The Medicine Portal

Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury. It is both an area of knowledge — a science of body systems, their diseases and treatment — and the applied practice — an art or craft — of that knowledge. However, medicine often refers more specifically to matters dealt with by physicians and surgeons.

Medicine is both an area of knowledge (a science), and the application of that knowledge (by the medical profession and other health professionals such as nurses). The various specialized branches of the science of medicine correspond to the equally specialized medical professions dealing with particular organs or diseases. The science of medicine is the knowledge of body systems and diseases, while the profession of medicine refers to the social structure of the group of people formally trained to apply that knowledge to treat disease.

Medicine comprises various specialized sub-branches, such as cardiology, pulmonology, neurology, or other fields such as sports medicine, research or public health.

"Medicine" is also often used amongst medical professionals as shorthand for internal medicine. Veterinary medicine is the practice of health care in animal species other than human beings.

Content of this portal: Selected article | Selected picture | Medicine WikiNews | Did you know... | Quotes | Medicine topics | Wikiprojects | Things you can do | Categories | Related portals | Associated Wikimedia

  

Selected Article

Measles, also known as rubeola, is a disease caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus.

Reports of measles go back to at least 600 BCE, however, the first scientific description of the disease and its distinction from smallpox is attributed to the Persian physician Ibn Razi (Rhazes) 860-932 who published a book entitled "Smallpox and Measles" (in Arabic: Kitab fi al-jadari wa-al-hasbah). In 1954, the virus causing the disease was isolated, and licensed vaccines to prevent the disease became available in 1963.

Measles is spread through respiration (contact with fluids from an infected person's nose and mouth, either directly or through aerosol transmission), and is highly contagious—90% of people without immunity sharing a house with an infected person will catch it. Airborne precautions should be taken for all suspected cases of measles. (More...)

  

Selected Picture

Animated sequence from a CTPA study.

Photo credit: Original uploader was KieranMaher at en.wikibooks

  

Medicine WikiNews

• • November 28: Wikinews Shorts: November 28, 2008
  • November 25: Wikinews Shorts: November 25, 2008
  • November 13: Wikinews Shorts: November 13, 2008
  • November 13: Bone marrow transplant potentially linked to cure of patient with AIDS

More articles about Health on WikiNews • Archive

  

Did you know...

• ... that a pulmonary contusion (pictured) is a bruising of the lung that occurs as a result of chest trauma?
• ... that a solitary pulmonary nodule or coin lesion is a mass in the lung smaller than 3 centimetres in diameter that can be an incidental finding found in up to 0.2% of chest X-rays and around 1% of CT scans?
• ... that lovastatin, a statin derived from the fungus Aspergillus terreus, is naturally present in red yeast rice?
  Did you know archive

  

Quotes

• "When you hear hoofbeats behind you, don't expect to see a zebra.” Theodore Woodward, MD PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine.
• "We should not encourage the medical student to while away his time in the labyrinths of Chemistry and Physiology.” - Harvard Medical School professor, 1871.
• "If I had my way I'd make health catching instead of disease.” - Robert Ingersoll
  Quotes archive

  

Medicine topics

Anatomy List of anatomical topics Anatomists Animal anatomy History of anatomy Human anatomy Embryology Organs Tissues	Physicians Medical education Dentists Dermatologists Endocrinologists Pathologists Pediatricians Surgeons	Medical treatments Cancer treatments Psychiatric treatments Radiobiology Surgery Therapy	Pharmacology ATC codes Medicinal chemistry Medicinal plants Pharmacodynamics Pharmacologists
History of medicine List of epidemics Heroic medicine Prehistoric medicine History of traditional Chinese medicine History of cancer chemotherapy Islamic medicine Medical museums Medicine in ancient Greece Timeline of antibiotics Timeline of medicine and medical technology Timeline of vaccines	Diseases Autoimmune Blood disorders Cardiovascular Congenital Cutaneous Genetic Infectious Neurological Organ disorders	Medical equipment Anesthetic equipment Dental equipment Drug delivery devices Implants Medical imaging Medical testing equipment Medical pumps Thermometers List of surgical instruments	First aid Cardiopulmonary resuscitation Emergency action principles Emergency medical technician First aid kit Recovery position Tourniquet Wound

  

WikiProjects

• Abortion
• Aids
• Alternative medicine
• Deaf: aims to better organise information related to sign languages, deaf culture and deafness.
• Dentistry
• Genetics
• Sexology and sexuality
• Health
• Medicine: our main project!
  • Anatomy
  • Dermatology
  • Emergency medical services
  • Gastroenterology: the branch of medicine dealing with diseases of stomach, intestines and related organs.
  • Medical Genetics
  • Nephrology: the branch of medicine dealing with diseases of the kidney.
  • Neurology: the branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system.
  • Ophthalmology: the branch of medicine dealing with diseases of the eye.
  • Pathology
  • Radiology
• Microbiology
  • Viruses
• Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Cell Signaling
• National Health Service
• Neuroscience
• Nursing
• Pharmacology
  • Psychedelics, Dissociatives and Deliriants
• Psychology
  • Psychopathology: aims to provide information on the science, history, philosophy and politics of mental illness.
• Veterinary Medicine

  

Things you can do

Here are some things you can do:

• Wikify: British Pharmacopoeia, Doctor-patient relationship, Freeman-Sheldon syndrome, Healthy diet, Osteoblastoma, Paramedicine, Podiatry
• Expand: Ancient Roman Medicine, Bioethics, Chimera (genetics), Forensic pathology, Gynaecology, Health care system, Insanity, Medical education in the United Kingdom, Medical ethics, Medical microbiology, Medical school, Meningitis, Monounsaturated fat, Osmotherapy, Peptic ulcer, Pulmonary artery catheter, Sertoli cell, Tachycardia, Terminal illness, X chromosome
• Requests: Latin terminology in anatomy, Vascular recruitment, other Anatomy, Genetics related requested articles
• Merge: Athlete heart syndrome & Athlete's Heart Syndrome
• Stubs: Antidiuretic, Asymptomatic, Alkalosis, Bone density, Cervical rib, Cheek, Chyme Cushing reflex, Diuresis, Glycosuria, Merkel cell, Microalbuminuria, Nephropathy, Period prevalence, Pia mater, Renal plexus, Right bundle branch block, SOFA Score, All medical stubs...
• Participate in the Medicine Collaboration of the Week: Premature birth
• Requested photographs of medical subjects

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Categories

Medicine

Alternative medicine · Medical education · First aid · History of medicine · Nutrition · Pharmacology · Medical signs · Medical specialties · Symptoms · Syndromes · Medical terms · Medical tests · Traditional medicine · Medical treatments

Health

Clinical research · Disability · Diseases · Therapy

Biology

Anatomy · Bioengineering · Bioethics · Cell biology · Microbiology · Physiology

  

Related portals

Biotechnology	Health	Mind and Brain	Molecular and Cellular Biology	Neuroscience	Psychology	Science

  

Associated Wikimedia

Health portal on Wikinews	Medicine on Wikiquote	Health science bookshelf on Wikibooks	Hippocrates on Wikisource	Medicine category on Wikicommons	Wikiversity School of Medicine
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