Medical literature

Medical literature is the scientific literature of medicine: articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of medicine. Many references to the medical literature include the health care literature generally, including that of dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and the allied health professions. Medical literature is the scientific literature of medicine: articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of medicine. Many references to the medical literature include the health care literature generally, including that of dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and the allied health professions. 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. Ancient medical literature often described inflictions related to warfare. Throughout history people have written about diseases, how human beings might contract them and what could be done to remedy it. Medicine ranged from folklore, witchcraft to the current evidence-based medicine. Among the most notable descriptions are texts from Egypt (Imhotep, Edwin Smith Papyrus, Ebers Papyrus, Kahun Gynecological Papyrus), Mesopotamia (Diagnostic Handbook, 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; Hippocratic medicine), Persia (Rhazes, Avicenna, The Canon of Medicine, The Book of Healing), Spain (Abulcasis, 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 research. After incorporating the scientific method, medical literature has introduced peer review, and is currently divided into journals and textbooks. These are publications in which the medical community shares information. The common articles are original articles, reviews and case reports. When looking for specific information in any journal one can use the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database. Peer reviewed journals are ranked higher thus are a better source for medical information than non-peer reviewed journals. A medical manual is literature (usually a book) describing diagnosis, treatment, management, and prognosis of various disorders. The first known medical manual is the Edwin Smith papyrus of ancient Egypt. After consensus has been reached, it is incorporated in textbooks. There are textbooks on every medical specialty and they contain comprehensive discussion on all diseases and their diagnosis, therapy and prognosis. The first textbook to utilize experts to write specific chapters within the book was the Cecil Textbook of Medicine edited by Russell Cecil, MD in 1927. The book was an immediate international success because of the idea that single or double author medical books was outmoded, 'since the scope of medical knowledge was far surpassing the capacity of any single individual to encompass'. Since that time, this has been the standard. Examples are: Harrison's Principal of Internal Medicine is widely considered the most read textbook of medicine ever. It was able to eclipse Cecil's by changing the organization. Instead of organizing by disease, Tinsley Harrison organized the book by region and symptom, allowing students to learn the myriad causes of a patient's symptom, without first knowing the specific disease. Harrison's is also credited for a strong commitment to linking basic science to clinical medicine.