UNIT 1.

Reading Section:
A Brief History of Medicine
It is very difficult if not impossible to pinpoint the exact
point in space or time where medicine originated, since
many of our early ancestors never left any written
documents about this topic. So, one can only guess what
happened in the beginning. Many years ago, diseases
were viewed as something part of the natural existence
or having a supernatural origin – someone cast a spell or
someone insulted a god and as a result you got sick – or
were simply attributed to possession by an evil spirit.
Religion and magic played a huge part in the medicine of
early human society. The administration of a remedy or a
vegetable drug was most of the times accompanied by
incantations, grimaces or dancing. Consequently, the
first “doctors” were sorcerers or witch doctors.
It is Egypt where one of the most famous and the
first physician arises: Imphotep. He is considered by
some to be the “real father of medicine” (William Osler,
1928), since he is believed to had some knowledge of

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anatomy and medical treatments derived from plants. He
is also credited with being the founder of Egyptian
medicine and the author of the so-called Smith Papyrus
(James Henry Breasted, 1991), a collection of no less
than 48 specimen clinical records of injuries, wounds,
fractures, dislocations and tumors.
Classical scholars, on the other hand, have
always considered the ancient Greeks, Hippocrates in
particular, as being the father of medicine. However,
some scholars from the University of Manchester – the
KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology – discovered
evidence of medical papyri written in 1500BC – 1000
years before Hippocrates was born. The medical
documents show that ancient Egyptian physicians treated
wounds with resins, honey and metals, known to be
antimicrobial. So what about Hippocrates? He was a
well known physician in the ancient world and one of the
most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. We
know from Plato that he was born around 430 BC, that
he came from the island of Cos and taught medicine for
free. However, it is complicated to separate the facts of
Hippocrates’ life from the tales told about him.

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Hippocrates is believed to be the first person to consider
that diseases are caused naturally not because of Gods or
superstitions. He has been respected for his ethical
standards in medical practice, especially for the
Hippocratic Oath (a seminal document on clinical ethics
of medical practice) – which nowadays, it is suspected
he did not write. He is considered to be the “father of
medicine” in recognition of his lasting contribution to
the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of
Medicine, a school that revolutionized medicine in
ancient Greece. In addition to this, roughly 60 medical
documents associated with his name have survived to
this day gathered in a collection known as the
Hippocratic Corpus.
The history of medicine is full of major turning
points. In the 1570s for example, Ambroise Pare used
ligatures to stop bleeding during and after surgery thus
reducing the risk of infection. In 1668, Antony van
Leeuwenhoek built a more advanced microscope that
magnified up to 200 times. In 1796, Edward Jenner
discovered vaccinations using cowpox to treat smallpox.

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In 1847, James Simpson discovered Chloroform but
doctors had problems figuring up how much to give to
patients. The French microbiologist Louis Pasteur
developed the Germ Theory in 1861, whilst working on
a technique to keep beer and wine fresh. In 1881 Robert
Koch discovered the bacteria that caused anthrax,
establishing thus a new method of staining bacteria.
With the help of his method the causes of many diseases
could be established: Typhus, Tuberculosis, Pneumonia,
Meningitis, etc. 1895 brought to the fore two great
names: The German physicist William Röntgen who
discovered X-Ray and Marie Curie who discovered
radioactive elements polonium and radium. In 1901,
scientists found out that there were different blood
groups which lead to the first 100% successful blood
transfusions. Twenty-seven years later, in 1928, the
Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovered
Penicillin – the fungus grew on a petri dish of
Staphylococcus bacteria. The year 1954 witnessed the
first-ever successful transplant of a kidney carried out by
Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume in Boston,
USA. In 1967 Christian Barnard carried out the first

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heart transplant to a patient in South Africa who lived for
18 days. In the 1970s, Dr. Raymond Damadian
developed the first full-body MRI, an invention that
revolutionized the medical world since the device could
diagnose the patient in a non-invasive manner. The
2010s witnessed the surge of artificial intelligence used
in the early detection and diagnosis of many diseases and
to recommend treatments to doctors. These are just e few
medical breakthroughs that have changed our lives.

Discussion
1. Why is Imhotep considered the “real father of
medicine”?
2. Why is Hippocrates viewed as the “father of
medicine”?
3. Name some major medical advantages?
4. How were diseases viewed in the past?
5. Who developed the Germ Theory?
6. Who is Robert Koch?
7. Who discovered vaccination?

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 8. What is the difference between an X-Ray
machine and an MRI?

Review
A. Complete the following sentences with the
appropriate word:
1. Physician is another name for ……….
2. A ………. is a pathological condition which
causes abnormal body functions and presents
certain symptoms or signs.
3. An ………. is a form of radiation used to create
photogenic images of internal organs and bones.
4. The instrument that uses a series of lenses to
produce magnified images of objects too small to
be seen with the naked eye is called a ……….
5. As an important step in becoming a doctor,
medical students must take the ……….
6. The theory that certain diseases are caused by the
invasion of body by microorganisms is called ….
7. R. Koch discovered the bacteria that caused ……

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8. ………. is a type of scan that uses strong
magnetic fields and radio waves to produce
detailed images of the inside of the body.
B. What are some common medical folk beliefs in
your community or society?
C. What medical career have you chosen? Why?
D. Look at the following statements. Which are
true? Which are false? Correct the false
statements.
1. Many years ago, diseases were viewed as
something part of the natural existence …..
2. Hippocrates is credited with being the author
of the so-called Smith Papyrus …..
3. The Hippocratic Corpus is a collection of 48
specimen clinical records of injuries, wounds,
fractures and tumors…..
4. Ambroise Pare discovered vaccination to
treat smallpox …..
5. Robert Koch discovered the bacteria that
caused anthrax
6. Marie Curie discovered Penicillin …..

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 7. The German physicist William Röntgen
discovered the MRI machine …..
8. The first-ever successful transplant of a
kidney was carried out by Dr. Joseph Murray
and Dr. David Hume in Boston, USA.

Vocabulary practice
A. The following words are all verbs. What are
the noun forms:
1. originate 6. establish
2. get sick 7. grow
3. discover 8. witness
4. treat 9. diagnose
5. reduce 10. carry

B. Find synonyms in the text for the following

words:
1. doctor 5. medical care
2. medicine 6. wound
3. illness 7. procedure
4. ill 8. development

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C. Find antonyms in the text for the following
words:
1. possible
2. unknown
3. modern
4. easy
5. ephemeral
6. minor
7. mould
8. unsuccessful

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Glossary
cowpox /kˈa͡ ʊpɒks/ - variola vacii
dislocation /ˌdɪslə(ʊ)ˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ - dislocaţie, deplasare
drug /drʌɡ/ - medicament, leac, drog
fungus /ˈfʌŋɡəs/ - fungus, ciupercă
germ /dʒəːm/ - bacteria, microb
injury /ˈɪn(d)ʒ(ə)ri/ - leziune
ligature /ˈlɪɡətʃə/ - ligatură
physician /fɪˈzɪʃ(ə)n/ - medic, doctor, tamaduitor
remedy /ˈrɛmɪdi/ – remediu, leac, panaceu
resin /ˈrɛzɪn/ - răşină natural
seminal /ˈsɛmɪn(ə)l/ - important
smallpox /ˈsmɔːlpɒks/ - variolă
sorcerer /ˈsɔːs(ə)rə/ - magician, vraci, vrajitor
stain /steɪn/ - a colora
typhus /ˈtʌɪfəs/ - tifos
wound /wuːnd/ - rană, plagă, cicatrice

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