History of Pharmacology

Since time immemorial, medicaments have been used for treating disease in humans and animals. The herbals of antiquity describe the therapeutic powers of certain plants and minerals. Belief in the curative powers of plants and certain substances rested exclusively upon traditional knowledge, that is, empirical information not subjected to critical examination. 

Gaudius Galen (129-200 A.D.) first attempted to consider the theoretical background of pharmacology. Both theory and practical experience were to contribute equally to the rational use of medicines through interpretation of observed and experienced results. 

Johann Jakob Wepfer (1620-1695) was the first to verify by animal experimentation assertions about pharmacological or toxicological actions. 

All rights reserved. Usage subject to terms and conditions of iicense. 

Rudolf Buchheim (1820-1879) founded the first institute of pharmacology at the University of Dorpat (Tartu, Estonia) in 1847, ushering in pharmacology as an independent scientific discipline. In addition to a description of effects, he strove to explain the chemical properties of drugs. 

---

As noted earlier, prior to the advent of DSM-IIl in 1980, the anxiety disorders were collectively subsumed under some variation of the single diagnostic entity, anxiety neurosis. Consequently, the history of pharmacological treatment for the discrete anxiety syndromes is relatively brief, only approximately 20 years. Prior to 1980, we can only speak in a general manner as to how well medicines relieved anxiety in the broad sense of the term. Consequently, weTl present the more extensive history of pharmacological treatment for anxiety in this broader sense before launching into a more detailed discussion of the treatment of the individual anxiety disorders. 

---