Pre-scientific Medicine & Scientific Medicine PDF

Pre-scientific medicine and scientific medicine. Empirical medicine and the magical belief. Health and Disease DISEASE Naturalist Strictly scientific point of view, pursuing a valueneutral definition. Christian Boorse (1975)1: “Internal state that limits or deteriorates the normal function of an i...

Pre-scientific medicine and scientific medicine. Empirical medicine and the magical belief. Health and Disease DISEASE Naturalist Strictly scientific point of view, pursuing a valueneutral definition. Christian Boorse (1975)1: “Internal state that limits or deteriorates the normal function of an individual” Key problem: What is ‘normal’? 1Boorse, Normativist ‘Health’ and ‘Disease’ terms are value-laden since ‘health’ is a desired state by individuals. Implies subjective assessment (propioception, cultural values, beliefs) Key problem: How to assess ‘disease’? Ch. (1975). On the distinction between disease and illness. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 5, 49 – 68. HEALTH Absence of disease About Science and Medicine… MEDICINE Téchne Scientia Ask a Question Literature research Hypothesis Experiment Analysis True False About Science and Medicine… Yes, this is a linear view of History ;) PREHISTORY HISTORY Ancient ? Prescientific Middle Ages Modern SCIENCE Contemporary About Science and Medicine… Vietnamese Lên đồng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va7KvC124jY About Science and Medicine… Ayurvedic bloodletting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af5KnSxwcqw About Science and Medicine… Apicoectomy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH_4mq9yYzY About Science and Medicine… Lên đồng Empirical Physical tools value Interest in cause Rational Scientific method Ayurdevic bloodletting Apicoectomy About Science and Medicine… Classification of Medicines MAGICAL EMPIRICAL Primitive medicine Ancient medicine (Greece, Egypt, China, India) SCIENTIFIC Scientific-speculative Scientific-experimental Evidence-based medicine About Science and Medicine… There are multiple ways to fight the disease, but all them are based in one or more of the following foundations: 1. Magical beliefs Derived from a magical thinking 2. Empirical experience Remedies found by chance. Trial and error. No theoretical justification. 3. Scientific rationality Understanding why and how (causes, mechanisms, symptoms) things happen? Build an universal knowledge. Improve through a scientific method. Prescientific Medicine Magical medicine Existence of supernatural forces causing disease. Existence of alternative worlds, overlapped or parallel to the physical world we live in. There is a plan in the universe. There are special individuals (worlds mediators). It acts through rituals or magical procedures. Prescientific Medicine Magical procedures OBJECTIVE: To drive away evil supernatural forces (cure) or bring beneficial power (prevention/prophylaxis) EFFICACY 1. The RIGHT PERSON to control or access the supernatural world/forces 2. Location (caves, shrines…) 3. Time (moon phase, wheather, season…) 4. Magical analogies ➢ Magic by similarity ➢ Contagious magic (things conjoined must remain ever afterwards) 5. Magic associations 6. Magical symbolism: runes, words, gesture power (formulas revealed or belonging to sacred languages) Prescientific Medicine Empirical medicine 1. Primitive Medicine 2. Popular Medicine 3. Alternative Medicine Prescientific Medicine Primitive medicine Connection with magical belief but with empirical elements DISEASE and DEATH explained by action of supernatural forces. Supernatural mechanisms are few and culture-specific. SUPERNATURAL CAUSES NATURAL CAUSES Body intrusion of an object which causes the disease. Loss, evasion or theft of the soul. Possession by evil spirits. Witchcraft and harmful spells (Disease is caused by people with supernatural Powers). Transgression of a taboo. Healing would occur through confession, reparation or propitiation. Prescientific Medicine Primitive medicine The Healer Magician-healer, witch doctor, shaman… CHARACTERISTICS Multipurpose function within the community (teacher, priestly functions, magic...). They are both respected and feared. People who are marked by some singular characteristic: physical defects, convulsions, etc. The magic power comes to them through: - inheritance. - other magicians . - revelation achieved individually. Hijras in India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgw7M-JABMg Prescientific Medicine Primitive medicine Diagnosis Divination : - by means of some instrument such as seeds, shells, bones… - by the mediation of some "medium“. Treatment Use of herbs (we still do) as medicines: - tonics, syrups… -poisons. Rituals Prevention Purification rituals or ceremonies. Prohibitions or taboos. Possessing objects endowed with magical power: - Fetish: active magical power. - Amulet: passive protective power that responds only to one purpose. - Talisman: protects and brings good luck in general. It vehicles forces. Prescientific Medicine Popular medicine Interpretations and traditional healing methods. Empirical, symbolic, magical and religious elements. CHARACTERISTICS: They are transmitted orally. They are active and changeable. They are influenced by scientific medicine. They are compatible with other medical practices. They express a holistic or totalizing conception of the human body: health as a balance between the body, the universe and society, giving much importance to the prevention of this imbalance. Prescientific Medicine Popular medicine The ‘Popular’ Healer They belong to the same social group/environment as the patient and connect the patient to his/her socio-cultural context. Importance of the patient's sensations, even more than the diagnosis, and pain. It uses both natural remedies and magical-religious elements. The belief and trust of the patient in the healing person is fundamental. Popular healer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACjyX7tI7CA Prescientific Medicine Popular medicine Why do they still exist? They cover areas that scientific medicine does not: - Human point of view: the need for affection and integration. - Philosophical point of view: the need for explanation and meaning. - Magical-religious point of view: the need for spirituality, mysticism... Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine XXX Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine XXX Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine Theoretical-speculative system. Ying-Yang and Five Elements. Treatments: wide range (mainly acupuncture and herbal remedies). It is practiced in one fifth of Chinese hospitals coexisting with Western medicine. ACUPUNCTURE Theoretical foundation: Existence of "meridians" or circular channels that run through the body and conduct a kind of energy or life force called qi. The alteration of this flow produces diseases. Variants: Auricopuncture. Moxibustion. Digitopressure. Reflexology. Tui-na. Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine Artemisa vulgaris Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Homeopathy (‘similar’ from homo): The similar cures the similar. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Homeopathy (‘similar’ from homo): The similar cures the similar. Disease as disharmony of the life force. The diagnosis is fundamentally based on the patient's story. The treatment is individualized and based on: - Similarity. - Minimum doses. The effect is not related to the dose. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Naturopathic medicine Mid 19th century (→ Hippocrates). Naturism is a philosophical, sociological and psychological ideal. They trust in the healing force of nature. Restoring health through simple natural rules. Spiritualist and anti-materialist doctrine based on: 1.- Conscious and deep breathing. 2.- Vegetarian diet. 3.- Physical, mental and spiritual regeneration. Importance of individual "regeneration“ (vis medicatrix naturæ, `nature healing force’). Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Osteopathy Late XIX century. Disease rooted in musculoskeletal system. problems with the The diseases are due to the obstruction or imbalance of the fluids of the body, mainly the blood. Produced by the dislocation of the bones. Treatment is based on proper bone manipulation. Structural osteopathy. Visceral osteopathy. Cranial osteopathy (considered as pseudoscience). OMT technique for the treatment of impotence in the 1898 Osteopathy Complete manual. Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Chiropractic EEUU, late XIX century. The disease occurs as a result of impingement or pressure on the nerves as they exit the spine. Spinal manipulation. Prescientific Medicine Alternative medicine Risks of the social use of alternative medicine They induce the patient to abandon treatments with proven scientific efficacy. They weaken trust and social support for scientific medicine. They eliminate the critical capacity of patients. They promote a sense of guilt in patients when they are considered as responsible for their situation. They cause undue complaints to doctors in the Health System.