A brief history of the development of Western medicine in the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine

The development of Western medicine summarizes the exchange and development of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt and Middle East Arabia, as well as with Eastern medicine. Prehistoric medical data from 8,000 years ago come from archaeological evidence. The ancients could not explain natural phenomena and diseases. They believed that people, animals, earth, stars, moon and sun all lived in a spiritual world and were dominated by supernatural forces. Ancient people prayed to gods to bring abundant harvests and cure diseases. Witches perform festivals and exorcise evil spirits to cure diseases. They lick the blood of animals to gain strength, or eat special plants to cure diseases. These treatments sometimes produce some results. The occurrence of disease is believed to be due to the presence of pathogenic factors or poisons, and medical treatment is to help reduce pain rather than cure. Ancient peoples began to use digitalis and morphine-like plants, sometimes even opening the skull to drive away and release the disease, and sometimes the patient might survive. In the "Papyrus" of ancient Egyptian medicine about 4,000 years ago, doctors recorded the patient's symptoms and treatment methods: such as compression to stop bleeding, delivery methods, and the use of breast milk to treat colds. In ancient Egypt, many ointments and tablets made from plants were used to treat some diseases such as opium and cannabis. In modern times, these two drugs have been isolated and purified, increasing their efficacy and reducing their toxic and side effects. The mummification process gave the ancient Egyptians an understanding of human anatomy.

From 400 BC to 300 AD, the ancient Greek and Roman empires were powerful, and writing, calculation, philosophy and art reached their peak at that time. The ancient Greeks believed that there were many gods, and they also used a more "natural" and "scientific" way to know and understand the world. Hippocrates, known as the father of Western medicine, tried to find out the causes and principles of diseases and proposed that the body has four balanced humors: blood, mucus, yellow bile, and black bile; and these four humors An imbalance is the cause of disease. Diagnosis is made through detailed medical history and examination, and then prescription drugs and treatments are aimed at restoring the balance of the four body fluids in the patient's body. This theory and method of using natural and human body factors to explain and treat diseases breaks through the understanding and methods of primitive magicians.

Religion has always accompanied the development of science and medicine, from primitive gods to witch doctors. In the early days, religion dominated people's understanding of the world and medicine; disease was a punishment from God, and God and God were omnipotent. Church clergy also have medical responsibilities, and the church is just like a clinic or hospital. Hunting wounds or war injuries make amputation, fracture integration, joint reduction, and wound dressing common medical methods or methods. Opium and alcohol are sometimes used to anesthetize and relieve pain. In order to better understand the structure of the human body, Galen dissected a large number of animals. This work improved surgical skills and success rates, and also helped to create practical surgical instruments. From a large number of hunting and war injuries, the ancients had a direct understanding of the human body. Doctors can remove arrowheads, suture wounds, and even remove gallstones, hernias and cataracts. People also realized the relationship between sanitation and disease, and began to drink clean drinking water and the emergence of sewage systems. When the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome were introduced into the Arab world, after hundreds of years of development and improvement in theory and practice (700-1500 AD), Arab doctors used dietary therapy, physical exercise and the use of medicinal herbs and minerals to make medicines, and alcohol to clean wounds. ; Began to build hospitals, which enabled doctors to communicate better, specialized treatment, and made it more convenient for patients. The operating rooms and pharmacies were also more professional. By 931 AD, large hospitals began to train and issue licenses to doctors and pharmacists; pharmacists patrolled to ensure the accuracy of prescriptions and prescriptions; officials began to certify safety and verify prescriptions. Vein resection, nephrolithiasis removal, limb reduction surgery, and nasal inhalation anesthetics have been documented as anesthetic methods. In 1030, the doctor Avicenna wrote the "Code of Medicine", which was translated into Latin by 1200 AD. It influenced the development of European medicine in the Middle Ages for hundreds of years.

The Renaissance in Europe from 1400 to 1700 AD pushed the development of culture, art, science and medicine to a new peak; the slow process and limited number of handwritten books could only enable a few people to You may have a chance to read it. The new printing technology has accelerated the publication of books and spread them more widely and long-term. The development and maturity of publishing technology is a revolution in information technology, which allows ideas and innovations to spread throughout Europe and to the world. Anatomy, the oldest medical study, has developed significantly. Vesalius and da Vinci each carefully performed human anatomy and drew the first anatomical atlas. At that time, the study of human anatomy was still highly taboo. Vesalius's masterpiece "The Structure of the Human Body" broke through the speculative human anatomy theories of the old authorities represented by Galen. It accurately described the structure of the human body with a large number of anatomical practice materials, which greatly enriched the Gain knowledge of organs and human body systems. In 1553, when the Spanish doctor Servetus proposed the idea that blood flows from the right ventricle to the lungs and then from the lungs to the left atrium based on anatomy, he was immediately criticized and persecuted by the opposition and the church. In the same year, he was Burned at the stake. It was not until 1628 AD that the British doctor Harvey published "On the Movement of Heart and Blood" to demonstrate the circulatory movement of blood. The heart is a muscle pump that promotes blood circulation.

In 1661, the Italian scientist Malpighi observed that tiny blood vessels were the roads connecting arteries and veins, which ultimately proved Harvey's circulation theory; people then realized that the human body is composed of different organs and systems. Based on the herbal and mineral medicines of Arab doctors, along with the discovery of the New World, as well as the discovery of new plants and minerals, it was discovered that quinine from the cinchona tree can effectively treat malaria. With the development of global exploration, transportation and trade, diseases (sources of disease) also followed these steps and spread to the world, such as the plague (Black Death) and smallpox. The outbreak of plague on the European continent in 1347 killed about 30% of the European population. The hospital began medical education and trained doctors; the basic surgical instruments were drills, saws, and chisels. The European Industrial Revolution from 1700 to 1900 AD greatly affected people's way of life and work. People migrate from rural areas to towns or big cities. Most people live in crowded areas with poor drinking water, housing and sanitation conditions. This can easily cause outbreaks of infectious diseases. Many people die from cholera, dysentery, tuberculosis, or pneumonia. . A deeper understanding and development of the importance of the environment in disease.

Nurse Nightingale, who worked in the hospital, observed that the medical conditions at that time were poor and poor. 80% of the wounded in the hospital died of infection rather than primary trauma. She improved hygiene standards, which reduced infections extremely significantly, and she drove a movement to improve and modernize hospitals, setting the standard for hospital design and care. Although industrialization has made significant advances in surgical instruments, without anesthesia, surgeons can only perform operations in the shortest possible time. From 1840, the invention and use of anesthetics greatly improved surgical techniques, expanding the scope of surgical indications, extending surgical times, and improving post-operative care techniques. Lister recognized that postoperative infections often lead to bacteremia and sepsis. He proposed using formic acid disinfection technology to debridement and clean surgical instruments. The application of this technology reduced the postoperative infection rate from 60% to 4%.

Smallpox has always been a fatal disease. Patients infected with smallpox often have skin scabs and severe pain; while patients who survive often leave skin scars. In modern times, we know that smallpox is caused by variola virus infection. Viral infection forms skin herpes and can infect internal organs. Most patients die from secondary infectious toxemia. The British doctor Jenner learned the "variolation" technique from a Turkish doctor, but this technique often caused the death of some vaccinated people, that is, it lacked 100% safety. He noticed that some people exposed to cowpox did not contract smallpox. After a series of improvements and enhancements, in 1796, he performed the first cowpox vaccination and published the results; he speculated that "cowpox infection" (vaccine) prevented smallpox infection. But it’s not immediately accepted by peers and people. About 50 years later, in 1840, pox vaccination was banned in England. In 1853, "cowpox vaccination" was made mandatory. When Jenner implemented the cowpox vaccination, humans did not know the mechanism of microbial infection, nor did they know what the human immune system was. Pathogenic microorganisms can cause disease. After a small amount of inactivated, low-toxic microorganisms are inoculated into the body, they activate the human immune system to produce cellular immunity or produce pathogen-specific antibodies. The immune system recognizes specificity and pathogenicity. and chain reactions, allowing the body to prevent and avoid the spread and pathogenicity of specific pathogenic microorganism infections in the body, so the body can prevent and resist specific pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, the vaccinated person acquires immunity. About 200 years later, in 1977, the last natural case of smallpox disease on Earth was reported in Somalia, Africa. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that humans on earth were free from smallpox disease and that human smallpox disease had been eradicated. With the gradual deepening of human research on the immune system, many vaccine programs have been implemented. Vaccine programs such as measles, mumps, polio, tuberculosis, and hepatitis have greatly promoted human health.

The invention of the microscope in 1590 gave mankind a more detailed and specific understanding of the microscopic world. Observation and study of various microorganisms led to the development of microbiology and the recognition of the causes of infection. The discovery of pathogenic microorganisms has led people to research and find new medicines to treat infectious diseases. In 1655, Hooke observed cells using a compound microscope he made; in 1674, Leeuwenhoek observed protozoa for the first time. Nine years later, in 1683, he became the first to discover "bacteria" People who exist. By 1931, German scientists Ruska and Knoll assembled the first transmission electron microscope. After improvements, the resolution of the electron microscope reached 50 nanometers the following year. The resolution of the human eye is about 0.1 mm; the resolution of an ordinary optical microscope is about 200 nm, which can observe and study the structure of tissues, cells and bacteria; the resolution of a modern electron microscope is about 0.1 nm, which can observe and study organelles and viruses structure.

In 1895, German physicist Röntgen took the first X-ray image using X-rays invented by generations of scientists, ushering in a new era of medical imaging diagnosis and treatment.

Nowadays, there are computed tomography (CT, prototype in 1971) and ultrasound scanners, isotope label scanners and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies, which allow humans to not only see static images of the interior of various biological organisms, but also You can also see the structure, function, or movement of internal organs, tissues, or individual molecules in the body.

In 1922, Canadian biologists Banting and Best discovered insulin and used it to treat diabetes. This disease was recorded in ancient Egyptian medical books 3,500 years ago; after 1850 AD, humans thought it was pancreatic dysfunction from the patient's autopsy; later it was speculated that it was a chemical substance produced by pancreatic cells, which can regulate blood sugar in the human body. metabolism. Animal experiments have shown that dogs develop diabetes when their pancreas is removed. Substances extracted from the pancreas can regulate blood sugar when injected into animals. In 1922, scientists successfully treated a 14-year-old diabetic patient with purified insulin. In 1928, it was proven that insulin was a protein. Insulin regulates the uptake and utilization of blood sugar by cells in the body. It uses liver cells to absorb blood sugar and stores it in the liver in the form of glycogen for the body's needs and use. The limited supply of insulin derived from bovine and porcine pancreas is in short supply. In 1955, scientist Sanger (who won the Nobel Prize twice in 1958 and 1980) measured the insulin sequence for the first time, making it possible to produce large amounts of human insulin through genetic engineering. On September 17, 1965, the world's first artificially synthesized protein, bovine insulin, was born in China.

Human beings have not had very effective preventive methods and therapeutic drugs for various infections for a long time, and the mortality rate caused by various infectious diseases ranks first. As early as 1871, Lister noticed that some molds could slow the growth of other microorganisms. Nearly 50 years later, Fleming observed the same phenomenon. Bacteria in a petri dish were inhibited by an accidentally contaminated Penicillium. He realized that the mold produced a chemical that prevented the growth of other bacteria. He cultivated the mold, studied its effect on other pathogenic bacteria, and discovered penicillin.

The rapid development of microbiology, anatomy, histopathology, cytology, biochemistry and molecular biology in modern times; the development of the three major metabolisms, namely protein metabolism, lipid metabolism and sugar metabolism; the discovery of energy metabolism , development; the essence of enzymes is protein, which is an important material basis of life; many basic phenomena of life, such as material metabolism, energy metabolism, nerves, respiration, digestion, endocrine, molecules, cells, tissues, organs, and body movements, All linked to enzymes and proteins.

In 1865, Mendel published "Experiments on Plant Hybridization". He used experiments to lay the foundation of genetics. In 1928, Griffith discovered that pneumococci contained "transformation factors." It was not until 1944 that Avery and others began to purify, analyze, and identify cell-free extracts of SIV bacteria containing R-S transformation factors, and concluded that the "transformation factor" was deoxyribonucleic acid, that is, DNA. . With sufficient understanding of the chemical nature of DNA, Hershey demonstrated in 1952 that bacteriophage DNA could carry the genetic information of the maternal virus to offspring, and the scientific community finally accepted the theory that DNA is the carrier of genetic information. In 1951, the report of the genetic transposon theory proved that genetic genes can be transferred and can also control other gene switches, opening a new chapter in the study of gene regulation.

In 1953, Watson and Crick proposed the DNA double helix structure model, which was a milestone in the birth of molecular biology; it determined the structural basis of DNA as a biological genetic information molecule. Base pairing is the basic method of nucleic acid replication and genetic information transmission, ultimately establishing that DNA is the material basis of heredity. In the 1960s, the genetic code encoding messenger RNA (mRNA) to synthesize proteins was deciphered, and it was proved that this genetic code is universal in the biological world, and the central dogma of biological genetic information transmission was established:

1990 The Human Genome Project has been implemented. This is the world's largest research plan and cooperation in the field of life sciences in history. It plans to determine the sequence of all 3x109 base pairs of human genomic DNA, and then determine one of the approximately 50,000 to 100,000 genes in humans. hierarchical structure, which will allow humans to better control their own destiny. Because, when the human genome research project was proposed, it would take about 1,500 years to complete the project according to the technical conditions at the time. However, with the rapid development of new technologies, in 2001, the entire human genome sequence was completed and published. The study of gene expression regulation mechanisms and the study of cell signaling regulation mechanisms have become new frontier fields. It will take a long road of research to thoroughly understand the functions, regulation, and inter-gene interactions and coordination of these gene products. In 1963, Chinese scientist Tong Dizhou pioneered the use of DNA injection to successfully clone a female carp. 33 years later, in 1996, with the birth of the cloned sheep "Dolly", mankind entered the era of genetic engineering. In 1997, scientist Prusiner discovered a new protein pathogenic factor - prion.