The History of Drugs Drug use and abuse is as old as mankind itself. Human beings have always had a desire to eat or drink substances that make them feel relaxed, stimulated, or euphoric. Humans have used drugs of one sort or another for thousands of years. Wine was used at least from the time of the early Egyptians; narcotics from 4000 B.C.; and medicinal use of marijuana has been dated to 2737 BC in China. As time went by, "home remedies" were discovered and used to alleviate aches, pains and other ailments. Most of these preparations were herbs, roots, mushrooms or fungi. They had to be eaten, drunk, rubbed on the skin, or inhaled to achieve the desired effect. One of the oldest records of such medicinal recommendations is found in the writings of the Chinese scholar-emperor Shen Nung, who lived in 2735 BC He compiled a book about herbs, a forerunner of the medieval pharmacopoeias that listed all the then-known medications. He was able to judge the value of some Chinese herbs. For example, he found that Ch'ang Shan was helpful in treating fevers. Such fevers were, and still are, caused by malaria parasites. South and Central American Indians made many prehistoric discoveries of drug-bearing plants. Mexican Aztecs even recorded their properties in hieroglyphics on rocks, but our knowledge of their studies comes mainly from manuscripts of Spanish monks and medical men attached to the forces of the conquistador Hernan Cortes (1485-1547). Pre-Columbian Mexicans used many substances, from tobacco to mind-expanding (hallucinogenic) plants, in their medicinal collections. The most fascinating of these substances are sacred mushrooms, used in religious ceremonies to induce altered states of mind, not just drunkenness. These were all naturally occurring substances. No refinement had occurred, and isolation of specific compounds (drugs) had not taken place. As the centuries unrolled and new civilizations appeared, cultural, artistic, and medical developments shifted toward the new centers of power. A reversal of the traditional search for botanical drugs occurred in Greece in the fourth century BC, when Hippocrates (estimated dates, 460-377 BC), the "Father of Medicine," became interested in inorganic salts as medications. Hippocrates' authority lasted throughout the Middle Ages and reminded alchemists and medical experimenters of the potential of inorganic drugs. In fact, a distant descendant of Hippocrates' prescriptions was the use of antimony salts in elixirs (alcoholic solutions) advocated by Basilius Valentius in the middle of the 15th century and by the medical alchemist Phillippus Aureolus Paracelsus (born Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, in Switzerland, 1493-1541).
It was an Egyptian man called Imhotep who had a great knowledge of advanced medicine through years of research whilst using infused oils and aromatic ointments. (Paterson, 2006). Medical papers have been discovered from the 1500’s which are known to hold various recipes and remedies in a wide range of ailments that have been used in Egyptian medicine at some point in time. Some of these methods are still used today and the application is still much the same as they were then. Remedies that are dated back to the first century most of which are still used in today's aromatherapy. Incense that were commonly used in people's homes were also formed from aromatics. They
Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BC) was born on the Aegean island of Cos, Greece. He learned his medical practices from his father, Heracleides, and Ancient Greek physician Herodicos of Selymbria. Like many big Greek names of the time, Hippocrates was thought to have come from the Gods. He was considered a descendent of Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Two major creations of Hippocrates have upheld the biggest influence on medical history. The peak of his career was during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C), where his healing tactics helped Athenian warriors (“Hippocrates”, 1998).
Almost all of the medications that we have today are due to the ancient greeks who were the first to use potions for healing and a wide variety of other reasons Herbs were used widely across the world but were especially used in greece. Many things from the greeks we can still find in our daily lives today. Ancient greek potions were one of the most important items in greek culture because they had an interesting mix of ingredients, were used for different reasons, and are the baseline of many of the medications we have today.
Grinspoon L, Bakalar JB (1981). Coca and cocaine as medicines: an historical review. J Ethnopharmacol. 1981 Mar-May; 3(2-3):149-59.
on herbal folk remedies used by Aztec women. It was found that some of herbs they were using
In today’s world, many people assume that the latest medical technology and treatments are always the best option. However, all over the world, different techniques for curing diseases and aliments are being used. These methods fall under the category of complementary and alternative medicine.
"Hippocrates (c. 460-c. 377 BC)." The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ideas. 2004: n.pag. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Secondly, marijuana is one of three gateway drugs. A gateway drug is a type of drug that leads people to try harder and more addictive drugs. The three gateway drugs are cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana. The most common drug that these gateway drugs lead to is cocaine. Usually marijuana is the last gateway drug people use because if they can do marijuana without any major issues they believe that it is possible for them to continue on to harder drugs. Without even realizing it they end up having addiction problems that spiral out of control. But if you go back, it all started with the use of marijuana. Children who are as young as twelve use at least one of the three gateway drugs and by the time they are 17 years old they are 266 times more
Native Americans are probably the people most known for their use of psychedelic drugs. Being a very religious people, their entire society revolved around the spirit world, and some believed that access to this world was possible by eating certain plants that were abundant in their surroundings. In what are now Mexico and the Southwestern United States, tribes familiarized themselves with mescaline, the active ingredient in the peyote cactus. Another drug that was used by tribes in these and many other areas was psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic ingredient of the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana and other psilocybe and conocybe species that grow on the pacific coast of North, South, and Central America. Ritual use of psilocybin and mesca...
Although it is not apparent whether or not Ancient Egyptian physicians had formal training or not, their methods for diagnosing and handling illnesses were very efficient at times. As a matter of fact, we still use some of their remedies today when we make medicines. Examples of the diagnosis and remedies for diseases in Ancient Egypt can be found in the Ebers Papyrus. This is one of the oldest known documentations of ancient medical practices, dating as far back as fifteen hundred BC. Steven Gilbert, the author of A Small Dose of Toxicology:
It is important for us to learn a much as we can about hallucinogenic plants. A great amount of scientific literature has been published about their uses and effects, but the information is locked away in technical journals. No matter whether we believe the use of hallucinogenic plants is right or wrong, they have played an extensive role in human culture and probably will continue to do so.
We started off by searching Hippocrates and for the first week just looked for reliable sources such as PBS, ancient.eu, and others. We eventually found his writings- the Hippocratic Corpus, which is a collection of dozens of medicinal books(60+). Since they are books, the Hippocratic
The use of herbal remedies to treat health problems in humans is a tradition that dates back many centuries. A precursor to modern, Western pharmaceuticals, traditional healers used herbs to treat a wide range of ailments and afflictions. While many are familiar with their use by American Indians, the practice of herbal therapy dates back to ancient Chinese and Egyptian healers. Herbs were used in ancient times to treat anything from headaches (with willow bark tea, now an active ingredient in aspirin) to fever and premenstrual syndrome (with chamomile). In an age of modern pharmaceuticals and their ready availability in Western culture, it is easy to forget that approximately 40% of today's modern medicines are produced with chemicals derived from plants (Counter 1998).
Hippocrates, often called the “father of medicine” was one of the earliest contributors to modern science. He was called the father of medicine because through his medical school, he separated medical knowledge and practice from myth and superstition basing them instead of fact, observation, and clinical ...
When you are sick you take medicine, but there are many remedies for the same problems. The use of herbal remedies traces back to the Chinese in the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well by a compiled book in China written back more than 2,000 years ago (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). Modern medicine has roots that are more recent in the development and production of synthesize drugs (Wachtel-Galor & Benzie, 2011). The old generations took herbal remedies to improve their health, but now as time and people, progressed modern medicine comes on top. Herbal and modern medicines have good and bad points, but one has qualities that are more effective.