MEDICAL SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA
Dhanvantri -"God of Medicine".
Ashvini Kumar - Famous medical man of vedic times.
Susruta - First Indian to study human anatomy; considered "Father of Surgery", did plastic surgery of human nose (rhinoplasty).
He used non-poisonous live leeches to prevent blood clotting in post-operative cases, which is now known to contain hirudin in saliva.
He also specialized in ophthalmic surgery (extraction of cataracts).
Atreya (600 BC Taxilla) and his student Agnivesa (Physician) wrote an encyclopedic treatise on medical practices.
Charak (100 BC) revised this work and wrote the book Charak Samhita. He was the first to give concept of digestion, metabolism and immunity.
He recognized 3 defects (doshas) as bile (pitt), phlegm (cough) and wind (batas) and illness is caused when balance among the three is disturbed. He prescribed drugs for restoring the balance.
He knew the fundamental of genetics like how the sex of child is determined.
Charak said that both man and visible world are composed of six elements; prithvi (earth), ap (liquid or water), tejas (fire), vayu (air) and akash (ether) and the sixth element as atma (self) in the individual.
Ayurveda The indigenous system of medicine in India, also deals in origin of life. It mainly contains the doctrines of Charak Samhita.
Taittiriya Upnishad (7-8 BC) mentions about evolution of life and tracing it to space.
Manu Smriti or Manu Samhita (200 AD) proponded the ideas about evolution.