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The Science and Practice of Medicine

Medicine is the science and practice of establishing diagnoses, prognoses, and treating diseases. It encompasses various health practices to maintain and restore health through disease prevention and treatment. Medicine applies scientific knowledge from biomedical research and genetics to diagnose and treat injury and disease through methods like pharmaceuticals, surgery, psychotherapy, and medical devices. Medicine has evolved from an art intertwined with philosophy and religion over thousands of years to a combination of art and science under the umbrella of medical science today. Traditional and alternative medicines remain commonly used along with or instead of scientific medicine.

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52 views2 pages

The Science and Practice of Medicine

Medicine is the science and practice of establishing diagnoses, prognoses, and treating diseases. It encompasses various health practices to maintain and restore health through disease prevention and treatment. Medicine applies scientific knowledge from biomedical research and genetics to diagnose and treat injury and disease through methods like pharmaceuticals, surgery, psychotherapy, and medical devices. Medicine has evolved from an art intertwined with philosophy and religion over thousands of years to a combination of art and science under the umbrella of medical science today. Traditional and alternative medicines remain commonly used along with or instead of scientific medicine.

Uploaded by

Mohamed Abubacker
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Medicine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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This article is about the science of healing. For medicaments, see medication. For other uses,
see Medicine (disambiguation).
"Academic medicine" redirects here. For the journal, see Academic Medicine (journal).
"Clinical medicine" redirects here. For the journal, see Clinical Medicine (journal).
Medicine

Statue of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine,


holding the symbolic Rod of Asclepius with its coiled
serpent
Specialist Medical specialty
Glossary Glossary of medicine

Medicine is the science and practice of establishing the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and
prevention of disease. 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.[1]

Medicine has been around for thousands of years, during most of which it was an art (an area
of skill and knowledge) 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). While stitching technique for sutures is an art learned through practice, the
knowledge of what happens at the cellular and molecular level in the tissues being stitched
arises through science.

Prescientific forms of medicine are now known as traditional medicine and folk medicine,
though they do not fall within the modern definition of “medicine” which is based in medical
science. Traditional medicine and folk medicine remain commonly used with, or instead of,
scientific medicine and are thus called alternative medicine (meaning “[something] other than
medicine”, from Latin alter, “other”). For example, evidence on the effectiveness of
acupuncture is "variable and inconsistent" for any condition,[2] but is generally safe when
done by an appropriately trained practitioner.[3] In contrast, alternative treatments outside the
bounds not just of scientific medicine, but also outside the bounds of safety and efficacy are
termed quackery.

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