The Caduceus is easily recognized as a staff topped off by a knob  with flanked wings. On the Caduceus staff there are two snakes criss-crossing their way to the top. These symbols are almost always associated to health and wellness and a holistic way of life.

The Caduceus was a name designated to a group of ancient symbolic wands around 2600 BC in Mesopotamia. This was the land situated between the Euphrates and Tigris and was being colonized since as early as 4000 BC. 

This ancient world saw the cultures of the Sumerians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians develop.

An interesting health related fact that dates back to 3000 BC summarizes the dependence of these ancients on the natural healing and aesthetic bounty of the natural elements. The word Shampoo is said to come from the Sumerian root Sha' am empo which means "sexy maker". In those days it would have been a mixture of herbs, roots, and river mud.

By 2600 these people had learned the art of glass making and most of the amulets, beads, and pots were made of this compound.

From 500 BC to approximately 400 AD the caduceus symbol was widely recognized. It saw a revival of popularity in after the medieval period, starting in the 14th century AD. 

For the historian Walter Friedlander the Caduceus as a medical symbol only goes back to the turn of the 20th century BC. Friedlander traces it's use in this way to the adoption of the caduceus as a the symbol of the Medical Corps of the US Army.

Previously he states that it would have been used in the printing industry as an insignia. The publishers used it in reference to the messenger of divine information or Mercury and his staff of Hermes. It became such a respected symbol that by the 19th century a well noted medical publisher was assigning the caduceus symbol to all of his publications.

The ball on the top of the staff may represent the axis mundi or the understanding of the spinning world from the perspective of the Akkadian and Sumerian of Mesopotamia. To these same people the serpents most likely represent the half human and half snake gods figuratively.

There are version to this story and those that come from alternate historians such has Zecharia Sitchin are not as forgiving to the mythological connotations that more mainstream historians accept.

Today the  world has learned from "" that the genetic fabric of humans is a double helix DNA strand and suddenly the meaning of the medical caduceus symbol is even more esoterical or mystified.

Some modern thinkers even believe that the Caduceus symbolizes the triptich nature of consciousness and the evolutionary process by which humans have evolved. The ascension of the snake's of the staff to the caduceus would be a figurative way of explaining the ascension of consciousness from reptile or lizard, to bird, to mammal.

But it's all just a pretty symbol of a few serpents slithering there slimy way up a pole until you turn it into a beautiful piece of jewelry.

This is how this medical alert symbol, or the golden wand of medicine as it has come to be recognized in our age is most often appreciated.

The caduceus continues to signify health and holistic wellness even if it is sometimes carried as a sign that the carrier is very close to being in need of serious medical attention as is the case with those who wear medical alert bracelets.

Sorry....

This particular bracelet uses another medical symbol called the asclepius.

See this link for an offbeat myth surrounding the Asclepius.