الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Medications were based mainly on herbal products such as myrrh, frankincense, castor oil, fennel, sienna, thyme, linseed, aloe, and garlic. Some of the Greek medical ideas were derived from the Egyptians, Babylonians, and even the Chinese and Indians. Castor oil was prescribed as a laxative; linseed or flaxseed was used as a soothing emollient, laxative, and antitussive. Other treatments include fennel plant for relief of intestinal colic and gas, and asafetida gum resin as an antispasmodic. The greatest Greek contribution to the medical field is perhaps to dispel the notion that diseases are due to supernatural causes or spells. The Greeks established that diseases result from natural causes. The Romans also extended the pharmacy practice of the Greeks. Dioscorides and Galen were two noted physicians in Roman days. Dioscorides’s Materia Medica contains descriptions of treatments based on 80% plant, 10% animal, and 10% mineral products. The Renaissance period laid the foundation for scientific thoughts in medicinal preparations and medical treatments. There were many advances made in anatomy, physiology, surgery, and medical treatments, including public health care, hygiene, and sanitation. In 1796, Edward Jenner successfully experimented with smallpox inoculations. This paved the way for the use of vaccination against some infectious diseases. Louis Pasteur (1864) discovered that microorganisms cause diseases, and he devised vaccination against rabies. This was achieved through the use of attenuated rabies virus. Despite the advances made in the 1800s, there were only a few drugs available for treating diseases at the beginning of the 1900s. Penicillin was first isolated from Penicillium notatum in 1928 by Alexander Fleming (Demian, 1999).