS…..
 PLANT MATERIALS (HERBS AND SUBSTANCES
DERIVED FROM NATURAL SOURCES), WERE
AMONG THE TREATMENT FOR DISEASE IN
PREHISTORIC CULTURES.
 THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT PLANT MATERIALS
WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND THROUGH TRIAL
AND ERROR.
 DISPENSAL AND GATHERING OF PLANT
MATERIALS WAS HANDLED BY WOMEN, WHO
CARED OF THE HEALTH OF FAMILY.
 SINCE
PLANT MATERIAL QUICKLY ROT UNDER
MOST CONDITIONS, HISTORIANS ARE UNLIKELY TO
FULLY UNDERSTAND WHICH SPECIES WERE USED
IN PREHISTORIC MEDICINE.
 AN IDEA CAN BE OBTAINED BY LOOKING AT THE
CLIMATE OF THE RESPECTIVE SOCIETY AND
WHICH SPECIES TO GROW THERE TODAY AND
THROUGH ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF
EXISTING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES.
 NOMADIC TRIBES HAVE HAD A GREATER VERIETY
OF PLANT MATERIALS AT THEIR DISPOSAL THAN
OTHER SOCIETES.
PLANT MATERIALS WERE AN IMPORTANT CURE
FOR DISEASE THROUGHOUT HISTORY. THEY
WOULDNOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RECORD THE
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT HERBS , KNOWLEDGE OF
THEM WOULD HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN ORALLY
THROUGH THE GENERATIONS.
 EG.. PIPTBETULINS-OPORUS --- FOUND IN ALPINE
ENVIRONMENT USED AS LAXATIVE BY
PREHISTORRIC PEOPLE LIVING IN (NORTHERN
EUROPE) THOSE AREAS, SINCE IT IS KNOWN TO
BRING ON SHORT BOUTS OF DIARRHOEA WHEN
INJESTED, AND WAS FOUND AMONG THE
POSSESSIONS OF MUMMIFIED MAN.

USE OF EARTH AND CLAYS----- IT IS THE FIRST MEDICINE. IT IS RELATED TO
GEOPHAGY, WHICH IS WIDE SPREAD AMONG
ANIMALS IN THE WILD AS WELL AS AMONG
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.
 EARLY HUMANS HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE
USE OF VARIOUS HEALING CLAYS BY
OBSERVING ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. SUCH CLAY IS
USED BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY,
SUCH AS FOR TREATING WOUNDS AND AFTER
SURGERY.
SURGERY--- TREPANNING OR TREPHINNING WAS A BASIC
SURGICAL OPERATION CARRIED OUT,
PREDOMINENTLY BY MEDICINE MAN, IN PRE
HISTORIC SOCITIES ACROSS THE WORLD.
 EVIDENCE SHOWS A CONCENTRATION OF
PRACTICE IN PERU.
 TREPANNING
: A SURGICAL PROCEDURE DONE
BY USING STONE INSTRUMENT TO BORE OR
GRIND HOLES IN SKULL.
 TREPANNING
IS USED TO CURE CERTAIN
CONDITION SUCH AS ---- EPILEPSY AND
HEADACHE.
 THESE MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERD EFFECT
OF AN EVIL SPRIT TRAPPED WITH IN A
PERSON.
 PREHISTORIC MAN LERNED HOW TO SPLINT ,
BUT PROBABLY NOT SET BONE FRACTURE.
ARCHEOLOGISTS IN MEHRGARH IN
BALOCHISTAN—(PAKISTAN) DISCOVERED THAT
THE PEOPLE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
FROM EARLY HARAPPAN PERIOD (3300 BC)
HAD KNOWLEDGE OF DENTISTRY AND
MEDICINE.
RESEARCH IN THE SAME AREA FOUND
EVIDNCE OF TEETH HAVING BEEN DRILLED
DATING BACK 9000 YEARS.
 MEDICINE
MAN-- SHAMANS--- MAINTAINE THE
HEALTH OF THEIR SOCIETY AND TRIBE BY
GATHERING AND DISTRIBUTING HERBS,
PERFORMING MINOR SURGICAL PROCEDURE
PROVIDING MEDICAL ADVICE AND
SUPERNATURTAL TREATMENTS SUCH AS ---CHARMS , SPELLS, AND AMULETS TO WARD OF
EVIL SPRITS.
 IN
APACHE SOCIETY : THE MEDICINE MAN
INITIATE A CEREMONY OVER THE PATIENTS,
WHICH IS ATTENDED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
IT CONSISTS OF MAGIC FORMULAS, PRAYERS
AND DRUMMING.
 THE MEDICINE MAN WERE BELIEVED BY THE
TRIBE TO BE ABLE TO CONTACT SPRITS OR
GODS AND USE THEIR SUPERNATURAL POWER
TO CURE THE PATIENTS, AND IN THE
PROCESS, REMOVE EVIL SPRITS.
 IF
NITHER THIS METHOD NOR TREPANNING
WORKED, THE SPRIT WAS CONSIDERD TOO
POWERFUL TO BE DRIVEN OUT OF THE
PERSON.
 MEDICINE MAN WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN
CENTRAL FIGURES IN THE TRIBAL SYSTEM,
BECAUSE OF THEIR MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE AND
BECAUSE THEY COULD SEEMINGLY CONTACT
THE GODS,
 THIS RELIGIOUS AND MEDICAL TRAINING WERE
NECESSARILY PASSED DOWN ORALLY.
 SHAMANS
AND HEALERS OFTEN USED
SIGNATURE OR SYMBOLIC ITEMS TO TREAT
THEIR PATIENTS.
 THIS
SIGNATURE TREATMENT INCLUDE--- 1. THINGS LIKE DRINKING OF BLOOD OF A
WARRIOR TO INCREASE STRENGTH .
2. EATING LEAVES SHAPED LIKE BODY ORGANS
TO CURE A DISEASE.
SOMETIMES THROUGH CHANCE THESE
SIGNATURE WORKS. WHEN THEY DID , THE
MEDICINE MAN OR SHAMNS , WOULD PASS THE
INFORMATION TO THE NEXT GANERATION OF
PRISTS.
DIGITALIS, MORPHINE, QUININE AND
EPHEDRIN, ALL ARE MODERN MEDICINES THAT
HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN TO US FROM
PREHISTORIC SIGNATURE MEDICINE.
 IT
WAS THE TIME OF THE INVENTION OF
WRITING VARIES PER CULTURE AND RELIGION,
THE TERM “PRE HISTORIC MEDICINE”
ENCOMPASSES A WIDE RANGE OF TIME PERIOD
AND DATES.
 PRE
HISTORIC SOCIETIES BELIEVED IN
NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL THEORY FOR
CAUSE OF THE DISEASE AND FOR TREATING
THE DISEASE.
 LOGIC
AND REASONING WERE USED TO
DEDUCE THE CAUSE OF INJURIES.
 PLANT
MATERIALS (HERBS AND SUBSTANCES
DERIVED FROM NATURAL SOURCES), WERE
AMONG THE TREATMENT FOR DISEASE IN
PREHISTORIC CULTURES.
 EARLY HUMANS HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE
USE OF VARIOUS HEALING CLAYS BY
OBSERVING ANIMAL BEHAVIOR. SUCH CLAY IS
USED BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY,
SUCH AS FOR TREATING WOUNDS AND AFTER
SURGERY.
 TREPANNING
OR TREPHINNING WAS A BASIC
SURGICAL OPERATION CARRIED OUT,
PREDOMINENTLY BY MEDICINE MAN, IN PRE
HISTORIC SOCITIES ACROSS THE WORLD.
 THE MEDICINE MAN WERE BELIEVED BY THE
TRIBE TO BE ABLE TO CONTACT SPRITS OR
GODS AND USE THEIR SUPERNATURAL POWER
TO CURE THE PATIENTS, AND IN THE
PROCESS, REMOVE EVIL SPRITS.
 SHAMANS AND HEALERS OFTEN USED
SIGNATURE OR SYMBOLIC ITEMS TO TREAT
THEIR PATIENTS.
THANK
YOU