Medical literature
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2008-03-17T16:29:26Z
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[[Image:Edwin Smith Papyrus v2.jpg|thumb|Plates vi & vii of the [[Edwin Smith Papyrus]] at the Rare Book Room, [[New York Academy of Medicine]]]]
'''Medical literature''' refers to articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of [[medicine]].
Contemporary and historic views regarding diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of medical conditions have been documented for thousands of years. The [[Edwin Smith papyrus]] is the first known medical [[treatise]]. Initially most described inflictions related to warfare. This was because war was the most important part of society and it was the most common way of contracting health problems.
==History==
[[Image:Imhotep-Louvre.JPG|thumb|Statuette of [[Imhotep]] in the [[Louvre]]]]
[[Image:Avicenna Persian Physician.jpg|thumb|<center>Renowned 11th century Persian physician [[Avicenna]], the author of ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]''.]]
{{main|History of medicine}}
{{see|Al-Tasrif|The Canon of Medicine|Huangdi Neijing}}
Throughout history people have written about diseases, how [[human being]]s might contract them and what could be done to remedy it. Medicine ranged from folklore, withcraft to the current [[Evidence-based medicine]].<ref>[http://www.st-mike.org/medicine/medicine.html Medicine in Ancient and Medieval Times]</ref><ref>[http://www.anes.uab.edu/aneshist/medhist.htm MEDICAL HISTORY ON THE INTERNET]</ref><ref>[http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/intro.HTM Asclepion, a World Wide Web page devoted to the study of ancient medicine]</ref> Among the most notable descriptions are texts from Egypt ([[Imhotep]], ''[[Edwin Smith Papyrus]]'', ''[[Ebers Papyrus]]'', ''[[Kahun Gynecological Papyrus]]''),<ref>[http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/egypt.HTM Medicine in Ancient Egypt]</ref> Mesopotamia (''[[Babylonia#Medicine|Diagnostic Handbook]]'', [[al-Kindi|Alkindus]], ''[[De Gradibus]]''), India ([[Ayurveda]], ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'', ''[[Charaka Samhita]]''), China ([[Yellow Emperor]], ''[[Huangdi Neijing]]''), Greece (''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'' are the earliest sources of Greek medical practise; [[Hippocrates|Hippocratic medicine]]),<ref>[http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/greekmenu.HTM Medicine in Ancient Greece]</ref> Persia ([[Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi|Rhazes]], [[Avicenna]], ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'', ''[[The Book of Healing]]''), Spain ([[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi|Abulcasis]], ''[[Al-Tasrif|Kitab al-Tasrif]]'') and Syria ([[Ibn al-Nafis]], ''Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon'', ''Comprehensive Book on Medicine'').
Following [[Vesalius]], [[William Harvey]], [[Ignaz Semmelweis]], [[Louis Pasteur]], and others, the medical community have changed the way it conducts [[medical research|research]]. After incorporating the [[scientific method]] medical literature has introduced the so-called [[peer review]], and is currently divided into journals and textbooks.
==Medical journal==
{{main|Medical journal}}
These are publications in which the medical community shares information. Articles are commonly either original articles or reviews.
#Original articles describe [[randomized controlled trials]] which are submitted for [[peer review]] following the [[scientific method]].
#Reviews are an overview of one particular topic in order to refresh the readers' memory.
When looking for specific information in any journal one can use the [[National Library of Medicine]]'s [[PubMed]] [[database]]. Examples of journals are:
* The ''[[New England Journal of Medicine]]''
* ''[[The Lancet]]''
* '' [[Journal of the American Medical Association]]''
* ''[[Annals of Internal Medicine]]''
* ''[[Nature Medicine]]''
* ''[[BMJ]]'' (''British Medical Journal'')
* ''[[Archives of Internal Medicine]]''
==Medical textbooks==
After [[Consensus (medical)|consensus]] has been reached it is incorporated in [[textbook]]s. There are textbooks on every [[medical specialty]] and they contain comprehensive discussion on all [[diseases]] and their [[diagnosis]], therapy and [[prognosis]]. Examples are:
*''[[Cecil Textbook of Medicine]]''<ref>[http://www.cecilmedicine.com/buy.cfm?book=goldman Cecil Textbook of Medicine]</ref>
*''[[Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine]]''<ref>[http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/getbook.php?isbn=0071391401 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine]</ref>
*The ''[[Oxford Textbook of Medicine]]''<ref>[http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Medicine/PrimaryCare/?view=usa&ci=9780198569787 Oxford Textbook of Medicine]</ref>
==Internet==
Most prominent journals and textbooks are currently available [[on-line]] or via [[CD-Rom]].
==See also==
*[[Cochrane Collaboration]]
*[[Evidence-based medicine]]
*[[Guideline (medical)|Guideline]]
*[[Peer review]]
*[[Scientific method]]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Medical journals| ]]
[[Category:Medical manuals]]