History of Medicine

BSCI 493

February 27, 2008

A Brief History

• 2000 BC: Here, eat this root.• 1000 AD: That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.• 1850: That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion. • 1920: That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.• 1945: That pill is ineffective. Here, take this penicillin. • 1955: Oops… bugs mutated. Here, take this tetracycline.• 1960 – 1999: 39 more “oops”. Here, take this more

powerful antibiotic!• 2000: The bugs have won! Here, eat this root.

Plants for Medicine• 2700 BC: Emperor Shennung: earliest study of herbal medicine.• 1500 BC: Ebers papyrus written.• 370 – 285 BC: Theopharastus summarizes all information on plants; classified plants

according to size.• 77 AD: Dioscorides publishes DeMateria Medica.• 1440: Printing invented; the “Herbals” started.• 1600’s: Germany is the center of botanical activity.• 1707 – 1778: The Linnean Period. The sexual system of classifying plants and the

Latin binomial is used.• 1785: Williams Withering publishes “An account of the foxglove and some of its

medicinal uses.” The first scientific paper on folk medicine!• Late 1800’s – early 1900’s: Isolation of purer drugs from natural sources, such as

early morphine (1816), strychnine (1817), atropine (1819), quinine and colchicine (1820).

• 1899: The German company Bayer is the first to commercialize a synthetic drug based on an early remedy: aspirin.

• Late 1900’s: beginning of the era of drug discovery based on naturally occurring substances and herbal remedies.

Why the increasing interest in “natural medicines”?

• Dissatisfaction with conventional medicines

• Increasing self-medication• Interest in preventative medication• Concerns about side effects of

conventional medicines• Consumer preference for natural products• Increasing documentation of their

effectiveness.

Cost: Pharmeceuticals vs. Botanicals*

• Cholesterol– Mevacor: $1.92– Garlic: $0.56

• Sleep aid– Halcion: $0.89– Valerian: $0.14

• Prostate medication– Porscar: $2.17– Saw palmetto: $0.86

• Topical ointment– Zostrix: $15.50– Cayenne & lanolin: $0.05

Cost per day as of March 8, 1994. data copyright 1995, Peggy Brevoort, East Herb Herb Inc.

References

• David M. Eisenberg, Ronald C. Kessler, Cindy Foster, Frances E. Norlock, David R. Calkins, and Thomas L. Delbanco. Unconventional Medicine in the United States -- Prevalence, Costs, and Patterns of Use. New England Journal of Medicine Jan 28, 1993; 328(4): 246-252. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/328/4/246

• Students are responsible for only the abstract for this journal.