Indians Essay, Research Paper

Stories of Native Americans contributions to the advancement of health and medicine traces were discovered in a small town in Nali, Africa. The very first onset of the beggining of modern pharmacology is the substance called “quinine”. This is the substance that came from a bark of a tree that grew in high elevations. The Indians has been using this substance to cure malaria, cramps, chills, hear-rythm disorders and many other ailments. Prior to the disovery of quinine, the old world suffers enormously because the lack of medical knowledge that the old world posess. Quinine would have probably been introduce somewhere in 1630, as it was mention in a belgian medical text. Quinine made extensive settlement in America possible due to the fact that it cures malaria better than any other medicine and because its potent medicinal values. Until recently, quinine has been sold in Timbuktu as a medical tonic that promotes vitality and refreshments drink. This Indian tonic is apearant through out the city of Timbuktu in Africa. It`s a relic of a long line of deriratives tonics sold in the ninteenth and early twentieth century as a cures for all known imaginable ailments. There were realtive of the tree that provide quinine also cure amoebic dysentery and lethal infection of the intestine. Amoebic dysentery is a disease that cause by ingestions of certain amoebes, the symptoms range from bloody diarrhea to high fever. Ipecac is a medincine the Indians of the Amazon had created using three to four yearl old cepahlaelis ipecacuanla and c. acuminia plants to cure intestinal infections that is deadly among children. Up till now, poison clinic through out the world still use it to induce vomitting because of its emetic properties. Even though their discovery of quinine and ipecac cures many disease, they weren`t fortune enough to enjoy the benefit of their discovery that their old world counterpart did. Western science in the old world largely ignored the potency, effectiveness, and utility until it cures scurvy and thus illustrate the superiority of the Indian medical knowledge and pharmacology. Followings to the Indians pharmacology superior knowledge is the discovery of a laxative or cathartic by the Indians of northern California and Oregon use to treat constipation. The laxative that the Indians had discovered leads to the modern medicine commonly use medicine to treat bowel related ailments. This medicine is actually a bark of the Rhamus purchiana shrub, it uniqueness is that it dissolves clogg bowels in the intestinal within eight hours. Because of its mild manner on the user that present no discomfort, it was widely accepted as a laxative eversince its introductions by Americas pharmacuetical industry in 1878. The discovery of carure was mentions when a voyayer named Francisco de Orellana first discover it in the Amazon river. It was mention that when he travel down the river and was being attacked by the Indians and one of his man died because the arrows that the Indians had used to attacked his men was being painted with the substance called curare. It took medical reseacher a long time to unravel how curare works. Later when they find out on how it operates, the reseacher noted that it work by blocking the nerve transmission to the muscle and therefore paralizing a victims ability to breath. Intially nobody could find any useful for it until it was found that if given in small dose, it could relax the muscle and this proves very useful for surgery purposes. Its first use in the old world was to cure tetanus and soon follows other pratical use to reduce abdominal pain, restrict muscle contraction so that doctors could insert tubes into the windpipe to facilitate breathing and it was synthesized into a number of different muscle relaxant drugs. Later in the ninteenth century, doctors use it as a means of euthanasia for the terminally ill patients. Indians in northeastern of the U.S use vermifuge pinkroot to treat intestinal worms, dogwwod are being use to reduce fever, liquid is extracted from willow tree capable of curing headache and other minor pain. later in the centuries did western medical science recognized aspirin as a coal tar deriratives that has the active ingredient salicin. The Indians developed many drugs to treat femal problems like blue cohosh or sqwawroot as an antispasmodic that thelped induce menstrual discharge. Other common application that they use are the use of bitter root of trillium erectum to ease pain during child birth and subsequently name “birth root” after the plant. The Indians developed numerous ointment and salves to help heal flesh wounds. West in the U.S, the Indians developed ointments or as the pioneer to called it balsams that derives from plant roots, tolu tree, balsam fir, balsam of Peru, witch hazel, extraction of dry flowers to relieve pain and swelling. The most widely use of skin oinment that we use today that had orignate from the Indians is the petroleum jelly after many years refinement and changes. The Indians are also master of medical arts in which perform brain surgery to relieve swelling if a person suffers from massive concussion. They did this by drilling holes on a patient skull to reduce compression that cause be blunt force to the head. The Aztecs are most noticeable for their development of sophisticate medical organization with different specialist in each field. Their caste of organizations has contemporary internist, surgeons, midwives, bloodletters, herbal pharmacist and pharmacuetical dealers that distribute herbal medicine. When Aztec surgeons perform surgery, they use sophisticate tools like bone needles that threated with human hair, rubber hose, bulbed syringe and also use artificial limbs on patients. The group that has the most profound understanding of human anatomy and the naming of internal organs is probably the Aztecs in the sixteenth century. The Aztec also develop steamrooms to rejuvinate and cleanse the body, it`s called temazcalli in Aztec language. The Indians that gave the world quinine also gave the world coca, they had originally use this coca as a ritual cleanser. Some other minor usage of the coca also includes chewing, refine it into tea, alleviate pain, thirst quencher, hunger fullfilment, ease itching and fatigue. The discovery of the coca by old world chemist and scientist like Nicolas Monards and Angelo Mariani transform the plants from anethesia to concoctions drink which later in the century it became known as the famous Coca Cola drink. The Indians discovery of roots and bark that taste bitter and spice led to the development of Dr. Pepper that we know of today. So in coclusion, as discussed in this chapter from beggining to the end. Without the inovations, discovery, knowledge, expertise and experience that the Indians had contributed to the medical world, the advancement in medical knowledge that we know of today migh not be matured or largely evolve. Their cures and medicine had travel all over the world and whereever it goes it fully integrated into cultures. But soon the medicine is also taken for granted and soon people forget that if the contributions had not been there in the beggining , the old world doctors, pharmacist and dentist wouldn`t have expand or creates medicines that we use of today.

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