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Marble statue of Asclephius on a pedestal, symbol of medicine in Western medicine

Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient and managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment or palliation of their injury or disease. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Contemporary medicine applies biomedical sciences, biomedical research, genetics, and medical technology to diagnose, treat, and prevent injury and disease, typically through pharmaceuticals or surgery, but also through therapies as diverse as psychotherapy, external splints and traction, medical devices, biologics, and ionizing radiation, amongst others.

Medicine has been practiced since prehistoric times, during most of which it was an art (an area of skill and knowledge) frequently having connections to the religious and philosophical beliefs of local culture. For example, a medicine man would apply herbs and say prayers for healing, or an ancient philosopher and physician would apply bloodletting according to the theories of humorism. In recent centuries, since the advent of modern science, most medicine has become a combination of art and science (both basic and applied, under the umbrella of medical science). While stitching technique for sutures is an art learned through practice, the knowledge of what happens at the cellular and molecular level in the tissues being stitched arises through science.

Prescientific forms of medicine are now known as traditional medicine or folk medicine, which remains commonly used in the absence of scientific medicine, and are thus called alternative medicine. Alternative treatments outside of scientific medicine having safety and efficacy concerns are termed quackery. (Full article...)

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Crohn's disease (also known as regional enteritis) is a chronic, episodic, inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by transmural inflammation (affecting the entire wall of the involved bowel) and skip lesions (areas of inflammation with areas of normal lining in between). Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and may sometimes affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus; as a result, the symptoms of Crohn's disease can vary between affected individuals. The main gastrointestinal symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, which may be bloody, and weight loss. Crohn's disease can also cause complications outside of the gastrointestinal tract such as skin rashes, arthritis, and inflammation of the eye. (More...)

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This is a picture of a human fetus at 6 weeks' gestational age (i.e. 4 weeks after fertilization).

Photo credit: The present image (without watermark) was donated by Wouter Vergeer <wouter.vergeer@tribal.nl> on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 on behalf of 3DPregnancy.com.

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Get involved by joining WikiProject Medicine. We discuss collaborations and all manner of issues on our talk page.

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... that lagophthalmos is the inability to close the eyelids?

... that Beck's triad of arterial hypotension, raised jugular venous pressure and muffled heart sounds is pathognomonic of cardiac tamponade?
... that dark chocolate contains the highest antioxidant content of any food? It contains phosphorus, magnesium, iron and potassium. In addition, dark chocolate can lower blood pressure.

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The following are images from various Medicine-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Mandrake (written 'ΜΑΝΔΡΑΓΟΡΑ' in Greek capitals). Naples Dioscurides, 7th century (from History of medicine)
Image 2The emergency room is often a frontline venue for the delivery of primary medical care. (from Health care)
Image 3American Civil War hospital at Gettysburg, 1863 (from History of medicine)
Image 4Monumental stone relief of a fish-garbed figure from the Temple of Ninurta in the Assyrian city of Kalhu, believed by some experts to be a representation of an āšipu, or exorcist-priest, who functioned as a kind of healer and primitive doctor (from History of medicine)
Image 5Mexico City epidemic of 1737, with elites calling on the Virgin of Guadalupe (from History of medicine)
Image 6The Hippocratic Corpus
A collection of early medical works may be associated with Hippocrates (from History of medicine)
Image 7The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, United Kingdom is a specialist neurological hospital. (from Health care)
Image 8Florence Nightingale triggered the professionalization of nursing. Photograph c. 1860 (from History of medicine)
Image 9Curandera performing a limpieza in Cuenca, Ecuador (from Traditional medicine)
Image 10Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang (from Medical ethics)
Image 11healthcare expenditure in Japan by age group (from Health insurance)
Image 12Assorted dried plant and animal parts used in traditional Chinese medicines, clockwise from top left corner: dried Lingzhi (lit. "spirit mushrooms"), ginseng, Luo Han Guo, turtle shell underbelly (plastron), and dried curled snakes (from History of medicine)
Image 13Patient, Surrey County Lunatic Asylum, c. 1850–58. The asylum population in England and Wales rose from 1,027 in 1827 to 74,004 in 1900. (from History of medicine)
Image 14Andreas Vesalius's 1543 De humani corporis fabrica contained intricately detailed drawings of human dissections, often in allegorical poses. (from History of medicine)
Image 15Most countries have seen a tremendous increase in life expectancy since 1945. However, in southern Africa, the HIV epidemic beginning around 1990 has eroded national health. (from History of medicine)
Image 16The Quaker-run York Retreat, founded in 1796, gained international prominence as a centre for moral treatment and a model of asylum reform following the publication of Samuel Tuke's Description of the Retreat (1813). (from History of medicine)
Image 17A cochlear implant is a common kind of neural prosthesis, a device replacing part of the human nervous system. (from History of medicine)
Image 18A 12th-century Byzantine manuscript of the Hippocratic Oath (from Medical ethics)
Image 19Smallpox vaccination in Niger, 1969. A decade later, this was the first infectious disease to be eradicated. (from History of medicine)
Image 20Infographic showing how healthcare data flows within the billing process (from Medical billing)
Image 21The plinthios brochos as described by Greek physician Heraklas, a sling for binding a fractured jaw. These writings were preserved in one of Oribasius' collections. (from History of medicine)
Image 22Global concentrations of healthcare resources, as depicted by the number of physicians per 10,000 individuals, by country. (from Health care)
Image 23Health Expenditure per capita (in PPP-adjusted US$) among several OECD member nations. Data source: OECD's iLibrary (from Health insurance)
Image 24American combat surgery during the Pacific War, 1943. Major wars showed the need for effective hygiene and medical treatment. (from History of medicine)
Image 25Depiction of smallpox in Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún's history of the conquest of Mexico, Book XII of the Florentine Codex, from the defeated Aztecs' point of view (from History of medicine)
Image 26Medical recipe concerning poisoning. Terracotta tablet, from Nippur, Iraq, 18th century BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul (from History of medicine)
Image 27AMA Code of Medical Ethics (from Medical ethics)
Image 28Louis Pasteur experimenting on bacteria, c. 1870 (from History of medicine)
Image 29Replica of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek's microscope of the 1670s (from History of medicine)
Image 30Sometimes traditional medicines include parts of endangered species, such as the slow loris in Southeast Asia. (from Traditional medicine)
Image 31Life Expectancy of the total population at birth from 2000 until 2011 among several OECD member nations. Data source: OECD's iLibrary (from Health insurance)
Image 32Traditional medicine in a market in Antananarivo, Madagascar (from Traditional medicine)
Image 33The numbers of Americans lacking health insurance and the uninsured rate from 1987 to 2008 (from Health insurance)
Image 34The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, written in the 17th century BC, contains the earliest recorded reference to the brain. New York Academy of Medicine. (from History of medicine)
Image 35Guy's Hospital in 1820 (from History of medicine)
Image 36World map of universal healthcare.

Countries with free and universal health care
(from Health insurance)
Image 37Hospital train "Therapist Matvei Mudrov" in Khabarovsk, Russia (from Health care)
Image 38"Diagram of the causes of mortality in the army in the East" by Florence Nightingale. (from History of medicine)
Image 39Primary care may be provided in community health centers. (from Health care)
Image 40Botánicas such as this one in Jamaica Plain, Boston, cater to the Latino community and sell folk medicine alongside statues of saints, candles decorated with prayers, lucky bamboo, and other items. (from Traditional medicine)
Image 41The oldest Polish Collegium Medicum at Jagiellonian University founded in 1364 (from History of medicine)
Image 42Ayurvedic herbal medicines (from History of medicine)
Image 4318th-century medical remedies collected by a British Gentry family (from History of medicine)

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