Occidental Medicine History (2/2)

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance saw medicine growth through the anatomy of the human body. Nevertheless, body understandings remain under the control of the Church.

Any controversies are banished. For example, Michel Servet, who explained that venous blood was first purified by lungs before going to the heart, was burned with all his writings. In those times, surgery was considered as a manual work, scorned by those who speak in Latin about medical philosophy. 

During the seventieth century, beliefs are disregarded towards observation, analysis and logical reason. Human body is studied like a machine that one tries to catch the mechanism. Each organ is seen as a part of a very complex machine.

 

This does not prevent the survival of a metaphysical vision. During the eightieth century, animist philosophy thinks that our body is not only a site with physicochemical exchanges but also depends on “vital impulse”.

More than an increasing knowledge, the living conditions (hygiene) helps getting a better health. Occidental Medicine succeeds in surgical domain and in treating symptoms. Restricting body to a mechanical system, occidental medicine gets some lacks in psychosomatic and chronic disorders, and for some psychoses.

Even the relative success of actual pharmacopoeia, drugs induce most of the time side effects.

Then, we frequently have some 5- or 6-drug orders to treat a single disease. One or two are really relevant, the other ones is to treat side effects.

 

Actually, western medicine is an emergency medicine, treating only when symptoms appear.
Only vaccination concerns the preventive vision of modern medicine. It must thus be supplemented by other kinds of therapy.