ABOUT MEDICINE

What Is Medicine?

Medicine has two basic meanings, it refers to 1. The Science of Healing; the practice of the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease, and the promotion of health. 2. Medications, drugs, substances used to treat and cure diseases, and to promote health. This collection of articles focuses on the science of healing, its history from prehistoric times until today, and the medications and healing methods used. 

Some people might call medicine a regulated patient-focused health profession which is devoted to the health and well-being of patients.
Modern medicine includes many fields of science and practice, including:

• Clinical practice - the physician assesses the patient personally; the aim being to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease using his/her training and clinical judgment.
• Healthcare science - a multidisciplinary field which deals with the application of science, technology, engineering (mathematics) for the delivery of care. A healthcare scientist is involved with the delivery of diagnosis, treatment, care and support of patients in systems of healthcare, as opposed to people in academic research. A healthcare scientist actively combines the organizational, psychosocial, biomedical, and societal aspects of health, disease and healthcare
• Biomedical research - a broad area of science that seeks ways to prevent and treat diseases that make people and/or animals ill or causes death. It includes several areas of both physical and life sciences. Biomedical scientists use biotechnology techniques to study biological processes and diseases; their ultimate objective is to develop successful treatments and cures. Biomedical research requires careful experimentation, development and evaluations involving many scientists, including biologists, chemists, doctors, pharmacologist, and others. It is an evolutionary process.
• Medications - drugs or medicines and their administration. Medications are chemical substances meant for use in medical diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevention of disease.
• Surgery - a branch of medicine that focuses on diagnosing and treating disease, deformity and injury by instrumental and manual means. This may involve a surgical procedure, such as one that involves removing or replacing diseased tissue or organs. Surgery usually takes place in a laboratory, operating room (theater), a dental clinic, or a veterinary clinic/practice.
• Medical devices - instruments, implants, in vitro reagents, apparatuses, or other similar articles which help in the diagnosis of diseases and other conditions. Medical devices are also used to cure disease, mitigate harm or symptoms, to treat illness or conditions, and to prevent diseases. They may also be used to affect the structure or function of parts of the body. Unlike medications, medical devices achieve their principal purpose (action) by mechanical, thermal, physical, physic-chemical, or chemical means. Medical devices range from simple medical thermometers to enormous, sophisticated and expensive image scanning machines.
• The History of Medicine - humans have been practicing medicine in one way or another for over a million years. In order to understand how modern medicine got to where it is now, it is important to read about the history of medicine. In this series of articles, you can read about: