The contribution of European culture to medicine has long been recognised.
The Greeks are thought by many to be forerunners of modern medicine - they studied the progression of disease, they knew something of the inner workings of the body, and their language gave medicine many of its terms.
But the Greeks probably learnt much from the Ancient Egyptians who understood the workings of the body from practising mummification.
Imhotep, architect of the famous step pyramids, has even been dubbed the first "father of medicine" for his influence.
Egyptologist Stephen Quirke said that, although the information from the time is sketchy, Imhotep did have an important role to play.
He is credited with diagnosing and treating over 200 diseases and even performing surgery and dentistry. Some say his work even influenced Hippocrates.
There is a very close connection in African thinking between the spiritual and physical
Professor Peter Houghton, University College London
Katie Maggs, associate medical curator at London's Science Museum, said much of Africa's contribution to medicine had been overlooked.
"There is evidence that suggests African medicine, and primarily Egyptian healing cults and physicians, had an influence on Greek cultures and that there was a cultural exchange of ideas."
She added: "African medicine is a thriving enterprise.
"But there is a debate to be had about why Indian and Chinese medicines which you can get on the High Street, but African medicine is still very much a taboo subject. We need to go beyond that."
And she said Western medicine would not thrive in Africa if the medical knowledge built up there over centuries was ignored.
"The provision of bio-medical care won't happen unless people work very closely with traditional healers," she said.
On sale
Professor Peter Houghton, an expert in the study of natural medicines at University College London, said the medical establishment had traditionally dismissed herbal remedies as not having a scientific basis but that it was now possible to test the compounds involved.
Imhotep: the first founder of medicine?
"We can analyse these complex mixtures and their complex effects on the body.
"There is a lot more interest in how we might be able to utilise these medicines."
He said a number of African herbal remedies were currently on sale in the UK or over the internet.
"One which is quite widely known is Devil's Claw, which is the root of a plant which comes from the Kalahari desert in Southern Africa, and is used for aches and pains.
"Then there is a cream made from an extract of the fruit of the sausage tree, that grows all over along the rivers in Savannah countryside, which I am doing some work on.
"The local people have used it for a long time for treating skin conditions, but you can get a cream on the internet in this country which some say is good for getting rid of pigmented areas and freckles and others say is useful for psoriasis.
"I would stress that this needs clinical tests, but that is the case for lots and lots of herbal medicines."
He added: "There was a lot of interest a few years ago in the anti-obesity properties of a South African plant called hootia, which looks like a cactus and was used by the bushmen to suppress their appetites when they went hunting."
Professor Houghton said the African contribution to medicine tended to be overlooked.
"It tends to be a continent, though not the only one, where you associate medicine with so-called witchcraft.
"But there is a very close connection in African thinking between the spiritual and physical.
"And now increasingly people are realising that you can't just treat people as machines, and that is one of the reasons for the popularity of complementary medicines - that people get treated more as people."
“In Egypt, the men are more skilled in Medicine than any of human kind”.
...The Ebers Papyrus describes the position of [b]the heart precisely, and illustrates some of its disorders, as dropped beats. Egyptian physicians recognized the heart as the source of blood vessels. They were aware that the blood vessels were hollow, having a mouth which opens to absorb medications, eliminate waste elements, distribute air and body secretions and excretions, in a confusion between blood vessels and other passages, as ureters.
The physiology of blood circulation was demonstrated in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, together with the its relation to the heart, as well as awareness of the importance of the pulse.
“It is there that the heart speaks”, and “It is there that every physician and every priest of Sekhmet places his fingers …….… he feels something from the heart”.
They also knew that blood supply runs from the heart to all organs of the body.
“There are vessels in him for every part of the body”.
“It speaks forth in the vessels of every body part”.
However, their inability to distinguish between blood vessels, nerves, tendons and channels has limited their full understanding of the physiology of circulation.
CLINICAL EXAMINATION:
The first treatise in the book of the heart at the Ebers papyrus is entitled “Beginning of the secret of the physician”. Probably the examination of the pulse was one of the secret teachings they **refrained from passing to Greek visitors later**, and **hence has not developed in our modern medicine**.
The process of examination follows in the same steps we follow in our modern medical practice... - Courtesy Dr. Sameh, Associate Professor of Cardiology - Alexandria University.
Of course the Egyptians were only the tip of the iceberg. The knowledge of traditional African medicine is as vast as it is ancient and much of what we do know about the medicines of some African peoples is very limited at best. Even Europeans recorded Africans using anasthetics and performing surgery from at least Medieval times.
Posts: 26356 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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right.there were africans that had medicine/medical knowhow that were more advanced than the egyptians,like in nubia, mali and certain other places in africa.some scholars have written about this past and present and present scholars say more needs to be done to study this.
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Profile for SEEKING Rate Member 5: Highest Rating 4 3 2 1: Lowest Rating Member Status: Member Member Number: 10105 Registered: 27 January, 2006 Posts: 283 Interests: Learning about Africa
Posts: 5454 | From: Holland | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: right. there were africans that had medicine/medical knowhow that were more advanced than the egyptians, like in nubia, mali and certain other places in africa.some scholars have written about this past and present and present scholars say more needs to be done to study this.
My point is we know that Africans in general, not just the Egyptians, had extensive knowledge in medicine. The bad thing is we just don't know just how advanced or extensive, since either some of these medical traditions were lost during European colonization, or those surviving traditions are being a tightly kept, highly guarded secret by its practioners. I've heard of the latter many times before, wherein the practioners are distrustful and weary of foreigners (especially whites for obvious reasons) and do not like to share thier ancient and valuable medical knowledge.
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