Man and plants against pain

Abstract

The history of the pain-relieving drugs has been an enigma in one respect at least: why, if pain-relieving drugs were so nearly within reach, did it take Man so many centunes to realize their potentialities? Several hypotheses have been put forward. One asserts that doctors were unwilling to experiment, fearing they might inadvertently cause death and thus break the Hippocratic oath. The social scientists sometimes lean to the belief that, because pain provides an opportunity to show fortitude, the demand for pain-relievers may not have been nearly so great as we are now led to assume it to have been. “Union Rules” also come in for their share of “guilt.” In medieval times, the physicians’ guilds strictly prohibited surgeons from giving internal medicines, for surgeons were considered mere unlettered craftsmen. Thus, they could do little about relieving pain, even if they were inclined to try. Finally, religious-superstitious beliefs can be held partly responsible. Pain and death were held by many cultures to be inflicted by God on a wicked people, and any attempt to avoid them could be considered opposition to Divine Will.