A brief history of western medicine

Abstract A concise history of Western medicine is here outlined focusing on major breakthroughs that occurred in such civilization from the ancient world to the present. Anatomy, physiology, pathology and therapy, both medical and surgical, are the main areas that witnessed dramatic advancements of science and medicine. The new knowledge of the body, of its functioning and pathology, first organically described by Morgagni and then by Virchow, made it possible to produce effective therapies. Microbiology and virology have played a very important role in defeating diseases that for millennia had been torturing humanity. Today's medicine is a planetary enterprise, as research and collaboration among scientists all over the world is widely accepted.