Before the dawn of History

• In earliest times medicine was based in magic and religion.
  
•  Sumerians living around 4,000 BC believed that demons were the cause of illness.
  
• In many cultures, physicians were priests, and sometimes considered as gods.
  
• Early man used materials in his surroundings, leaves, mud and cool water were used to stop bleeding and heal wounds.
  
• Dry clay was used to splint broken bones.

Pharmacy in Ancient Babylonia

• The Earliest known record of the art of apothecary (the former of the pharmacist) is in Mesopotamia at about 2600 BC.

• Babylonia healing practitioners combined the responsibilities of priest, physician, and pharmacist.

• Some of the oldest pharmacy records are found in Sumerian (Babylonian) clay cuneiform tablets that date back to about 2000 BC.

Pharmacy in Ancient China

• In ancient china (2000 BC) legend tells that emperor scen nung investigated the medical properties of hundreds of herbs.

• He recorded 365 native herbal drugs in the first pen T'sao (Book called "the great herbal")

Days of the papyrus Ebers

• One of the earliest known records written around 1500 BC was the ebers.

• It is the best known and most important pharmaceutical record from ancient history.

• It contains 800 Prescriptions using 700 Drugs, of particular note in the papyrus is inclusion of quantities of substances, which were largely missing from Babylonian clay tablets.

• Many modern disease forms are also referred to in the ebers papyrus as gargles, in inhalations, suppositories, plasters, and lotions etc.

Greeks

• Around 600 B.C the Greeks integrated science into mythological thinking.

• The began thinking Logically about disease rather than believing spiritual explanations.

• The Romans conquered the Greeks and the medical and pharmaceutical cultures merged, it is known as the Greco - Roman Era. 

The Ophrastus - Father of botany

• His Observations about the medicinal qualities of herbs have proven uncannily accurate.

• Theophrastus covered most aspects of botany: descriptions of plants, classification, plant distribution, propagation, germination, and cultivation.

Hippocrates "The Father of Medicine"

• He was a philosopher, physician and pharmacist.

• He liberated medicine from the mythical "Bad Spirits".

• Established the theory of humors which needed to be imbalanced for good health: (air - blood)  (water - phlegm)  (earth - black bile)  (fire - yellow bile)

Dioscorides - A scientist looks at Drugs

• He was a Greek physician and botanist.

• Wrote the first standard text/manual or Drugs called De materia medica, also called Pharmacopoeia.

• published 6 books that covered over 600 plants and their healing properties.

• His book was used for 1500 years.

Common Terms Used in Pharmacy

• Pharmacology :  The study of drugs ( from Greek pharmakon means Drug).

• Pharmacognosy : The Study of physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs as well as drugs from natural sources.

• Pharmacopeia : An official listing of drugs and issues related to their use.

• Pharmaceutical : about drugs; also a drug product.

• Panacea : A cure - all ( from the Greek panakeia).

• Material Medica : A dictionary of medicinal plants.

Galen-Experimenter in Drug Compounding

• Galen (A.D 130 - 200) was a prominent roman (of Greek ethnicity) Physician, urgeon, and Philosopher.

• Developed Principles of preparing and compounding medicinal agents.

• sought to restore humeral balances within a patient by the use of medicine of opposing qualities.

• E.g. inflammation would be treated with cucumber, a cool drug.

• Galenical Pharmacy : The first pharmacy, described the process of creating extracts of active medicinal from plants.

Damian and cosmas - pharmacy's patron saints

• Whats's more from the Roman era came the twin brothers Damian and cosmas. they were christians of arabian descent. Damian was the apothecary, and cosmas the physician.

• They offered the solace of religion as well as the benefit of their knowledge to the sick who visited them.

• After canonization, they became the patron saints of pharmacy and medicine, and many miracles were attributed to them.

Roman Pharmacy titles

• Pharmacopeia : Marker of remedies.

• Pharmacotritae : Drug Grinders.

• Unguentarii : Markers of Ointments.

• Pigmentarii : Marker of Cosmetics.

• Pharmacopolae : seller of drugs.

• Aromatarii : Dealers of spices.

The Arabian Influence

• Major advances in this era.

• Formularies : The continuation of documentation of drug information.

• They also had different drug forms which are now used as : syrups, conserves, confections and juleps.

The First Apothecary shops

• The first pharmacy shop in the world was in baghdad about 792 A.D.

• They Preserved much of the Greco - Roman wisdom, added to it, developing with the aid of their natural resources :  syrups, confections, conserves, distilled water, and alcoholic liquids.

Avicenna - The "Persian Galen"

• Ibn sina (980 - 1037 A.D) - Avicenna - intellectual giant, he was a physician, poet philosopher, diplomat.

• His canon medicine brought together the best knowledge of the Greeks and Arabs into a single medical text.

• His pharmaceutical teachings were accepted as authority in the west until the 17th century; and still are dominant influences in the orient.

Seperation of pharmacy and medicine

• The middle ages : 

• Pharmacy differentiates in the middle ages, pharmaceutical knowledge available began to grow considerably thanks to the Arab world.

• Pharmacy as a separate activity began to develop and privately owned pharmacies were established in Islamic lands.

• Medicine and pharmacy were for the first time separated from each other.

• At the time of Fredrick II of Hohenstaufen, who was Emperor of Germany as well as king of sicily.

• This edict is known as the magna carta of pharmacy.

• The three decrees of the magna carta : * The Pharmaceutical Profession was to be seperated from the medical profession  * The Pharmaceutical profession should be supervised officially. * Pharmacists should take an oath to prepare drugs reliable, according to skilled art and in a uniform suitable quality.

Paracelsus

• Theophrastus phillippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim.

• Swiss born physician who believed in chemical treatment of disease rather than botanical.

The Renaissance : Pharmacists Flourished Too

• Following the middle ages, many parts of European society -examined the Greek and Roman tenets ( (Theories, Ideology) that they had as fact.

• Contemporary beliefs arose and Homeopathy had its origin in the renaissance period.

• During the renaissance professional associations of pharmacists emerged.

The First Official Pharacopeia

• The idea of a pharmacopoeia with official status, to be followed by all apothecaries originated in Florence.

• It was the result of collaboration of the Guild of Apothecaries and the medical society - one of the earliest manifestations of constructive inter professional relations.

The Society of Apothecaries of London

• In England, the pharmacist was under jurisdiction of guild of grocers, which monopolized the drug and spice trade.

• King James granted a character recognizing the society of apothecaries of London in 1671 A.D.

• Early English apothecaries compounded as well as dispensed drugs. they also provided medical advice.

• This was the first organization of pharmacists in the Anglo - Saxon world.