Allopathic

Allopathy is medicine based on the germ theory or physical weakness, prescribing medicine or diet to relieve symptoms. This article presents a historical overview of Western medicine.

Hippocrates taught that nature heals, emphasizing diet, hygiene and asepsis. Galen (130–200 AD) is credited with 1,500+ years of errors that were later corrected by Vesalius, who dissected bodies and published “De humani corporis fabrica” (1543).

Later advances included William Harvey’s work on blood circulation, James Lind’s lime juice for scurvy, Withering’s digitalis, quinine for malaria, Jenner’s smallpox vaccination, anesthesia, and Semmelweis’ discovery of puerperal fever contagion.

The central argument: many great medical advances came from clinical observation rather than animal experimentation.