What is the history of medicines?

Answer 1

Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by a Scottish scientist by the name of Alexander Fleming. Basically he noticed that something was preventing the growth of some bacteria he was observing.

Salk and Sabin invented a vaccine for polio. I believe that was in the 1940's or 1950's. The question is so general. To go back really far, the Indians used herbs and spices. Their doctors were named "Medicine Men," so perhaps that is where we got the name itself. Some in the colder climates believed that parts of the whale had healing power.

Many pain killers and anesthetics were first discovered by recreational users. The first general anesthetic in use was nitrous oxide, known as "laughing gas" on the street, and a dentist was the first to use it for treating a patient. However, at a medical convention, the nitrous oxide didn't put the patient under, and this dentist was discredited by the medical community. Then another man discovered chloroform at a cocktail party, where the guests were taking turns sniffing various chemicals for entertainment. So chloroform was used to anesthetize patients for a while, but one major problem that was soon discovered was that there was a good chance they would never wake back up. After a while, scientists and doctors approached things scientifically, found out what structures inside the chemicals caused the desired effects, and then experimented with creating new chemicals.

Local anesthetics were also first discovered by recreational users. People who ingested cocaine in the early days realized it had a numbing effect. Even today, tasting cocaine to see if it numbs the tongue is a test that drug dealers and users use to see if the product is any good. Cocaine was used for numbing patients to perform minor surgery, but the problem was the potential for abuse. So scientists discovered what part of cocaine caused the mental effects and removed it, using what was left as a local anesthetic. So that is how benzocaine (Novocaine) and other similar local anesthetics were created. They modified cocaine so the patient couldn't get high.