The history of pharmacology has as many centuries of development as humanity exists. It is believed that the instinct for self-preservation, similar to that which animals have, became the impetus for the knowledge of the healing properties of plants.
Following the desire to be strong and healthy, a person not only noticed the actions of herbs, but gradually began to systematize them. On this long road there are bright periods, great scientists, pivotal discoveries, and all together - this is the history of the development of pharmacology.
The most famous treatise
Today, Ayurveda is the oldest of the recognized sources of knowledge about medicines. This is a doctrine, a philosophy, and a set of recorded knowledge about the properties of plants, their effects on humans and diseases.
The book describes more than 1 thousand medicines of plant and animal origin. When this treatise was precisely formed, it is not known for certain, but the Indians prefer to apply this knowledge today, and very efficiently.
First stages
The epochs of the development of pharmacological science are closely connected with changes in socio-political and economic systems, which formed the history of pharmacology. The main stages of development are conditionally divided into the following periods:
- Empirical . The period refers to the primitive communal system, when plants were the main drugs, and their effect and effectiveness were monitored by the behavior of animals. So by chance the properties of the emetic root, salt, quinous bark, etc., useful under certain conditions, were discovered.
- The empirico-mystical approach in pharmacology covers the slave system. The privilege of healing was in the hands of religious denominations. In addition to pharmacological, divine properties were attributed to the first drugs and potions, the therapy was accompanied by mystical rituals, religious services.
- The religious-scholastic stage occurred during the Middle Ages and the feudal system of society, when science and culture underwent a significant decline. All processes of the social sphere, including medicine, were concentrated in the hands of idealists from religion. The action of the drugs received a connection with the place of gathering herbs, the moon phase, the position of the planets, etc. During this period, alchemy arose. At the end of the Middle Ages, the first treatises on pharmacology and scientists appeared in different parts of the world, seeking to generalize the existing knowledge.
Systematization
The history of pharmacology has several periods of rapid development associated with the heyday of a particular civilization. One of the fundamental stages in medical science is the Greek period. The most prominent representative of medicine of that time is Hippocrates, who considered the disease as a violation of the balance of the elements of the body, and not as the action of evil spirits. He introduced and developed humoral medicine, which specialists relied on for 2000 years. It was based on the idea of the naturalness of diseases and the search for natural remedies for treatment.
The most significant contribution of Hippocrates to pharmacology is the treatise, which describes more than 230 plants and their medicinal properties. It was he who formulated the basic principles of medicine, which are still adhered to today - Primum non nocere, which translates as “First of all, do no harm”, the second postulate reads: Natura sanat, medicus curat morbus, which means “Nature heals, the doctor heals.”
Classification Attempts
The doctor who can be considered the founder of pharmacology as a science was Aulus Cornelius Celsus (30-50 BC). He classified drugs into two categories - general and special.
The drugs described by Hippocrates were classified as general. The group of special agents included drugs synthesized for specific conditions of the patient. Modern science is believed that it was Celsus who took the first step towards the formation of pharmacological science. He first introduced the rule for doctors - "Better reliable medicine than none."
Roman period
The history of the development of pharmacology in the Roman Empire has received a new direction thanks to the work of several scientists. Doctors adhered to the humoral theory of Hippocrates. The pharmacological part of medical knowledge was significantly supplemented by Dioscarides of Anatsebey, who described more than six hundred herbs and plants with medicinal properties.
The theories of Hippocrates were fundamentally supplemented and developed by Claudius Galen, an ancient Roman physician and scientist. He was the first to propose a method for extracting useful substances from different parts of plants, introduced the practice of testing the effects of drugs on animals, laid the foundations for prescribing medicines and extracting them to patients.
Claudius Galen introduced an innovation into the current system of medical knowledge and therapy - the use of drugs that have the opposite effect to the disease. Medicines, in his theory, were divided into groups:
- Simple in action (cold, heat, viscosity, humidity, etc.).
- Complex (acid, bitter, spice, etc.).
- Special (anti-inflammatory, fixing, antipyretic, etc.).
Galen was the first scientist who studied medicinal plants and conclusively found that in addition to the active substance, raw materials for medicines contain ballast. He managed to separate these two phases of one material. In modern pharmacology, drugs manufactured in the same way are still used. They are called galenic substances (camphor, alkaloids, glycosides, etc.). The scientist's work served as the origin of chemical pharmacology.
Eastern wisdom
The history of the development of pharmacology is inseparable from the Arab period, and Ibn Sina played a leading role in shaping the medicine of the East. In Europe, he was known as Avicenna. His treatise "The Canon of Medical Art" gathered all the knowledge that was possible at that time in line with the theory of Hippocrates. For several centuries, the book has been a guide for most physicians.
In the same period, his activities became famous scientist-chemist and physician Paracelsus, who denied the scholastic theses of medicine. He believed that the basis of the human body are chemicals, and the imbalance of substances leads to disease. Therefore, in order to cure the patient, it is necessary to restore balance. Paracelsus was introduced into the use of sulfur as a panacea for scabies and mercury to cure syphilis.
Scientific approach
The history of the development of pharmacology as a science began during the emergence of capitalism (at the end of the 18th century) from the era of experimental methods for studying plants, minerals, and other substances. The chemical industry began to develop rapidly, which allowed us to synthesize new drugs that are not found in pure form in nature. In the 19th century, pharmacology was finally formed as a separate scientific branch, where the action of drugs had an evidence-based experimental base.
The pioneer in scientific pharmacology was F. Mazhandi, who conducted a series of observations of the action of drugs during surgical interventions. His student, physiologist K. Bernard, became the founder of experimental pharmacology and toxicology, thanks to an experimental study of the effects of poisons and drugs.
Russian history
In Russia, the first attempts to introduce finished dosage forms into use and to prepare the preparation of potions were attempted by Peter I, having ordered the young generation of Latin, anatomy, surgery, and the manufacture of medicines to be taught. With the opening of universities and institutes, theoretical teaching and practical study of pharmacology begins.
The first treatise on this subject is considered “Medical substanceology or description of medicinal plants”, its author is Professor N. A. Ambodik from Kazan. In 1852, the three-volume publication “Pharmacography or the Chemical-Pharmaceutical and Pharmacodynamic Presentation of the Preparation and Use of the Newest Medicines” was published, author A.P. Nelyubin (St. Petersburg Medical and Surgical Academy).
Prominent scientists
Experiments on the study of substances in Russia began since the beginning of the 17th century and achieved high results. In 1871, Professor V. Dybkovsky published the textbook “Lectures on Pharmacology,” which was preceded by a long practical period to determine the effect of poisons on the human body. The great growth of the scientific approach to pharmacology was promoted by the great Russian scientists, such as:
- N.I. Pirogov. He conducted a series of experiments with ethers, the result was the appearance of anesthesia based on ether.
- I.M.Sechenov. In 1810, he studied the effects of a number of drugs on the neuromuscular system.
- I.P. Pavlov. In 1890-95, he studied the effect of glycosides on the heart muscle. At different times, he tested the effects of bromides, narcotic substances on the cerebral cortex.
Soviet period
The development of pharmacology after 1917 was facilitated by the rapid spread of viral and infectious diseases, the lack of systematic qualified assistance and the collapse of the medical industry as a whole. In 1919, when the threat of epidemics hung over the country, a congress of pharmacists took place, where a decision was made to provide affordable and quick assistance to every citizen of the country. Medicines began to be issued free of charge with a doctor’s prescription.
Quality control of drugs was carried out centrally through the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR. In 1928, the TsAOS was created, the duties of which included the organization and control of medicinal assistance to the population. By 1940, the number of pharmacies in the country was 9,300 units, there were 14 thousand drugstores, about 1,500 stores, 300 warehouses, factories and laboratories worked.
During the war, the tasks of pharmacology changed significantly, the main efforts were aimed at the development of painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, preparations for surgical interventions were required for the front, etc. Soviet medicine successfully coped with the tasks. During this period, many scientists worked on the challenges that arose. Pharmacology has been asked several new directions of development.
One of the outstanding scientists of Soviet pharmacology is N.P. Kravkov. He independently conducted more than 50 scientific experiments with a detailed description, oversaw the work of the laboratory, where a total of more than 120 experiments and studies were implemented. His authorship is one of the best textbooks of the Soviet era - "Fundamentals of Pharmacology", which has survived 14 reprints.
Also Kravkov N.P. gave rise to a new direction in the study of drugs - pathological pharmacology, made a great contribution to toxicology, for the first time created a drug for intravenous anesthesia and proposed combined anesthesia. For his work in 1926, Kravkov was introduced to the Order of Lenin (posthumously). He brought up a galaxy of outstanding students, among them S.V. Anichkov, M.P. Nikolaev and others.
A huge contribution to the development of domestic pharmacology was made by A. N. Kudrin, who became the developer of the chemical-pharmaceutical field in science. It was his work that served as the beginning of the search for new drugs. The scientist developed the theory of the creation of drugs, introduced the mandatory biological control of the safety and quality of drugs. Kudrin also created a training system for pharmacists.
Since 1952, the Russian Research Institute of Pharmacology named after V.V. Zakusova. The Institute is engaged in the synthesis, introduction of new drugs, develops a search methodology and poses new challenges for science. Over the entire period of activity, employees of the institution have developed many medications that have received worldwide recognition. For example, afobazole, phenazepam, bonnencor, mexidol, ethmosin and others were synthesized at the institute. Many of the drugs have spread in the US and Europe.
Veterinary Pharmacology
Pharmacology in veterinary medicine developed much more slowly, the first generalizing information was collected together by Professor P. Lukin in the treatise "Zoopharmacology" in 1837. Experts in practical activities could use no more than 150 types of drugs, the effect of which was calculated depending on the age, weight, type and conditions of the animal.
The next fundamental work, Veterinary Pharmacology, was written by Professor G. A. Polyuta in 1878. The book includes summarizing materials on the mechanisms of exposure, scientific methods of using drugs and substances. Great attention was paid to drug combinations for various diseases and surgical interventions.
Soviet pharmacology for animals
Until 1917, veterinary pharmacology was not taught. During the Soviet period, A.N.Soshevsky, who headed the Department of Pharmacology at the Moscow Veterinary Institute for 20 years, became an outstanding scientist in this field. He wrote a number of textbooks in this area - “The Course of Pharmacology”, which had three editions, “Manual on Chemical Protection”, “Toxicology of BOV”.
Today, veterinary pharmacology is poorly developed in Russia, most of the drugs on the domestic market are of European origin. This industry is still awaiting its heyday.
Modern pharmacology
In the twentieth century, pharmacology was formed as a branch of science that accurately determines the regulation of the body's activity with the help of medicines and drugs. Modern advances in pharmacology have a history of development over the past 35 years. During this period, more than 6 thousand original medications were synthesized, which is about 80% of the total arsenal of drugs used.
The concept of research of our time includes the search for both medicinal and prophylactic agents. Modern pharmacological advances have made possible the successful treatment of psychoses with the use of antipsychotics, patients with endocrine diseases got a chance for a normal existence after the release of synthesized hormonal preparations. A huge jerk got the direction of transplantation after the creation of immunosuppressive drugs, and the discovery of antibiotics created the conditions for the effective treatment of bacterial infections.
Today, the science of the creation, use and action of drugs is mandatory for students of all medical universities to study, it is believed that pharmacology is one of the foundations for successful treatment of a patient. The classification of drugs is based on the characteristics of the drugs used and can be divided as follows:
- By chemical composition and structure (for example, derivatives or compounds of furfural, pyrimidine, etc.).
- According to the pharmacological group (based on the effect of the drug on the body).
- By origin (natural, synthesized, mineral, etc.).
- International classification (ATX - anatomical-therapeutic-chemical). When forming, the farm was taken into account. group, the chemical nature of the drug, as well as the nosology of the drug.
- Nosological classification (by disease).
Pharmacology is a booming science that faces many challenges. Failure-free and universal drugs for diseases of the cardiovascular system have not yet been found, there is no cure for AIDS, cancer, diabetes mellitus, old age and many other diseases. Scientists believe that the 21st century will bring many discoveries in pharmacology.