Approaching pathology in patients

An approach based on the health record and guided by problems and evidence based medicine

The firsd human society recognized to date is the Sumerian culture. It grew in the Middle East, on the banks of where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet, around the year 2500bce. This first society was alredy familiar with the concept of disease. It was defined as an "invasion and shutting in of a demon within sick persons body." The Sumerians tried to remove the demon by administering substances that would "confuse" it, and make it abandon the victims body. Thats why for many years it was thought that relief and curing had only a spititual or religious origin. Therefore, people depended on priests in organized societies (that had priestly orders) or on shamans ( in nomadic societies, or in thouse without priestly orders), the only ones capable of comunicating with the spirits in order to correct the problem. They were responsible for both their religious functions and for caring for health.