History of pharmacy

The history of pharmacy as an independent science dates back to the first

third of the 19th century. Before then, pharmacy evolved from antiquity as
part of medicine. The history of pharmacy coincides well with the history of
medicine, but it's important that there is a distinction between the two
topics. Pharmaceuticals is one of the most-researched fields in the academic
industry, but the history surrounding that particular topic is sparse compared
to the impact its made world-wide. Before the advent of pharmacists, there
existed apothecaries that worked alongside priests and physicians in regard to
patient care

Prehistoric Pharmacy
Paleopharmacological studies attest to the use of medicinal plants in pre-
history.[1] For example, herbs were discovered in the Shanidar Cave, and
remains of the areca nut in the Spirit Cave.[2]: 8 Prehistoric man learned
pharmaceutical techniques through instinct, by watching birds and beasts, and
using cool water, leaves, dirt, or mud as a soothing agent

Antiquity

Mesopotamia and Egypt

Sumerian cuneiform tablets record prescriptions for medicine. Ancient Egyptian

pharmacological knowledge was recorded in various papyri such as the Ebers
Papyrus of 1550 BC and it included a 1,100 page document about 800
prescriptions using 700 drugs mostly derived from plants, and the Edwin
Smith Papyrus of the 16th century BC.

The very beginnings or pharmaceutical texts were written on clay tablets by

Mesopotamians. Some texts included formulas, instructions via pulverization,
infusion, boiling, filtering and spreading; herbs were mentioned as well Babylon,
a state within Mesopotamia, provided the earliest known practice of running
an apothecary any pharmacy. Alongside the ill person included a priest,
physician, and a pharmacist to tend to their needs.
Greece
In Ancient Greece, there existed a separation between physician and herbalist.
The duties of the herbalist was to supply physicians with raw materials,
including plants, to make medicines.[7] According to Edward Kremers and Glenn
Sonnedecker, "before, during and after the time of Hippocrates there was a
group of experts in medicinal plants. Probably the most important
representative of these rhizotomoi was Diocles of Carystus (4th century BC).
He is considered to be the source for all Greek pharmacotherapeutic treatises
between the time of Theophrastus and Dioscorides."

From 60 and 78 AD, the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides wrote a five
volume book, De Materia Medica, covering over 600 plants and coining the
term materia medica. It formed the basis for many medieval texts, and was
built upon by many middle eastern scientists during the Islamic Golden Age.

Asia

The earliest known Chinese manual on materia medica is the Shennong Bencao Jing,
dating back to the 1st century AD. It was compiled during the Han dynasty and was
attributed to the mythical Shennong. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions
for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in
the Mawangdui, sealed in 168 BC.

The earliest known compilation of medicinal substances in Indian traditional

medicine dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD )(attributed to Sushruta, who
is recorded as a physician of the 6th century BC).

In Japan, at the end of the Asuka period (538-710) and the early Nara
period (710-794), the men who fulfilled roles similar to those of modern
pharmacists were highly respected. The place of pharmacists in society was
expressly defined in the Taihō Code (701) and re-stated in the Yōrō Code
(718). Ranked positions in the pre-Heian Imperial court were established; and
this organizational structure remained largely intact until the Meiji
Restoration (1868). In this highly stable hierarchy, the pharmacists—and even
pharmacist assistants—were assigned status superior to all others in health-
related fields such as physicians and acupuncturists. In the Imperial household,
the pharmacist was even ranked above the two personal physicians of the
Emperor

Middle East

In Baghdad the first pharmacies, or drug stores, were established in 754, [10]
under the Abbasid Caliphate during the Islamic Golden Age. By the 9th
century, these pharmacies were state-regulated

The advances made in the Middle East in botany and chemistry led medicine in
medieval Islam substantially to develop pharmacology. Muhammad ibn Zakarīya
Rāzi (Rhazes) (865-915), for instance, acted to promote the medical uses of
chemical compounds. Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) (936-1013)
pioneered the preparation of medicines by sublimation and distillation. His
Liber servitoris is of particular interest, as it provides the reader with recipes
and explains how to prepare the "simples" from which were compounded the
complex drugs then generally used. Sabur Ibn Sahl (d. 869), was, however,
the first physician to initiate a pharmacopoeia, describing a large variety of
drugs and remedies for ailments. Al-Biruni (973-1050) wrote one of the
most valuable Islamic works on pharmacology entitled Kitab al-Saydalah (The
Book of Drugs), where he gave detailed knowledge of the properties of drugs
and outlined the role of pharmacy and the functions and duties of the
pharmacist. Ibn Sina (Avicenna), too, described no less than 700
preparations, their properties, mode of action and their indications. He
devoted in fact a whole volume to simple drugs in The Canon of Medicine. Of
great impact were also the works by al-Maridini of Baghdad and Cairo, and Ibn
al-Wafid (1008–1074), both of which were printed in Latin more than fifty
times, appearing as De Medicinis universalibus et particularibus by `Mesue' the
younger, and the Medicamentis Simplicibus by `Abenguefit'. Peter of Abano
(1250–1316) translated and added a supplement to the work of al-Maridini
under the title De Veneris. Al-Muwaffaq's contributions in the field are also
pioneering. Living in the 10th century, he wrote The Foundations of the True
Properties of Remedies, amongst others describing arsenious oxide, and being
acquainted with silicic acid. He made clear distinction between sodium
carbonate and potassium carbonate, and drew attention to the poisonous
nature of copper compounds, especially copper vitriol, and also lead
compounds. He also describes the distillation of sea-water for drinking

Europe

After the 5th century fall of the Western Roman Empire, medicinal
knowledge in Europe suffered due to the loss of Greek medicinal texts and a
strict adherence to tradition, although an area of Southern Italy near Salerno
remained under Byzantine control and developed a hospital and medical school,
which became famous by the 11th century.[2]: 30

In the early 11th century, Salerno scholar Constantinos Africanus translated

many Arabic books into Latin, driving a shift from Hippocratic medicine
towards a pharmaceutical-driven approach advocated by Galen. [2]: 30 In medieval
Europe, monks typically did not speak Greek, leaving only Latin texts such as
the works of Pliny available until these translations by Constantinos. [2]: 30 In
addition, Arabic medicine became more widely known due to Muslim Spain.[2]: 30

In the 15th century, the printing press spread medicinal textbooks and
formularies; the Antidotarium was the first printed drug formulary.[2]: 30

In Europe pharmacy-like shops began to appear during the 12th century. In

1240 emperor Frederic II issued a decree by which the physician's and the
apothecary's professions were separated.[5]

Old pharmacies continue to operate in Dubrovnik, Croatia located inside the

Franciscan monastery, opened in 1317[citation needed]. The Town Hall Pharmacy in
Tallinn, Estonia, which dates back to at least 1422, is the oldest continuously
run pharmacy in the world still operating in the original premises. [13]

The trend towards pharmacy specialization started to take effect in Bruges,

Belgium where a new law was passed that forbid physicians to prepare
medications for patients.[14]

The oldest pharmacy is claimed to be set up in 1221 in the Church of Santa

Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, which now houses a perfume museum. The
medieval Esteve Pharmacy, located in Llívia, a spanish enclave close to
Puigcerdà, is also now a museum dating back to the 15th century, keeping
albarellos from the 16th and 17th centuries, old prescription books and
antique drugs. Florence is also the birthplace of the first official pharmacopeia,
called the Nuevo Receptario, in which all pharmacies would use that document
as guidance for caring for the sickly.[3]

The Royal College of Apothecaries of the City and Kingdom of Valencia was
founded in 1441, considered the oldest in the world, with full administrative
and legislative powers. The apothecaries of Valencia were the first in the
world to elaborate their medicines, with the same criteria that are currently
required in the official pharmacopoeias.[15]

The Republic of Venice was the first State with health modern policies which
requires that the nature of the drug is public. In actuality, thirteen secrets
survive which were offered to sale to the Venetian Republic.

Industrialization

The 1800s brought increased technical sophistication. By the late 1880s,

German dye manufacturers had perfected the purification of individual organic
compounds from tar and other mineral sources and had also established
rudimentary methods in organic chemical synthesis.[17]

Chloral hydrate was introduced as a sleeping aid and sedative in 1869. [18]
Chloroform was first used as an anesthetic in 1847.[19]

Derivatives of phenothiazines had an important impact on various aspects of

medicine, beginning with methylene blue which was originally used as a dye
after its synthesis from aniline in 1876.[20] Phenothiazines were used as
antimalarials, antiseptics, and antihelminthics up to 1940. [21] 1950,
chlorpromazine was discovered, which began the "psychopharmacological
revolution".[21]

The United States formed the American Pharmaceutical Association in 1852 [22]
with its main purpose to advance pharmacists' roles in patient care, assist in
furthering career development, spread information about tools and resources,
and raising awareness about the roles of pharmacists and their contribution to
patient care. [23]

Frederick Banting and Charles Best found the hormone insulin to lower blood
sugar of dogs in 1921. This inspired further work by James B. Collip who
developed pure insulin used for human testing and dramatically changed the
prospects for all diabetics.

Alexander Fleming developed the first antibiotic, penicillin, after discovering a

fungus that was able to kill off bacteria.