Difference between Common Cold and Flu needs to be understood

Now most of us will not know the difference between common cold and flu, but these needs to be understood at the same time is not easy to differential when it is a common cold or when it is a flue.  While common colds can leave you drained and feeling unwell for the most part, which cause nasal congestion, fever, and is over in a few days, they are rarely medically serious.

Flu, on the other hand, can actually, sometimes be very serious, and come on quickly.  Symptoms of flu include sore throat, fever, headaches, your lungs are affected to a greater extent, especially for those who are already vulnerable, in addition to above, those suffering from flu will also experience symptoms like sweating, feeling shivery, more severe muscle aches and pains, and dry chesty cough, loss of appetite and will make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks, and may also lead to further complications like pneumonia and hospitalizations, particularly the young and the elderly or people with lung or heart problems.  If you notice shortness of breath, you should know your doctor immediately.  Just like the cold viruses, flu viruses also enter your body through the eyes, mouth or nose.  Every time you touch your hand to one of these areas, and other places, you could be passing these virus to yourself as well as others.

When you cannot take the onslaught of attack by the virus in case of flu, the headaches, fever of more than 101, you will naturally go to a hospital.  The doctor will prescribe you medicine to alleviate the symptoms associated with the flu.  The doctor might even prescribe you antibiotics which should be used only rarely and never forget to take the complete dosage as per the doctor’s advice.  Never stop taking antibiotic half way assuming that your flu symptoms are gone and that you are cured.  More on this in next episode. 

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Nowadays, most of us do not keep a record of common cold, but keeping record of when you got the cold/flu and what medication was taken, what test was done, and the results of the laboratory test, come in handy sometimes in the future.  I can understand that in some countries, the medical records are not given to the patients but at least keeping a track of those records that can be tracked might be useful at a later stage.

Common Cold – Viral infection of the nose and throat and cause, treatment and cure - 1

There are more than 200 cold viruses, and the most common of which are Rhinoviruses.  More than 110 distinct rhinovirus types have been identified.  Coronaviruses are believed to cause a large percentage of all adult colds and normally induce colds primarily in the winter and early spring.  Though there are more than 30 isolated strains, three or five infect humans.

Many people are nowadays convinced that a cold results from their exposure to cold weather, or from getting chilled soft drinks, but the fact is that these conditions have little or no effect on the development or severity of the cold.  Cold viruses cause infection by overcoming the body’s defense system.

The body’s first line of defense against viruses that come through nose or mouth is mucous, the mucous is produced by the membranes in the nose and throat.  Mucous job is to trap the material that we inhale, pollen, dust, bacteria and viruses.  When a virus penetrates the mucous like in the case of cold virus and enters a cell, it commandeers the protein making machinery to manufacture new viruses.

The cold symptoms of runny nose and sneezing nothing but the immune system way of attacking the cold virus.  The cold virus infected cells in the nose sends out signals that recruits specialized white blood cells which release chemicals.  These chemicals are the causative factor for symptoms of the common cold by causing swelling and inflammation of the nasal membranes, leakage of proteins and fluids from capillaries and lymph vessels and the increased production of mucous to get rid of the cold virus.

For common colds, the above symptoms like runny nose, are indication that the body is taking care to get rid of the invaders.   After this, only symptomatic treatment is required in uncomplicated cases of the common cold like take bed rest, plenty of fluids, gargling with warm water, no need of even medicine.  The above symptomatic treatment should take care to relieve your cold symptoms and even shorten the duration of illness without the over the counter medicines.

Common Cold – Viral infection of the nose and throat and cause, treatment and cure

A cold is also called infectious rhinitis, a viral infection of the nose through to the throat.  A cold is normally a self-limiting conditions, and that means that it only last so long and goes away on its own and it should, the main reason being that the body’s immune system takes care of the virus, but before going away the cold viruses may wing their way to your family members or friends, or relatives with whom you may have come in contact with during the time of your cold. 

For most of us, coming down with flu at least a couple of times during the year is considered normal, but remember that cold that you get should go away on its own.  If it goes away on its own then one can say that your immune system has fought the viruses and destroyed which is a very good sign but at the same time, coming down with flu for a couple of times in a year is also cause for worry since it generally means that your immune system is turning weak, your immune system should have neutralized the cold virus even without your knowledge that you were attacked by a cold virus.  The only worrying matter is that this might be a start stage for a severe illness or disease that are likely to be more severe than the common cold with its runny nose, sore throat, and sneezing, shows that the immune system is breaking down at a slow pace but then picking up and finishing off the invaders under any circumstances, giving you relief but then again it attacks after some period of time, which means that the immune system though managed to get rid of the cold, still it is being overwhelmed by the repeat bouts of cold virus all the year around and this should raise your danger signal and make you ask questions as to why I am targeted with cold virus a number of times during the year and off course make you run to the doctor, not for the same of taking medicine to subdue it, but to find cause of repeated bout of cold which is what is lacking in current medical scenario.

If you have observed there are some people who have extraordinary robust immune systems, that is without taking any nutritional supplements regularly to boost the immune system and that is a very good sign and they always should endeavor to maintain it, and for that one needs to main proper diet, exercise, proper channeling of emotions.

More about T-cells and B-cells that protect your body from invaders

Our immune system is one of nature’s most fascinating inventions of our body.  It protects us against billions of bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi with ease.  Most of us never reflect upon the fact that while we hang out with our friends, go shopping, or go to school, our immune system is constantly on the alert, attacking whatever invaders coming through our skins, mouth, ears, eyes, and also attacking those critters that are multiplying inside our body.

A little info about how they are formed.  There are cells called White blood cells in every human body called lymphocytes, these White blood cells originate in the bone marrow but migrate to parts of the lymphatic system such as the lymph nodes, spleen and thymus.    The lymphatic system also involves a special transportation system – lymph vessels – mainly for transportation and storage of lymphocyte cells within the body.  The lymphatic system feeds cells into the body and filters out dead cells and invading organism such as bacteria.  There are two main types of lymphatic cells, T-cell and B-cells.  As informed earlier, T-cells come in two different types, helper cells and killer cells.  They are called T-cells after the thymus, which is an organ situated under the breastbone.  T-cell produced in the bone marrow and later move to the thymus where they mature.  B-cells are continuously produced in the bone marrow from where they migrate to secondary lymphoid tissues where some develop into mature B cells.

Apart from the T-cells and B-cells and their subset cells.  There is a cell called plasma cell which are derived from B-cells.  The role of the plasma cells is in producing a specific protein, called an antibody that responds to antigen.  Antibodies are released from the plasma cell so that they can seek out invaders and help destroy them.  Plasma cells produces antibodies that too at an amazing rate and that release tens of thousands of antibodies per seconds.  Antibodies trap invading viruses or bacteria in large clumps.  This makes it easy for the macrophages to eat them.  Antibody coated viruses are called “neutralized”, they are so called because they cannot infect your cells, as even after you have fought off your infections, some antibodies stay in your blood.

Introduction to Immune System – 4 – You can get back your health even if it has reached cancer stage

Cont’d…

Now, the T-cells can also call up the B-cells to join in their fight against the invaders, depending on the type of germs and depending other factors at play during invasion, the B-cell is very important because it can not only trap but also  mark the germs that haven’t yet infected a cell.  The B-cell shoots out antibodies, which is like a net.  These nets are called immunoglobulins and they look to us like the letter “Y”.  The germs are caught in the fork of the “Y” and neutralized so they are not able to infect your body.  Just like the killer T-cell, the B-cell will make more and more copies of itself in your lymph nodes before it heads to the infection site.  When we feel swollen lymph nodes, it’s because our activated B-cell and T-cells are making armies to fight against the invaders.

When all germs are destroyed, the battle is over and the area of cut is healed completely.  The T-cells and B-cells go back to your lymph nodes, and wait for signals of any other invaders.  Also the macrophage returns to patrol the skin, looking for new infections.  Now the T-cells and B-cells have fought the infection in the skin now and have experience of fighting those specific germs that invaded through the cuts and now they have information about that specific germs stored in the cells for future battle when required and these cells are called Memory cells.  These memory cells give your body a great advantage if you get infected by the same germs and the T-cells and B-cells get a huge head start and can build their cell armies in half the time during the next germ invasion.

An important difference between T-cells and B-cells is that B-cells can connect to antigens right on the surface of the invading virus or bacteria, while T-cells can only connect to antigens from the outside of the infected cells.

The human’s Acquired Immune System, mainly the T-cells and B-cells are responsible for the destruction of foreign particles once they enter the body.  Before it has seen a foreign particle, it is actually quite ignorant about how to destroy it.  During the first exposure to an invader, the acquired immune system must learn how to attack and destroy the foreign particles, for keeping out things it has never encountered before, hence once the acquired immune system has created a response, a protective response can be made more quickly and with greater force, allowing it to protect the body from harm.  You need to know that apart from T-cells and B-cells, there are also other important part of the acquired immune system that comes to play when required.

Introduction to Immune System – 3 – You can get back your health even if it has reached cancer stage

Cont’d…

In the beginning of the infection at the cut site, all invaders are treated the same.  Macrophages eat individual germs.  If the number of invaders are very small most of the time the macrophages can take care of it on its own.  This stops a major infection from starting but usually when they are not able to destroy all the germ invaders, they get the help from other cell defenders.  After macrophage eats up a germ, it takes the most unusual pieces of the germ, called antigens.   The macrophage now needs to report its findings and the unusual pieces to a dendritic cell that is patiently waiting inside the lymph for such an eventuality.  Note that communication of such information are very quick within the body.  This dendritic cell then takes the antigen, like ID tags from the macrophages and reports the information to the inactivated helper T-cells and B-cells.   The T-cell then activates and makes more and more copies of itself.

 

The first defender, the T-cells, is a type of T-cell which is called the helper and it acts like a ‘commander’ of your immune system army.  It normally knows what kind of invader it’s dealing with.  It decides whether a war is needed and how strong and thus the T-cell activates into a full-fledged commander.  A plan of action will be made.  Sometimes the danger is great.  During times like these, the body has another special fighters, just like wrestlers come in different age and weight classes to match an opponent, some T-cells are made for certain germs.  The special fighter T-cells in your immune system are called killer T-cells.  The helper T-cells go into the lymph node and find the one killer T-cell that matched to the invader and call them into the fight.  Thereafter, these cells activate and jump into action and follow the patch of cytokines to the injury and begin the full-scale attack against the germs.  The activated killer T-cells scans all the skin cells around the cut and try to find the special antigen that marks invader cells.  The antigen can even alert them to the invader if it’s hiding inside of one of your skin cells.  Once the antigen is found near the cut site, these killer T-cells shoot out cytotoxins that immediately destroy the antigen and any skin cell it has infected.  Thereafter, the macrophage then comes and gobbles up the dead, germ-filled skin cells and keep your system clean.

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The lymphatic system has a special route through which immune cells can move around the body.  The major parts of this system included the lymph nodes, the thymus, spleen, tonsils, and bone marrow.  In these organs, immune cells grow, multiply, or are recycled, keeping the immune system running.  Lymphatic vessels alongside your veins delivering immune cells throughout the body

Introduction to Immune System – 2 – You can get back your health even if it has reached cancer stage

Our immune system is the best protection mechanism that our body uses to defend from the various viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi.  Sometimes, it tends to grow weak due to various reasons, may be a poor diet, unhygienic food, some kind of illness, and nowadays due to worry, stress, keeping anger in mind, think of same thing in your mind day in and day out, and various other causes can be attributed to the immune system going weak.  Some of these causes you might not even heard about it and wondering whether there is any truth in this.

This is how it goes into the art of healing the body.  Say in the kitchen, you accidently cut your finger, a small cut it might be, besides the pain you are feeling from the cut, there are germs that try to invade your body through that cut and then immediately your body’s immune system also comes into act. First of all, the blood cells called platelets join together at the cut and forms a clot to stop the bleeding and at the same times release chemicals called cytokines into your bloodstream.  Cytokines attract the attention of certain cells to start healing the cut.  At the same time, they also alert your immune system to scan for infection in the injured area.  You might notice the injured area swelling and getting read as all the cells that the cytokines called rush to the scene.  This swelling is called inflammation.  As the germs begin to attack your body, several different immune cells also come to help fight them off and these are the cells that just hang out just beneath your skin and wait for germs.  These are called macrophages and they function like dump trucks.  They go around underneath your skin and collect all the garbage that isn’t supposed to be there.  These include damaged cells or bacteria that can cause infections.

Two types of cell defenders, that live in your lymph nodes, called inactivated T-cells and B-cells, are also waiting for a chain of communication to begin, to start their work.

To be cont’d…..

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As you can see, a small cut and the immune system comes into play to protect your body, that in itself is an indication that any issues in your body can be got under controlled or cured, be it a small infection or be it a word called ‘Cancer.

Introduction to Immune System - 1 - You can get back your health even if it has reached cancer stage

Introduction to Immune System

Before going into the cause of illness and disease, we need to know something about our immune system.  Immune system is an important network of cells, tissues and organs that work together to defend the body against attack by foreign invaders or enemy which are primarily germs which are very tiny, and also infection causing organism such as parasites, bacteria, viruses and fungi.  The human body provides an ideal environment for many microbes, and when they are able to break in, due to low immunity, they break into human body through various parts of our body.  It is the Immune systems job to keep these critters out of the body, failing which, if they enter the body, the job of the immune system to seek out and destroy them completely.

Our Immune system is amazingly complex.  It can even recognize and remember millions of different enemies, and it can produce secretions and cells to match up with and wipe out each one of them.  The secret of it’s success is its elaborate and dynamic communications network.  Millions and millions of cells, organized into sets and subsets, gather like clouds of bees swarming around a hive and pass information back and forth.

You need to know that every second of your life, you are under attack from bacteria, viruses, spores and many more live stuff that are foreign and wants to enter your body and use your body’s resources for sustenance and it is the immune system that protects you from all these microscopic invaders without the immune system you would die in no time.  Though this might very simple but what goes on inside the body to protect your is very complex.

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You can know whether you immune system is working properly or whether your immune system is strong but answering a simple questions.  Do you get sick quite often?  Do you take sick days off from work quite often? Are you fatigued day in and day out?  Do you have frequent colds and sore throat?  if yes to any of these, then your immune system is weak and trying to cope up with many challenges in the body. 

Cause of common cold - ways to improve immunity of the body as per Ayurved

What happens when the dimmed fire inside the body fails to burn body toxins or “Ama”, the “Ama” accumulates, clogging the micro channels of the body and generating phlegm.  It is clearly proved that “Phlegm” or “Kapha” combined with toxins, or “Ama” makes mucous, and the final outcome is cold, for which you will go running to the doctor.

As per Ayurveda, at such times your body is ripe and ready for any virus attack.  When your immunity is strong, the body does not let virus grow but when the immunity is weak as in the case of dimmed fire inside the body, the body becomes susceptible to virus and bacteria to thrive in that environment.

So you have seen that cause for a simple cold.  Though the route to common cold is as elaborated above but many other factors also contribute to causing a cold which can be old age, immune system not working 100% and many others factors.  Obviously the key point here is to keep the body fires burning bright.  This is easily achieved, if you understand that most of the Ayurveda advice is plain commonsense and logic.

Ayurved Vaidyas may give you a “must dos” and “don’t dos” for the winter immunity but remember that not all body is same, not all body is in the same state of health, hence this rule might not apply to all those patients out there who think that I am doing as per the directions of the Ayurved but still why did I get the cold, so remember not all treatment is same for every other individuals, keeping this in mind, the following to be followed.

During winter, there are some food that you should stay away from if you are prone to cold, it is ice-cream, yogurt, you need to avoid tomatoes, eggplant, bananas, etc.  You need to keep your insides warm with warm spices like cumin included food, black pepper, coriander, cumin, clove are excellent too.  During winter, minimize on cakes and desserts since these require more fire to digest.  Add more yellow spice called the turmeric in your food, this kills “Ama” and builds immunity.  All that you need to add is a quarter teaspoon of turmeric in your veggies and lentils.

Lifestyle – Start your day with two glass of warm water.  Don’t skip meals or overeat, eat fresh, well-cooked food.  Do not fast during winter, fasting weakens body defenses, sleep on time.

Anything is possible, provide you believe it is possible, provided you go to a alternative doctor who knows his job very well.

Let me narrate to you a true story of a couple, the husband had a very low sperm count.  They consulted a Fertility Specialist who said that the husband had a very low count of sperms and if they wanted to have children they will have to use donor sperm, donor embryo, adopt, be childless or the only last option is to do Testicular / Epididymal Sperm Aspiration or Extraction(TESE).

TESE was the newest of the aspiration techniques in testicular sperm retrieval.  In this procedure, a small amount of testis tissue is taken by biopsy under local anesthesia.  It is a breakthrough in that it demonstrates that sperm do not have to be ‘matured’ and pass through the epididymis in order to fertilize an egg, because of their immaturity, testicular sperm needs Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).  Men with poor sperm production go for such procedures.  Though pregnancies are now routine in cases of poor sperm production, but there is some concern with the use of such sperms because in most cases the underlying condition causing the poor sperm production cannot be investigated on case to case basis.  Also, the main worry is that the condition which may be causing the infertility, may be transmitted to the progeny and this worry is in fact a reality as my future blog will put light on these too.

Coming back to the case of the husband and wife mentioned above.  As no other alternative was there and they only wanted a child from their bloodline, they decided to go for the TESE ICSI Option unfortunately the TESE ICSI option failed them.  From the TESE, they were unable to find even one sperm and the couple were back to square one or the other options of donor sperm, donor embryo, adopt or be childless.

Around that time, one of their friends suggested to them about going for Ayurveda medical treatment from a reputed and well known Ayurveda Vaidya (Doctor) and they decided to try out the treatment after assurance that semen count and quality can be improved through Ayurveda medical treatment.  The husband started on the treatment for more than 1 year, he also followed the diet that was restricted for him, he had to follow the diet without fail, then they decided again to go for the ICSI treatment using the husband’s sperm and this time they got successful.  As you can see, they had no hope and Ayurveda was their last hope but in fact it should have been their first hope, if it had been they would have been blessed with their own biological child years ago.  As you can see they chose to believe in Ayurveda against all advice from majority others.  Their choice of that particular Ayurved Vaidya(Doctor) was in their favour and that Vaidya who know what he was doing unlike 95% of those who do not know what they are doing and thus give a bad name to Ayurved Doctors as a whole.  Also note that it took time.  Yes, all illness can be cured provided you have the time, money and the desire to get well. 

So believe it, out there, there are lots of alternative medicine branches which will bring back your health even if it has reached the cancer stage.

Coming of age - finding of cause for illness and disease, be it common cold or cancer

In ancient Egypt, people started realizing the influence of environment for the cause of the illness, particularly the great River Nile.  The Nile was the best source of water for drinking, cooking and washing but it also harbored parasites and other water borne parasites that was not at all beneficial to humankind.  Egyptians used to wade through the water, particularly in the agricultural irrigation channels, and parasites such as Schistosoma worm would enter human host, via the feet or legs, to lay eggs in the bloodstream.  These worms would cause a lot of damage by their travel through various internal organs, making sufferers weak and susceptible to many other diseases for which the Egyptian did not even know what it was, let alone the treatment for the same, but treated they were, with all sorts of trail and errors and which was the only option at that time.  Sometimes ancient Egyptians used to unknowingly take in the guinea worms in their drinking water which went undetected into their body, these female guinea work would travel to its preferred site, the host’s leg, in order to lay her eggs and causing ill health.

In spite of having a wide variety and range of foodstuffs, cereals, fruits, vegetables, milk and meat produced, not everybody in Egypt had adequate nutrition which is one of the reason for falling ill.  There have been evidence from bodies of ancient Egyptians that were retrieved from their graves that some people suffered from nutritional deficiencies.  Flies, dirt and sand particles may also have caused infections of the eyes and lungs.  Many Egyptians wore eye paint at that time which may have been attempt to ward of eye infections, it was discovered that the green eye paint containing malachite had medicinal properties and these were the discoveries made, based on the excavation of the Egyptian mummies.

In has been proved that some conditions or illness do leave evidence of their existence on bones, Anaemia, often a consequence of iron deficiency during childhood as is widely believed, leaves markers on the roofs of the eye sockets or on the top of the skull in the form of small holes, and these were frequently seen in the Egyptian skulls.    Iron deficiency can be caused by various other insufficiency in the body or chemical reaction.   In ancient Egypt, one of the reason for iron deficiency could have been caused by infestation of bloodsucking parasites, such as hookworms, or people who are eating diet which has very low iron content. 

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Ayurveda, an ancient Indian science of healing, has an interesting theory on disease and believe it or not, it is correct.  It believes that all disease happens because the elements that make up our body go out of balance.  For instance, the common cold strikes when the body’s “Agni” or “digestive fire” is dampened, and what causes the “Agni” to be dampened, it is the cold weather itself.  Yes, when the temperature outside dips and with it your immunity also takes a dip.  This is what happens, the dimmed fires inside the body then fails to burn body toxins or “Ama” completely and consequent to that the “Ama” or toxin accumulates, clogging the micro channels of the body and generating “phlegm.”  Phlegm or “Kalpha” combined with toxins or “Ama” makes, mucus and the final outcome is ‘Common Cold”

Discoveries of new theories for illness and disease - 1 - Is cancer or for that matter any other illness cureable

How we understand illness and disease based on nature and the gods is still disputed but continued to complement one another into the Middle Ages.  In Christianity the marks and symptoms of illness and disease was seen as divine punishment, corresponding illness was attributed to each of the seven deadly sins. It was common for individuals to examine their moral conduct to determine how they had brought illness and disease upon themselves, and a priest as well as a healer would have been consulted, too often one man fulfilled the two roles.  At the same time, the growth of medicine depended on the corresponding emergence and spread of organized religions.  Christianity taught that the physical body had been corrupted after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and also that the body belonged to God and had to be properly looked after.

In the 6th century BC, Susruta, the founding father of Indian medicine, established a tradition later enshrined in a classic test, the Susrutasamhita.  He identified 1120 diseases and listed down 760 medicinal drugs and stated that Surgeon’s equipment that is needed for surgery of any kind has top 20 sharp instruments which included knives, scissors, saws and needles and 101 blunt one such as forceps, tubes, levers, hooks and probes.  His explanation of how to rebuild a patient’s nose gave him the status of the first plastic surgeon.  This was one of the important operations that was done in ancient India.  At that time, in India, amputation of the nose was also a punishment for adultery.    One needs to understand here is that both the theory in effect worked to the astonishment of all around them, could be both the theory was based on one understanding of human body.

Cancer is the word that mankind abhors when going for a diagnoses which they know that will make their life take a U turn.  The origin of cancer has been a topic of debate by the medical fraternity, pharmaceutical industries and the other side whom we can call the patients.  The earliest reference to the disease cancer is attributed to Egyptian physicians who lived around 2600 BC but most of the ancient texts begs to differ on the precise origins of cancer and anatomically accurate descriptions of the malignant tumors, according to them didn’t appear until the very late 18th century and that it is likely reason that cancer is a relative newcomer in the historical records of disease is that it mostly commonly afflicts those 55 and older in those period.  As much as the medical and pharmaceutical industry would want us to believe that civilization did not cause cancer, all the proof goes against it since evidence for cancer has always been elusive in the fossil records all over the world.

Discovery of new theories for illness and disease

All over the world, in modern times, when people fall ill, their only questions is why am I ill?  How do I get better?  Throughout history the answer has been sought but if you look at any scholarly books or articles, still the answer is being sought but at the same time answer has also been provided through a mixture of natural, spiritual and moral meanings.  People have rarely understood illness or disease even in the modern times.  Most of all they have never understood that they are the cause of their illness and that they need to take step back to understand why they fall ill or have cancer type of disease.

In many ancient societies, it was presumed that the spirits and gods were believed to make their presence known through disease. All most all over the world, the treatment involved attempts to satisfy these spirits and gods with ritual chanting or sacrifice, though this was often combined with direct treatment of the sick person.  Astrological explanations and advice of Egypt sat alongside prescription of herbal medicines along with advice on proper diet and rest for the duration of treatment. In China, for such illness and disease, a combination of drugs known as fang was prescribed to combat disease thought to be caused by angered spirits and also diet and rest was advised.

The Greek physicians such as Hippocrates was famous for rejecting the spiritual explanations of illness, but instead he saw it as a natural imbalance of the four humours.  Yet this was by no means the only explanation for disease or illness in Greek society. For every elite healer who offered a natural explanation of disease, one could find that there were countless diviners and priests who are ever ready to offer a spiritual explanation, but these explanations were not particularly distinct.  Before this explanation, the Indian medicine introduced a new theory that human body consists of three substances, and that in order for the body to be healthy, it requires that there remains a balance between them.  They are usually translated as spirit, phlegm and bile and Greek medicine later advanced a similar theory which complimented the Indian theory, a theory that is based on four substances rather than three.

Evolution of Mankind - Change in food, Illness and Disease - 1

Ancient Chinese believed the need to treat the whole body by curing the spirit and nourishing the body, and from there began to search for medical reasons for illness which could have been the start of mankind coming of age, during that period where mankind all over the world started to think about the cause & reasons for the illness.  Chinese started monitoring the pulse/blood pressure through their ancient methods and thus found a way to determine condition of the body, and they believed in treating the whole body rather than as a part and the use of acupuncture was also discovered.  Chinese also came to believe illness is a result of natural causes.  Stressed diet and exercise as ways to prevent disease.  Chinese have also a recorded pharmacopoeia of medications based mainly on the use of herbs and have been using therapies such as acupuncture.

Medicines of early times are still used today like Digitalis (foxglove plant) used to slow & strengthen heart, Quinine (bark of cinchona tree) are used for fever and muscle spasms.  Morphine (opium poppy) are used in relieve severe pain.

Ancient Greeks was considered the first to observe the human body thoroughly and the effects of disease on the body – this paved the way of health research that led to modern medical sciences.  Ancient Romans were the first to organize medical care by providing care for injured soldiers.  During that era, due to the set up that have been followed in ancient parts of the world, ancient Greeks hospitals were religious and charitable institutions in monasteries and convents.  Made the first public health and sanitation systems by building sewers and aqueducts.  Their doctors also kept the sick in their home and wore death mask.  

The earliest surgical operations in human history is believed to have been carried out in prehistoric times in several parts of the world – In Europe, In Asia and particularly in Peru, where discoveries were made of well-preserved mummies that survived.  Many of these mummies had a hole in the skull which is believed to be the result of trepanning (also known as trephining or trephination.  It was also found that there were healing in the bone around the wound in these mummies, and in skulls found elsewhere, which is suggestive or indication that many of the patients survived the operations in the prehistoric times.  Also it cannot be ruled out that the reason for the decision to cut a hole in a living skull could have been probably religious pressure rather than medical reason as is the cause for modern surgery.  It could have been to let out evil spirits or perhaps to give spiritual authority to the Medicine Man and the ill person submits himself to the knife.  It is not known how such operations were done but surely some sort of anesthesia would have been used without which it would be difficult to bear the pain.  It is not clear what method was used to cut and scrape away the bone of the skull to cut a hole but it is assumed to be a sharp flint.

Evolution of Mankind - Change in food, Illness and Disease

Mankind had started to evolve, from hunter, to gatherer and then to farming, breeding domesticated animals and also started discovering treatment methods for illness and disease.  At the same time, their eating habits also were changing according to the era they were in, new illness and disease were being discovered, could be due to their eating lifestyle.  Primitive mankind believed that illness and disease were caused by supernatural spirits and demons.  They never had the capability to think that what could have caused the illness could be related to what they have been consuming and this thought process have never been researched as far as scientific research has been concerned and hence Tribal witch doctors or medicine man with ceremonies to drive out the spirits was the way of life to get rid of these illness and disease.  As already mentioned, herbs and plants were the main ingredients used as medicine. 

As record keeping tools were not discovered in that primitive era, the only way of passing on the information of treatment of illness and disease was through their offspring or through stone markings.  From the primitive beginnings of treating a person by the tribal, through various herbs and trials and errors of the past, health care has been developing and changed throughout history.  During those times, the word cancer was unknown but if you read books or research on the topic, the medical fraternity would like to make us believe that at that time too cancer existed but proof of the same could not be obtained and various reasons were given to justify.

As mankind started to evolve, the treatment of illness and disease also developed rapidly.  The ancient Egyptians are the earliest people know to maintain accurate health records as per research, although there might have been other communities all over the world who may have been keeping records of their lives but the mankind is so spread over the whole earth that it would be nearly impossible to get the real facts as to who started maintain the records of accurate health.  Their priests used to act as physicians and they used medicine to heal disease and splinted fractures.  They also used bloodletting, draining blood to treat various disorders with the use of leeches.  Whenever disease occurred, they too had the practice of calling upon God to cure the illness or disease

The first farmers

The first farmers: from 8000 BC

The first farming must have started by accident, may be from weeding around a plant or may be perhaps by unintentional watering of an area which were fertile for plantations and after observing the developments after these unintentional watering in those areas, cultivation of farming started.  It is from these that farming started catching on with earlier mankind.  From penning in animals, main purpose is to eat them, to kill them when needed, it was a small step to keeping them until their offspring are born.

In any one place the process was a gradual but it caught on with many civilizations around the world.  Cultivated crops or domesticated animals, at first formed a small part of a community’s diet, most of it coming still from hunting and gathering.  In each place where the change happened, its pattern is no different, almost similar but with not so noticeable difference.  But in the Middle East, in America, in China and Southeast Asia, the change did occur. 

The earliest place known to have lived mainly from the cultivation of crops started spreading around the world from Jerico.  By around 8000 BC this community started occupying a naturally well-watered region, is growing selected forms of wheat, soon to be followed by barley.  These people are still hunters but had stopped being the gatherers for foods. Their source of meat is wild gazelle, goat, boar and cattle. 

Sheep and goats, cattle and pigs: 7000-9000 BC

First animals known to have been domesticated as a source of food are sheep in the Middle East. The high proportion of bones of one-year-old sheep discarded in a settlement at Shanidar was considered as a proof of this domestication and a source of food, in what is now northern Iraq. It was soon followed by goats and these two become the standard animals of the nomadic pastoralists – tribes and they moved along with their flocks all the year, looking for fresh grass for their flocks. 

Cattle and pigs are associated more with settled communities around the world and it is believed that they were domesticated slightly later but these could not have been long after 8000 BC. The ox must have been first to be bred by humans in western Asia. The pig is probably first domesticated in China. 
 

Of the basic farm animals, cattle represent the most significant development in village life.   It was around that time that mankind realized that cattle not only provide food to eat but also provide milk in plentiful that is more than their off springs can consume or require and their strength provided an unprecedented addition to man’s endeavor to do things.

Pre historic cultures - research 1

During the prehistoric era, cannibalism amongst the prehistoric tribes existed, there is also archeological evidence of cannibalism among some of the prehistoric communities - so, they most probably knew about our inner organs and also knew where lean tissue or fat predominates in the human body. Most likely, they believed that their lives were determined by spirits. Aboriginal peoples around the world today often correlate illness with losing one's soul.  Also illness and disease were considered punishment from Gods.

Prehistoric medicines refers to those medicines that were used to heal before the mankind were able to read and write.  It covers vast period and also varies according to regions and cultures across the world.  Only a calculated guestimates could be made by Anthropologists, those people who study the history of humanity of bygone era, these guestimates were based studying human remains and artifacts which have survived disintegrating over the centuries through some source of preservation used at that times.

Prehistoric people believed in a combination of natural and supernatural causes for the treatment for conditions and disease.  In those era, the placebo effect of the treatment and the side effects did not exist or were not known or understood.  There may have been some trial and error before they could arrive at an effective treatment.  Prehistoric people never had to think about the future since the mentality at that period was to survive day to day and hence the need to take into other factors must not have crossed their mind like in today like lifestyle, family history, and the placebo effect.

There are lots evidences from their burial practices which made the modern man think that they knew something about bone structure solely because bones have been found that were stripped of the flesh, bleached and piled according to what part of the body they came from.

The prehistoric period overlapped with some other historical periods. During the height of the ancient Egyptian civilization, most of Europe was in the New Stone Age. The Minoan civilization flourished at that time like the Bronze Age in other places, During the Greek and early Roman periods Britain was in the Iron Age, thus you can see that not all the places in the world was moving at the same pace and hence the current scenario where some countries are way ahead of others and called as industrialized nations and some countries are developing whereas others are far behind in developments.

Pre historic cultures - research

Prehistoric peoples lived throughout the world and till date though research, modern man have tried to find out about the lives and diseases of the prehistoric people but could never really come to a conclusions about the complete true facts and discoveries they made and all the evidences and guestimates were arrived at from the excavation made during the modern history finding adventure and it has been researched and corroborated that the tribal and aborigines never new how the human body works.  Their lives were spent around gathering foods and hunting and taking rests with the exception of protecting themselves from other animals of the surroundings. 

The earliest prehistoric peoples had features in common whether they were living in one parts of the world or others, they were nomads, they were hunter-gatherers, and all got their foods without farming, spoke different languages and dialects, they lived simple life without technology and their main weapons for the hunting in the beginning were wood and then on stones, later on they advanced to spears, bows and arrows, axes, knives and scrappers and all these were made from wood, bone and stones and at that time there were no separate countries

During pre-history, people were afflicted with ailments and diseases, just like we are today. The only difference is that they had a very different lifestyles and lifespans from what is today and they did not suffer from the same diseases so commonly that we modern societies are afflicted with today.

The prehistoric period are divided in the four eras:

Old Stone Age (Paleolithic):

During this period, the people were nomadic hunter-gatherers.

New Stone Age (Neolithic):

During this period, discovery of farming and the practice of farming started and thus, people started living in one place and this become a common practice around the world.

Bronze Age:

During these period, mankind discovered metal tools and thereafter started the making of various metal tools for the day to day requirements.

Iron Age:

During these period, new metal (Iron) was discovered and greatly improved the tools and many new weapons that could not be made earlier were made. 

Pre historic cultures - disease treatment - 1

Men who were called Medicine Men, witch-doctors and various other names in various parts of the world were the first person the tribal went to whenever they were afflicted with any disease or injured during hunting or any other issues associated with health which stops the ancient mankind from performing their daily activities like hunting, gathering food, cooking, etc.  These Medicine Men used to gather roots, leaves, buds and herbs mixed it with various other ingredients and were put on the afflicted parts, they even performed minor surgical procedures even without the modern sophisticated equipment and accessories that are used currently.  Due to the healing that is associated with such herbs and plant based mixtures, ancient mankind believed them as a special person in their tribes, to be looked upon in case of any difficulties.  Another name given to these medicines is Bush Medicine in some other parts of the world, since these medicines are made from plant materials, such as leaves and barks and seeds.  Rarely has animal products been used in such Bush Medicines, not to say it was not used.  A point to note is that major component of traditional medicine in herbal medicine, is the use of natural plant substances to treat or prevent illness.  Remedies varied between various tribes in various parts of the country or elsewhere.   One such remedies are the Aboriginal remedies and there was no single set of aboriginal medicines and remedies.

Also to note is that in those era, herbal substances formed only a small part of the tribal physicians work, and it was generally understood that serious illness have spiritual causes and cannot be cured without the intervention of God.  Thus, the Medicine Man’s duty was also to appease or expel the evil spirit troubling the sick person.  Incantation, self-induced trances assisted by herbal medicines and spells formed a standard practice or rituals of the Medicine Man instrument.  These practices and rituals also ensured the strengthening the Medicine Man’s own place as superior in the tribe to cure a patients.  They are associated with supernatural power treatments ability such as charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits.  In some societies, like the Apache society, and many other societies, the medicine men initiate a ceremony over the patient, which are attended by their family and friends.  It consists of a magic formulas, prayers, and drumming.  The medicine man then reveals the nature of the disease and they can treat it.

These Medicine Man are believed by the tribal to be able to contact spirits or gods and thus use their supernatural powers to cure the patient and in the process remove evil spirits.  If this method does not work then it is believed that the spirit is too powerful to be driven out of the person.  Medicine Men are a central figure in any of the activities of the tribe and most sought after person in times of difficulty facing the tribe and thus because of their medical knowledge and the belief that they can seemingly contact the gods, they are highly revered or afraid of.  In primeval history, their religious and medical training were passed down orally.

Pre historic cultures - disease treatment

In prehistoric cultures, the treatment for disease were mainly plant based materials including herbs and substances derived from natural sources.  Since plant materials quickly rot under most conditions, mankind only used what was required for that particular ailment.  Even today historians are unlikely to fully understand which plants were used in prehistoric medicines.  Only a speculative view can be obtained by researching the climate of the respective society of that era and then checking which species of plants continue to grow in similar conditions today.   Unlike the ancient civilizations which could source plant materials internationally, prehistoric societies would have been restricted to localized areas, also it has been researched that nomadic tribes had greater variety of plant materials at their disposal as they did not stay in one place for a long period of time.  The effects of different plant materials was been found through trial and error and well passed on from generation to generation.  Gathering and dispensing of plant materials was in most cultures handled by women, who cared for the health of their family.  Plant sourced material are an important cure for diseases throughout history from the time of Stone Age.  This fund of knowledge have been passed down orally through the generations and generations.  The fungus, commonly found in alpine environments, have been used as a laxative by prehistoric peoples living in Northern Europe, since it is known to bring on short bouts of diarrhea when ingested, and was found among the possessions of a mummified man.  Though according to modern research, the study of prehistoric medicine heavily relies on artifacts and human remains, and on anthropology.  Uncontacted peoples and certain indigeneous peoples who lived in a traditional way started relying on plants for ailments and thus during that time the processing of discovering which plant was edible to humans were going on since Stone Age.  Many of these plants were found to cure ailments or soothe a fever.   In the earliest scientific tradition, herbal medicine became a medical practice, in a line descending directly from those distant beginnings and till today it remains an important part of medicine in many parts of the world and slowing getting out of existence due to the influx of modern medicine.  The physicians without any degree or qualifications stumbled upon herbal substances of real power, and they never understood the manner of the working of the herbal medicine on the patients, all they knew was that some plants cure the ailments.  The long centuries of primitive experiments resulted in able to identify hundreds of herbal medicines which cured a varied list of ailments and is even used today in modern times.  During the early primitive period things such as cuts, bruises, and breakages of bones, without antiseptics, proper facilities, or treatment of infections, also there were evidence of rickets, bone deformity and bone wastage caused by lack of vitamin D and men lived longer than women, but out of all these, mankind was able to find solutions to most of the common ailments primarily through plants which relieved the cause.

Earths and Clays also provided prehistoric peoples with some of their first medicines. This could have been related to geophagy extremely widespread among animals in the wild as well as among domesticated animals. Geophagy, in particular was very widespread among contemporary non-human primates during the Stone Age.  Also, early humans could have learned about the use of various healing clays by observing animal behavior, the way animal roll over in earth to cover their body with clay and earths.  To this dad, clay is used both internally and externally and for treating wounds, and after surgery.  The external use of clay and Geophagy  are still quite widespread among aboriginal peoples around the world, as well as among pre-industrial populations.