Medicine

Humans have long sought to find cures for the ailments and injuries that befall them. This has led to a long history of diverse attempted treatments, including herbal remedies, leeching, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, and more, all the way up to the most recent science-based treatments that have come into use during the development of today's modern medicine. Medical research and the study of the causes of disease have led to rapid and significant advances in medicine, improving both the efficacy of treatments and our understanding of illnesses and how they operate. The importance of preventive medicine has grown, and the field of medicine has become increasingly specialized as medical disciplines and branches such as endocrinology, immunology, psychiatry, radiology, epidemiology, and nanomedicine have emerged.

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dentistry

Dentistry, the profession concerned with the prevention and treatment of oral disease, including diseases of the teeth and supporting structures and diseases of the soft tissues of the mouth. Dentistry...

vaccine

Vaccine, suspension of weakened, killed, or fragmented microorganisms or toxins or other biological preparation, such as those consisting of antibodies, lymphocytes, or messenger RNA (mRNA), that is administered...

nursing

Nursing, profession that assumes responsibility for the continuous care of the sick, the injured, the disabled, and the dying. Nursing is also responsible for encouraging the health of individuals, families,...

medicine

Medicine, the practice concerned with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease. The World Health Organization at its 1978 international conference held in the Soviet...

emergency medicine

Emergency medicine, medical specialty emphasizing the immediacy of treatment of acutely ill or injured individuals. Among the factors that influenced the growth of emergency medicine was the increasing...

pediatrics

Pediatrics, medical specialty dealing with the development and care of children and with the diagnosis and treatment of childhood diseases. The first important review of childhood illness, an anonymous...

history of medicine

History of medicine, the development of the prevention and treatment of disease from prehistoric and ancient times to the 21st century. Unwritten history is not easy to interpret, and, although much may...

intensive care unit

Intensive care unit, hospital facility for care of critically ill patients at a more intensive level than is needed by other patients. Staffed by specialized personnel, the intensive care unit contains...

birth control

Birth control, the voluntary limiting of human reproduction, using such means as sexual abstinence, contraception, induced abortion, and surgical sterilization. It includes the spacing as well as the number...

drug

Drug, any chemical substance that affects the functioning of living things and the organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that infect them. Pharmacology, the science of drugs, deals with all...

hospital

Hospital, an institution that is built, staffed, and equipped for the diagnosis of disease; for the treatment, both medical and surgical, of the sick and the injured; and for their housing during this...

cloning

Cloning, the process of generating a genetically identical copy of a cell or an organism. Cloning happens often in nature—for example, when a cell replicates itself asexually without any genetic alteration...

antibiotic

Antibiotic, chemical substance produced by a living organism, generally a microorganism, that is detrimental to other microorganisms. Antibiotics commonly are produced by soil microorganisms and probably...

transplant

Transplant, in medicine, a section of tissue or a complete organ that is removed from its original natural site and transferred to a new position in the same person or in a separate individual. The term,...

therapeutics

Therapeutics, treatment and care of a patient for the purpose of both preventing and combating disease or alleviating pain or injury. The term comes from the Greek therapeutikos, which means “inclined...

surgery

Surgery, branch of medicine that is concerned with the treatment of injuries, diseases, and other disorders by manual and instrumental means. Surgery involves the management of acute injuries and illnesses...

public health

Public health, the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health, sanitation, personal hygiene, control of infectious diseases, and organization of health...