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Matthew Green B. Sc. Hons (OST) G. O. s. C. Registered Osteopath |
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Osteopathic Roots Over twenty-four hundred years
ago, the Greek physician/philosopher Hippocrates advanced much the same theory
as Dr. Still. He believed that although disease could originate outside or
inside man, "it is our natures that are the physicians of our
disease". He taught that the attention should be focused on the patient,
rather than on disease. His philosophy emphasized the study of the health of man
as an individual and as an integrated unit. About the same period of time that Dr. Still was developing his theory, other pioneer scientist in Europe were making contributions of the science of medicine: Bernard, the great physiologist; Virchow and his cellular pathology; Lister's antiseptic surgery; Pasteur's germ theory; Koch, the bacteriologist; Ehrlich's theory of immunity; Morton and Long's anesthesia. Many of their discoveries reinforced Still's ideas. An American contemporary was Sir William Osler who improved clinical methods and reorganized medical education. Several of his ideas ran in the same vein as Still's, as evidenced by the following quotes: Medicine should begin with the patient, continue with patient and end with the patient. One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine. In the 19th century on the western frontier of America, a new theory of medicine, osteopathy, developed in the mind of Andrew Taylor Still, which was to change the course of medicine in America. Further reading: - Origins of Osteopathy The Discovery of Osteopathy The First Osteopathic School
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