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A Brief History of Western Medical Practice

A Brief History of Western Medical Practice

  • Ancient Egypt

    • Practitioners were also priests.
    • Diseases viewed as spiritual afflictions.
    • Treatment limited to external maladies.

  • Modern Western Medicine (Greece, 4th-5th Century BC)

    • Originated in ancient Greece.
    • Strong connection between physical and spiritual health.
    • Physicians and religious figures held intertwined roles.

Hippocrates and the Secularization of Medicine

  • Hippocratic Oath

    • Proposed by Hippocrates, a significant Greek physician.

  • Secularization of Medicine

    • Shifted understanding of disease from spiritual to natural causes.
    • Introduced systematic, empirical observation in practice.
    • Core Principle: Balance central to Hippocratic medicine.

Galen's Contributions

  • Organ Functionality

    • Each organ has specific purposes and functions.

  • Key Contributions

    • Advanced anatomical and physiological knowledge.
    • Conducted dissections of pigs and apes.
    • Galen's discoveries influenced medicine for over 1,000 years.

Impact of the Roman Empire's Collapse

  • Decline of Medicine (4th Century AD)
    • Medicine lost prominence as religious scholarship grew.
    • Intellectual conflict between spiritual and empirical thought.

Medicine During the Medieval Period

  • Disease Perception

    • Viewed as a supernatural experience by medieval Christians.

  • Role of the Church

    • Healing attributed to the Church, illness linked to sin.
    • Priests practiced medicine but prohibited from surgeries.
    • Hospitals managed by the Church.

  • Advancements Amid Challenges

    • Impact of epidemics led to new inquiry methods.
    • Introduced concepts like quarantine, germ theory, and case histories.

Medicine by the Eighteenth Century

  • Advancements and Institutions

    • Organized and codified medical discoveries.
    • Western European universities became hubs for medical research.
    • Innovations included new medicines, tools, and surgical techniques.

  • Challenges

    • Limited funding and inadequate facilities, lack of specialization.

Separation of Medicine and the Church

  • Key Social Processes
    • Christian Doctrine Shift: Acceptance of autopsies due to Cartesian duality (separation of body and spirit).
    • Increased faith in science and individual rights led to secular medicine’s growth.

Medicalization: A Critique of Contemporary Medicine

  • Increasing Social Control
    • Human behaviors interpreted through a medical lens, leading to medicalization.
    • Enabled by acceptance of Cartesian duality (body and spirit separation).

Zola's Components of Medicalization

  1. Expansion of Scope
    • Broadening what is considered relevant to medical practice.
  2. Professional Control
    • Total authority of the medical profession over certain procedures.
  3. Exclusive Access
    • Medical professionals entering previously restricted life areas.
  4. Relevance of Medicine
    • Medical relevance extending to more daily life aspects.

Conrad & Schneider’s Five Stages of Medicalization

  1. Problem Identification
    • Behavior labeled as deviant.
  2. Medical Diagnosis
    • Condition defined; treatment developed.
  3. Scientific Legitimacy
    • Research reinforces the medical classification.
  4. Policy & Insurance Recognition
    • Diagnosis accepted by state and insurers.
  5. Institutionalization
    • Condition accepted as a medical fact.

Ivan Illich's Critique of Medicalization

  • Iatrogenesis

    • Contemporary medical practice creates disease while offering assistance.

  • Three kinds of Iatrogenesis

    1. Clinical
    • Injury/disability from medical care providers.
    1. Social
    • Medical intervention starts at birth, ends with aging care.
    1. Structural
    • Loss of autonomy leading to dependency.

Medicalization vs. Demedicalization

  • Physicians & Uncertainty

    • Doctors act despite uncertainties, defining illnesses.

  • Rise of Demedicalization

    • The influence of the allopathic medical model may decrease.

  • Declining Power of Medical Practitioners

    • Access to information via the Internet affects authority.
    • Rising medical costs not equating to better health outcomes.
    • Alternative health providers (CAMs) gaining popularity.
    • Prevalence of health risks influencing medical authority perspectives.