Paracelsus: The Reformer of Materia Medica

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“Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art. It does not consist of compounding pills and plasters; it deals with the very processes of life, which must be understood before they may be guided.”

If you want to delve deep into the development of medicine, you cannot miss out on Paracelsus: the reformer of materia medicina. Called by many names, “Luther of medicine”, “Godfather of chemotherapy”, “Father of chemistry”, etc. Paracelsus was a German-Swiss physician (preferred to call himself an alchemist) who revolutionized medicine by introducing chemistry to it. 

‘Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me, such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines.”

The tragedy of his life is, like many revolutionaries, his works and contributions have also been given the deserved respect and appreciation posthumously.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist, wrote “we see in Paracelsus not only a pioneer in the domains of chemical medicine, but also in those of an empirical psychological healing science.”

Paracelsus’s contributions are not confined to chemical medicine but they go beyond and as far as toxicology, philosophy, and theology. He dealt with all these subjects simultaneously and saw unity among them.

 “What makes a man ill also cures him, if given in small carefully measured doses.”

This is the foundation of homeopathy and this is how he found the cure for syphilis. In 1530, in a clinical description, he stated that syphilis could be treated by small measured doses of mercury compounds taken internally. He outrightly rejected the cause of silicosis (miner's disease) to be a punishment by God and revealed it rather a result of inhaling metal vapors.

The first London Pharmacopoeia, in 1618, signals that Paracelsus was the first to develop and use chemical remedies to treat patients.

He discovered that the cause of certain diseases was toxic elements inhaled or ingested into a patient's body which later led to the discovery of viruses and bacteria.

He was the first one to associate goiter with the lack of vital minerals in drinking water.

The headstrong, stubborn, and independent young Paracelsus gradually turned into a rebellious spirit who challenged the medical practice as well as teaching. 

 “The universities do not teach all things,” he wrote, “so a doctor must seek out old wives, gypsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers, and such outlaws and take lessons from them. A doctor must be a traveler. Knowledge is experience.”

However, his fellow mates were not so welcoming to his radical thoughts and ideas. They exhibited hesitation to accept the transformation and Paracelsus’s approach, which further infuriated him and made him bitter. Furthermore, he denounced the works of Galen and even publicly burnt the textbooks of the time. 

The home environment had a major influence on Paracelsus. The roots of his attributes — free thinker, iconoclast, and theosophis — lie in his childhood. Paracelsus was the son of an impoverished scion of a noble family who was a Germa physician and chemist. Shortly after his mother died — when he was very young — his father moved to the mining town of Villach in Southern Austria, where he taught chemical theory and became the municipal physician. His father combined his interests in chemistry and medicine into his practice. This fascinated Paracelsus and the seeds were sown for his future endeavors. 

Paracelsus attended Bergschule — the school where his father taught and where youngsters were trained to be overseers and analysts for mining operations. This is where he got the full exposure to learn how metals get and watch their transformation. The experiments and experiences at Bergshule laid the foundation for his later remarkable discoveries.

Paracelsus studied in a number of universities and received his doctorate from the University of Ferrara in 1516. Since then, he started calling himself Paracelsus. Para refers to above or beyond whereas Celsus refers to a renowned 1st-century Roman medical writer, Aulus Cornelius Celsus. Combined, it means, above or beyond Celsus. The name gives an insight into his character.

To satiate his thirst for knowledge, he traveled throughout Europe, the British Isles, Egypt, and the Holy Land. His travels not only exposed him to the latest developments in chemistry and medicine but also compelled him to contemplate the fundamental subjects like the meaning of life and death, the relationship between humans and God, and health and the causes of diseases. 

"The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore, the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.”

Paracelsus considered the art of healing a sacred and noble profession and emphasized the purity and singleness of purpose.  He treated medicine as a divine mission and taught that character supersedes any medical skill. He considered the art of healing a sacred and noble profession.  He emphasized wisdom over textbook knowledge. 

"Thus the physician must be endowed with no less compassion and love than God extends toward man."

Paracelsus believed in the power of empathy which is he found should be one of the core principles for practitioners.

"The physician should proceed from external things, not from man." 

Paracelsus believed in treating the cause of a disease, observing and noticing, instead of treating the mere symptoms. 

 "The ignorant physicians are the servants of hell sent to torment the sick.’

He implored the physicians to push the boundaries and experiment and learn. 

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