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Emergence of agriculture leading to the first permanent settlements and beginning of civilization around great rivers, including the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Indus, and Yellow Rivers. Settlements led to diseases related to higher population numbers and the development of social classes and professions (including “medical” professions)
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Time of the life of Otzi the Iceman, who was found in 1991 in the Otzai Alps. He is thought to have perhaps been a shaman, as he was found with fire starting materials, mushrooms that may have been used as a styptic or antibacterial, and tattoos that some argue indicate an early form of acupuncture.
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Earliest medical papyrus. Contains descriptions of general cases, with each entry including title, examination, diagnosis, prognosis (including 'do not treat') and treatment
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Extensive record of Egyptian medical knowledge, including herbal, magical, and folk remedies.
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Healing linked to religion: oracles provided insights, Asclepius was the god of medicine - people could appeal to him or visit his temples to be cured or to learn more about the causes and treatments of their afflictions
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Approximate date for composition of the Sushruta Samhita (estimated by some to be the 6th century BCE, generally agreed as sometime in the 1st millennium BCE). Foundational text of Ayurvedic medicine with a focus on surgery.
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The lifetime of Hippocrates, foundational Greek physician. The Hippocratic writings generally date from around this time period; though associated with Hippocrates, they were written by multiple authors expressing multiple perspectives. Gave recommendations on living in harmony with nature, applying philosophy to individual cases, and using specific drugs when necessary.
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Lifetime of Bian Que, earliest recorded Chinese physician. He was a legendary healer and wrote the Bian Que Neijing.
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Lifetime of Herophilus, a Greek physician who studied in Alexandria. He was interested in anatomy and made many discoveries relating to human anatomy, doing so by breaking taboos against dissecting human bodies and performing vivisections.
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Approximate date for the Compendium of Caraka, a foundational text of Ayurvedic medicine.
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Approximate date for the composition of Huang Di Nei Jing, a foundational text in Chinese medicine.
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Lifetime of Pliny the Elder, influential Roman author and natural philosopher. His best-known work is his encyclopedic Natural History.
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Lifetime of Galen, a Roman physician and philosopher. His work was based on the humoral system and primarily focused on digestion. He also explored anatomy, though only through animal dissections.
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Approximate time of the establishment of Sowa Rigpa, the traditional Tibetan system of medicine
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Beginning and proliferation of legal corporations in Europe. Many medical professions were incorporated, most commonly barber-surgeons, surgeons, and apothecaries.
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Completion of Avicenna's Canon, a very comprehensive and influential record of Islamic medicine.
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Included the production of official guides to pharmacology and attempts to bring pharmacy in line with traditional principles, such as yin and yang.
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Founded as a student-run university by an organized student guild.
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Followed by outbreaks in 1363 and 1374. The Black Death ravaged Europe, resulting in a 30-45% general mortality rate and causing economic and social changes.
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Niccolò Leoniceno published this first criticism of Pliny, pointing out errors in the Natural History.
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Lifetime of Paracelsus, influential Renaissance physician. He drew on chemistry and alchemy to develop new "cures" and specific medicines.
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In Europe, paper becomes common enough to be used generally, leading to new sources about ordinary practitioners and 'common' medicine. These sources include letters, medical notebooks and casebooks, and handbills, pamphlets, and advertisements.
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By 1620 (101 years after Cortez's arrival in the Americas), the population of indigenous peoples in the Americas has dropped to only 1/20 or 1/25 of the original pre-contact population.
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Andreas Vesalius publishes De fabrica humani corporis, a detailed piece on human anatomy including anatomical illustrations. This work corrected many mistakes in common (Galenic) conceptions of anatomy.
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Portuguese physician and naturalist Garcia da Orta publishes Coloquios dos simples e droga da India (Colloquies on the simples and drugs of India). This work introduced Europeans to many 'new' simples, including china root, opium, ginseng, and hashish.
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Publication of Bencao Gangmu, or Compendium of Materia Medica, by Li Shishen. This is a comprehensive record of 1,892 simples used in Chinese medicine.
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Printed records, including contracts between midwives and a few works by women authors, date to this period. Institutionalization occurs as midwives' guilds are formed and as male midwives gain prominence due to increased state concern around fertility.
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Emergence of the medical marketplace and the proliferation of patent medicines.
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Lifetime of Sylvius, Dutch physician and scientist who championed materialism in chemistry.
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William Harvey published De motu cordis et sanguinis, establishing the circulation of the blood.
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Posthumous publication of De medicina Indorum, a collection of Jacobus Bontius' observations relating to tropical medicine.