MEDICAL SYMBOL - RIGHT AND WRONG ONES

Medical Symbol – RIGHT AND WRONG ones

Most medical associations around the world including the Indian ones carry the medical symbol.

CADUCEUS

( The wrong one)

Caduceus is the staff  with two encircling serpents with over shadowing pair of wings. According to Greek and Roman mythology, caduceus was carried by Hermes (Greek) and Iris. It is also seen in the left hand of Mercury according to ancient Roman history for guidance of the dead and protection of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.

Caduceus is actually associated with trades, occupations and the gods. It is also associated with astrology and planet Mercury. With reference to its ancient relationship to commerce and negotiation, the caduceus is used as a symbol for these as well as printing due to the association with Mercury.

The origin of two snakes is assumed to be due to the shepherd’s crook used as a staff. Other iconographers opine that the wand entwined by two serpents represented a god in the pre-anthropomorphic period. Why snakes? Serpents have, in all cultures, been associated with health and healing, perhaps because they can shed their skin and rejuvenate themselves. In honor of Asclepius, snakes were often used in healing rituals and non-venomous snakes were allowed to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept.

Caduceus is wrongly attributed to as a medical symbol in North America and elsewhere due to similarities of the to actual correct medical symbol- the Rod of Asclepius.

THE ROD OF ASCLEPIUS

( The correct one)

As for description,the rod of Asclepius has only one serpent and no wings. Because of the close similarity, the confusion between the two arose.

Asclepius is the Greek god of health and healing. He is also the son of Apollo, the Greek sun-god. His mother died when he was still in her womb. Apollo  the father of Asclepius cut the womb of his wife,pulled his unborn child out and declared that his, Asclepius, would be responsible for the human fight against disease and death.

More famous than Asclepius is the rod with a single serpent wound around it known as the Asclepian. This became the symbol of doctors and modern medicine. This must be differentiated from the Caduceus, or a rod with two serpents around it, which refers more to the occult arts and which was carried by the Greek god Hermes when he took souls from the land of the living to the land of the dead.

Asclepius was so good in health and healing that many people who were supposed to die did not die. Hades, the god of the dead, was so annoyed that he complained to Zeus, god of the sky, who struck Asclepius with a thunderbolt and killed him. Asclepius and his staff with the serpent were then cast upon the sky as a constellation.

The incorrect use of caduceus with 2 serpents was popularized by Captain Frederick  Reynolds or Colonel John van Hoff of United States Army Medical Corps in 1902.

US Army Medical Corps

The rod of Asclepius is the dominant symbol for professional healthcare associations in the United States as well as many countries. A study showed that 62% of professional healthcare associations used the rod of Asclepius as their symbol. 76% of commercial healthcare organizations used the Caduceus symbol.

The difference exists as professional associations are more likely to have a real understanding of the two symbols, whereas commercial organizations are more likely to be concerned with the visual impact a symbol to sell their products.

The original mistake has led to the adoption of the wrong symbol. The long-standing and abundantly attested historical associations of the caduceus with commerce, theft, deception, and death are considered by many to be inappropriate in a symbol used by those engaged in the healing arts. This has led to mounting criticism about the use of the caduceus in the medical field of healing and care.