Why are there serpents on the medical symbol

I listen to these reviews while driving about town in my car. Last December there was a different format—a section was included that talked about various topics in the History of Medicine.

At the end the moderator asked what the audience thought—should this format be continued each year? Any topics the audience wished to suggest? Please email any comments. I just recorded the talk this week and enclosed is a copy of the transcript.

What follows is the talk I recorded for him. Please feel free to download a printer-friendly version of this article. As recognizable as the white lab coat, black bag, and stethoscope the staff entwined with serpent are universally understood as the symbol of medicine. However, most are unaware that there are two distinct symbols commonly used which have very different origins. The Staff of Asklepios is a rough-hewn branch entwined by a single snake, while the Caduceus has two snakes about its slender staff and the addition of a pair of wings.

My father was an Internist trained at the time when electrolytes consisted of a sodium determined by flame photometry and bacterial organisms that were susceptible to a new antibiotic called penicillin—when you could get it. He had a deep interest in medical history and the history of ancient Greece. I grew up listening to his stories of the medical past and to various mythological tales. I also grew up hearing his emphatic insistence that there was only one true symbol that should be used to represent the field of Medicine.

I recently decided to research these symbols more thoroughly—and my studies took me back to the original sources nearly years ago. Medical care in ancient Greece 5 th century BCE came from several different types of providers.

One type of provider was the itinerant practitioner who learned his trade in various ways. He learned to treat severe injuries incurred in battle in times of war.

He learned to treat minor injuries incurred in sport in times of peace. He learned his trade through apprenticeship and experience. Other types of providers included charlatans, herbalists, magicians, and other therapists—much as today.

Additionally, care was provided in Asklepian temples. A patient would come to stay for a time and partake in a healthy diet, drink pure waters, enjoy a massage, enter into exercise programs, and often be cared for by a physician as well.

Testimonials of various cures were posted for patients to read. Patients were attended by Asklepian priests who included a type of faith healing in their program. Patients often received many of these different therapies much as patients of today receive treatment from allopathic as well as alternative practitioners. In ancient Greece, however, there was more blending of the types of therapy an individual practitioner would provide and the various categories were not as discrete as they are today.

For example, although initially trained as an Asklepian priest at the temple in his hometown of Cos, Hippocrates became the most renowned physician of all time. But who was Asklepios? He is mentioned as the father of warriors Machaon and Podaleiros. Contending in battle the Trojan warrior Paris wounded Menaleus—the brother of Agamemnon leader of the Greek forces.

He removed the arrow and used a healing salve his father had given him to mend the wound. In one telling, Zeus killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt for disrupting the natural order of the world by reviving the dead, while another version states that Zeus killed him as punishment for accepting money in exchange for conducting a resurrection.

After he died, Zeus placed Asclepius among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus, or "the serpent bearer. The Greeks regarded snakes as sacred and used them in healing rituals to honor Asclepius, as snake venom was thought to be remedial and their skin-shedding was viewed as a symbol of rebirth and renewal.

Which is a good thing to keep in mind the next time you spot a medical alert bracelet featuring the seemingly sinister serpents. Got a question? The staff of asclepius: A new perspective on the symbol of medicine. Wis Med J. Holy Bible. Numbers Old Testament. King James Translation [ Google Scholar ]. Charas M, Martyn J. London: New Exporiments an Vipers. Lawrence C. The healing serpent — the snake in medical iconography. Ulster Med J.

Blayney K. Hattie WH. The caduceus. The symbol of modern medicine: Why one snake is more than two. Ann Intern Med. Baird KA. The caduceus symbol. Friedlander WJ. Friedlander, in his book The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine , collected hundreds of examples of both asklepian and caduceus logos and insignias in America and found that professional associations were more likely to use the staff of Asclepius and commercial organizations were more likely to use the caduceus.

He noted that caduceus is more appropriate for commercial ventures, since it has more visual impact. And with that, we've hit our 20 question quota. Go back and see what you missed here! BY Matt Soniak.