SCIENTIFIC HEALTH BELIEF

 In Europe the dominant health care system is based on

allopathic medicine (an archaic term used to define

science-based, modern medicine.), and also when

Traditional Medicine has been partially or fully

incorporated into the public health care system like in

Tuscany, Traditional Medicine is still termed and

considered “complementary”, “alternative” or “non-

conventional” medicine.

 In Europe the pharmacopoeias of folk practitioners as

well as professional medical health care providers

contain thousands of medicines made from leaves, herbs,

roots, bark, animal, mineral energetic substances and

other materials found in nature like in Chinese,

Ayurvedic, Unani and other systems; like many practices

still based on energetic or traditional belief, so the

aim of this congress is to explore and survey, very old

and modern traditional based therapies and treatments

curing the principles of scientific medicine. (A

pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (from the

obsolete typography pharmacopœia, literally, "drug-

making"), in its modern technical sense, is a book

containing directions for the identification of compound

medicines, and published by the authority of a government

or a medical or pharmaceutical society.)

 The ancient Egyptians developed the theory of humorism,

Greek scholars and physicians reviewed it, and then

Roman, medieval Islamic, and European doctors adopted it.

Each humor was linked to a season, an organ, a temper,

and an element. The theory held that four different

bodily fluids — humors — influenced human health. They

had to be in perfect balance, or a person would become

sick, either physically or in terms of personality. An

imbalance could result from inhaling or absorbing vapors.

Medical establishments believed that levels of these

humors would fluctuate in the body, depending on what

people ate, drank, inhaled, and what they had been doing.

Lung problems, for example, happened when there was too

much phlegm in the body. The body’s natural reaction was

to cough it up. To restore the right balance, a doctor

would recommend: blood-letting, using leeches, consuming

a special diet and medicines but this theory lasted for

2,000 years, until scientists discredited it.

 Most Roman surgeons got their practical experience on the

battlefield. They carried a tool kit containing arrow

extractors, catheters, scalpels, and forceps. They used

to sterilize their equipment in boiling water before

using it. The Romans performed surgical procedures using

opium and scopolamine to relieve pain and acid vinegar to

clean up wounds.
 From the 1450s onwards, as the Middle Ages gave way to

the Renaissance, the Age of Discovery. This brought new

challenges and solutions.

 Girolamo Fracastoro (1478–1553), an Italian doctor and

scholar, suggested that epidemics may come from pathogens

outside the body. He proposed that these might pass from

human-to-human by direct or indirect contact.

 Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), a Flemish anatomist and

physician, wrote one of the most influential books on

human anatomy “De Humani Corporis Fabrica” (“On the

Structure of the Human Body”). He dissected a corpse,

examined it, and detailed the structure of the human

body.

 Paracelsus (1493–1541), a German-Swiss doctor, scholar,

and occultist, pioneered the use of minerals and

chemicals in the body. He believed that illness and

health relied on the harmony of man with nature. Rather

than soul purification for healing, he proposed that a

healthy body needed certain chemical and mineral

balances. He added that chemical remedies could treat

some illnesses.

 Because of the different discoveries during renaissance

period European scientific health belief was evolve from

being superstitious to becoming more aware on the

scientific way of treating illnesses.

 European believed that health can be maintained by diet,

rest and exercise. They also believed that through

immunization and preventive practices it will maintain

health. That a need of a monthly check up can help

diagnose a possible problem.

 European people believed that the source of their illness

are germs, pollutants, contaminants and lack of

cleanliness.

 Today, among other things, it involves vaccination

programs, promoting a healthful lifestyle and diet,

building hospitals, and providing clean water for

drinking and washing. The Romans, unlike the Greeks and

Egyptians, were firm believers in public health. They

knew that hygiene was vital to prevent the spread of

diseases.

 European now believed that ensuring access to quality

health care services is key evidence shows that our

health and well-being is mainly shaped by the conditions

in which we are born, grow, live, work and age.

 They believed that all sectors affect our health with

impact across generations, the reason why Europe build a

stronger and more advance health care system that focus

on primary health care and prevention.