The Medicine Portal
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Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Contemporary medicine applies biomedical sciences, biomedical research, genetics, and medical technology to diagnose, treat, and prevent injury and disease, typically through pharmaceuticals or surgery, but also through therapies as diverse as psychotherapy, external splints and traction, medical devices, biologics, and ionizing radiation, amongst others.
Medicine has been practiced since prehistoric times, and for most of this time it was an art (an area of creativity and skill), frequently having connections to the religious and philosophical beliefs of local culture. For example, a medicine man would apply herbs and say prayers for healing, or an ancient philosopher and physician would apply bloodletting according to the theories of humorism. In recent centuries, since the advent of modern science, most medicine has become a combination of art and science (both basic and applied, under the umbrella of medical science). For example, while stitching technique for sutures is an art learned through practice, knowledge of what happens at the cellular and molecular level in the tissues being stitched arises through science.
Prescientific forms of medicine, now known as traditional medicine or folk medicine, remain commonly used in the absence of scientific medicine and are thus called alternative medicine. Alternative treatments outside of scientific medicine with ethical, safety and efficacy concerns are termed quackery. (Full article...)
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Did you know –
- ...anyone who falsely claims to be a biomedical scientist in the UK commits an offence and could be fined up to £5000?
- ...Hyperkalemia (hyper is high, kalium is the Latin name for potassium) is an elevated blood level (above 5.0 mmol/L) of the electrolyte potassium? Extreme degrees of hyperkalemia are considered a medical emergency due to the risk of potentially fatal arrhythmias.
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- ... that the Noongar used the Eucalyptus wandoo tree as a medicine and ointment?
- ... that James A. Merriman was the only Black graduate from Rush Medical College in 1902 and the first African-American physician to practice medicine in Portland?
- ... that Indian gynaecologist and reproductive medicine pioneer Baidyanath Chakrabarty, who performed over 4,000 IVF procedures, was a cricket fan who thought Virat Kohli and Ashwin were "such good boys"?
- ... that Constance Fozzard was told during her surgical training that women with children could not become consultants?
- ... that fourteenth-century Buddhist monk Tuệ Tĩnh is referred to as a founding father of traditional Vietnamese medicine?
- ... that Margaret C. Roberts was encouraged to study medicine by LDS Church leader Brigham Young to reduce mortality rates during childbirth?
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