India is a diverse culture and in this vastness of culture born many great personalities and scientists. From ancient India those great personalities made a critical mark on all the fields. Especially in the field of science, mathematics, philosophy etc..In science there are certain people in ancient India who were the first to perform or discover things in the entire world. This article is all about a great scientist/teacher “Sushruta” who was mainly responsible for clinical practices in ancient India.
Sushruta- Indian Teacher/Surgeon who performed the first ever plastic surgery
Sushruta was a famous surgeon in Kashi (Known now as Varanasi),who used to preach/practice medicine in acient India around 600b.c.The Ayurvedic(Ayurveda: science of life) guru Dhanwantari(father of Ayurveda) was his teacher.
During that period knowledge was imparted by the teacher to disciples orally in the then Vedic language “Sanskrit”. The most important compilation of his teachings and works are currently available in a treatise called “ Sushruta Samhita”.This discourse contains 184 chapter and description of 1120 illnesses,700 medicinal plants,64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources.
Father of surgery and plastic surgery
Sushruta is termed as the father of Surgery because of his inventive methods and principles used in those ancient times India. In the treatise”Sushruta Samhita” there are descriptions of his works on surgical practices. Susrutha is also the father of plastic surgery since his technique of forehead flap rhinoplasty (repairing the disfigured nose with a flap of skin from the forehead) is practiced almost unchanged in technique to this day. Many great personalities in medicine term him to be great innovator of ancient
On Diabetes
Sushruta described diabetes (madhumeha) as a disease characterised by passage of large amount of urine, sweet in taste, hence the name “madhumeha” — honey like urine. He goes on to say that diabetes primarily affects obese people who are sedentary and emphasized the role of physical activity in amelioration of diabetes. Such a pertinent observation speaks volume of his observational power, habit of going into the details of each symptom and a sharp analytical mind. His advice to resort to physical exercise to prevent diabetes holds true even today at a time when we are facing an epidemic of diabetes and coronary artery disease worldwide.
Other Important Works
Though the discovery of circulation is attributed to William Harvey; it is interesting to note that Sushruta had the knowledge of a structure like heart and its role in circulation of “vital fluids” through the ‘channels’. Besides these, he has also described the symptoms of “vatarakta” which are similar to that of hypertension. It is remarkable that Sushruta described these conditions some 150 years before Greek physician Hippocrates. He came to such a near perfect conclusion without resorting to any kind of biochemical or imaging procedures which were obviously non-existent at that point of time.
With all his keen observation and excellent analytical skill he made a very great impression in medical sciences.
Indi Proff salute this great rather greatest teacher/practitioner.
Indi Proff
http://indiproff.blogspot.com/
http://junctiont.blogspot.com/
(topic produced is a mixture of self writing and internet information)
1 comment:
nice one!!!
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