Chapter 10 Modern treatment of disease Flashcards
What is the est. average number of pills a person in the UK takes in their lifetime according to an exhibition at the British Museum in London?
History book was published in 2021, exhibition is “recent” in book
14,000
What is an antibiotic?
A medicine digested or injected into the body which kills certain germs as it travels around
What is the pharmaceutical industry?
Businesses that develop and produce drugs for use in medicine and healthcare
What were two important lines of medical research?
Preventing people from getting diseases; curing people who already had diseases
When did Louis Pasteur publish his Germ Theory?
1861
When did Edward Jenner carry out his smallpox-cowpox experiment?
1796
What diseases were vaccines created to prevent (examples)?
Diphtheria, tuberculosis (TB), rabies and anthrax
Who discovered the first chemical cure for a disease, which chemical was used, which disease was cured and when did the discovery occur?
Paul Ehrlich discovered that Salvarsan 606 cured syphilis in 1909
What was prontosil?
A red chemical which worked against the germs that caused blood poisoning
What was prontosil’s active ingredient and where did it come from?
Sulphonamide, a chemical from coal tar
What were magic bullets or “sulpha drugs”?
Treatments which specifically destroyed a harmful germ without hurting the rest of the body
Which diseases had magic bullets developed for them?
Meningitis, pneumonia and scarlet fever
By the 1920s, what was a germ which remained undefeated by any magic bullet?
Staphylococcus
What was staphylococcus?
A highly resistant form of bacteria that had over 30 strains and caused a range of illnesses including different types of food and blood poisoning
What is a mould?
A type of fungus which grows in thin threads, usually in warm, moist conditions
Since when had scientists known that some moulds could kill germs?
1870s
What was a type of mould which was particularly good at killing staphylococcus?
Penicillin
Mould
What factors were involved in the development of penicillin?
War, role of the individual, luck, role of the government and science (possibly role of pharmaceutical or chemical companies too)
When was Alexander Fleming born and when did he die?
Fleming was born in 1881 and died in 1955
What was one of Alexander Fleming’s professions?
Fleming was a bacteriologist
What did Fleming do during the First World War and what caused this?
During World War I, St Mary’s Hospital in London sent Alexander Fleming to study the treatment of wounded soldiers
What were many wounded soldiers of WWI suffering from?
Staphylococcus
What was Fleming working on by 1928?
Staphylococcus germs
How did Fleming discover the germ-killing abilities of the penicillin mould and when did this occur?
In 1928, Fleming returned from holiday and noticed a mould in one of several dishes of germs he had left. He saw that the staphylococcus germs next to it had been killed and identified the mould as penicillin
What is a spore?
A cell or small organism which can grow into a new organism in the right conditions
What lucky event had occured which led to Fleming’s discovery of the penicillin mould’s germ-killing properties?
A spore from a penicillin mould grown in a room below Fleming’s had floated into his laboratory
What is the difference between an antiseptic and an antibiotic?
An antiseptic is a chemical mostly used outside the body to kill germs. An antibiotic is sent inside the body and kills germs as it travels around
When did Fleming publish his findings on the effects of the penicillin mould?
1928
When did Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain win the Nobel Prize and why?
1945 for the “discovery of penicillin and its curative effect”
What did Fleming wrongly conclude penicillin was?
A natural antiseptic
What test was missing from Fleming’s work on penicillin which resulted in few people regarding it was a major breakthrough?
Fleming did not inject penicillin into an infected animal
When did an Oxford University research team begin compiling a list of all natural substances that could kill germs?
1930s
Which two scientists applied to the British government for money to begin further penicillin research following Fleming’s discovery?
Howard Florey and Ernst Chain
How much money did the British government give Florey and Chain for further penicillin research and was this enough?
£25, not nearly enough
What was a difficulty Florey and Chain faced in their penicillin research?
Penicillin is extremely difficult to grow and extract from the mould
How many mice did Florey and Chain test penicillin on?
8 mice
How much more penicillin did Florey and Chain need to test on a human than they did on mice?
They needed 3000 times the amount of penicillin they had injected into the mice to test on a human
How did Florey and Chain gather enough penicillin for a human?
They turned their university department into a penicillin-producing factory and gathered enough for 1 human
When did Florey and Chain inject Albert Alexander with penicillin and what happened to him?
Albert Alexander, a 43-year-old policeman, was injected with penicillin in 1941. After 5 days, despite his infection beginning to clear up, the penicillin ran out and he died
When did Howard Florey travel to America to meet with the US government?
June 1941
Why did the US government want to produce so much penicillin?
The growing number of soldiers with infected wounds meant more penicillin was needed quickly
How much penicillin had been made by the start of 1943
Enough to treat just 100 patients
How much penicillin had been made by 1944
Enough to treat 40,000 patients
By the end of WWII in 1945, which two nations were working together to produce how much penicillin?
Britain and the USA were working closely together and enough penicillin was being produced to treat 250,000 people a month
Who generally produced drugs and medicines in the early 1800s?
Small-scale businesses
Which companies that we know today had been former towards the end of the 19th century?
GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche and Pfizer
How much is the pharmaceutical industry estimated to be worth today and how many people does it employ in the UK?
History book published in 2021
£200 billion to £300 billion and it employs nearly 80,000 people in the UK
When did pharmaceutical drug production become industrialised?
Late 19th century
When was the gelatine pill capsule inveted?
1875
When was the first tablet-making machine invented and where?
1843 in England
What estimated percent of wounded British and American soldiers during WWII would have died without being given penicillin?
12 - 15 percent
What percentage of people have an allergy to penicillin?
Book published in 2021
Around 10%
What was streptomycin and when was it discovered?
It was an antibiotic discovered in 1944 and was an excellent treatment for tuberculosis
What was tetracycline and when was it discovered?
It was an antibiotic very useful for clearing skin infections and was discovered in 1953
What was mitomycin and when was it discovered?
It was an antibiotic discovered in 1956 and has been used as a chemotherapy drug for treating different types of cancer.
What was the life expectancy for men in 1900 and 1945?
46 in 1900, 60 in 1945
What was the life expectancy for women in 1900 and 1945?
50 in 1900, 65 in 1945
What has life expectancy increased to for men and women?
Book published in 2021
79 (men), 83 (women)
What did a recent UK government article claim about life expectancy?
Book published in 2021
1 in 2 babies born today is expected to live until its 100th birthday
When did the Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine become free in the UK?
1948
When was the first open-heart surgery performed?
1950
Who performed the first open-heart surgery and how?
Canadian surgeon William Bigelow performed the first open-heart surgery to repair a “hole” in a baby’s heart
When did the Mexican company Syntex develop the first human-made hormone that prevented women ovulating and what was its name?
Syntex developed norethisterone in 1951
What was the result of the development of norethisterone?
The production of the first contraceptive pill
When was the first miniature hearing aid produced?
1952
When was the first kidney transplant carried out and when was the first in the UK?
The first kidney transplant was carried out in 1952, the first in the UK in 1960
Who discovered stem cells and when?
American Leroy Stevens discovered stem cells in 1953
What are stem cells?
Cells in multi-cellular organisms able to renew themselves and differentiate into specific cell types
Who mapped out the DNA structure, when and what work was this based on?
Francis Crick and James Watson in 1953, building on the 1951 work of Rosalind Franklin
What developments did Crick and Watson mapping out the DNA structure lead to?
Gene therapy, genetic screening and genetic engineering
What is genetic screening?
Checking for the presence of a disease
When was the vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus made free and what was this called in the UK?
Possibly developed
1954, it was called the “triple vaccine” in the UK
When was a free vaccine for polio introduced in the UK?
1955
When was the drug thalidomide developed in Germany?
1957
What were the uses of thalidomide in the past, its terrible consequences and what is it used for today?
Thalidomide was used to treat morning sickness during pregnancy but caused terrible deformities in babies. Today it is used in the treatment of AIDS and some cancers.
When was the first pacemaker fitted, where and when was the first in the UK?
The first pacemaker was fitted in 1958 in Sweden, the first in the UK in 1960
When did surgeons in America re-attach the arm of a 12-year-old boy?
1962
When was a free vaccine for measles introduced in the UK?
1964
When was the first heart transplant?
1967
Who performed the first heart transplant?
Christian Barnard, a South African heart surgeon
How long did the patient of the first heart transplant live for?
18 days
When was the first heart transplant in the UK?
1968
Where did the first heart transplant in the UK occur?
Papworth Hospital
When was a free vaccine for rubella (German measles) introduced in the UK?
1969
When was the drug cyclosporine developed?
1970
Who developed the drug cyclosporine?
British scientist Roy Calne
What did the drug cyclosporine do?
It prevented the body from rejecting transplanted organs
When were hip replacements developed?
1972
Who developed hip replacements?
British surgeon Sir John Charnley
When was the CAT scanner invented?
1973
Who invented the CAT scanner?
British scientist Geoff Hounsfield
What did the CAT scanner do?
It used x-ray images from many angles to create a 3D image of the inside of the body
When were endoscopes developed?
1975
What were endoscopes and what did they do?
Endoscopes were fibre-optic cables with a light source which allowed doctors to to into small skin cuts and see inside the body
What did IVF fertility treatment do?
It helped childless women become pregnant
Who was the first “test tube baby”?
Louise Brown
When was the first “test tube baby” born?
1978
When was smallpox officially declared eradicated?
1980
Which human diseases have been eradicated?
The only human disease to have been eradicated is smallpox
When were two burn victims given skin grafts at Harvard University in the USA?
1984
When two burn victims at Harvard University were given skin grafts, where had the skin come from?
The skin had been grown in a laboratory “skin farm” from tiny pieces.
When two burn victims at Harvard University were given skin grafts, what size had they grown from and to what new size?
One square centimetre grew to half a square metre
Who was the first heart, lung and liver transplant patient?
British woman Davina Thompson
When did a person become the first heart, lung and liver transplant patient?
1986
By what date had MRI scanning become widely used to monitor brain activity?
1987
What was MRI scanning being used to monitor brain activity especially useful for?
Finding brain tumours or stroke damage
What does DNA stand for?
Deoxyribonucleic acid
When was DNA photographed, capturing its pattern?
1951
Who photographed DNA and what were they an expert in?
British scientist Rosalind Franklin photographed DNA and was an expert in X-rays
What did the photographing of DNA in 1951 allow British scientists Francis Crick and James Watson to do?
It allowed them to suggest DNA’s double-helix structure
When did the Human Genome Project formally start?
1990
What was the Human Genome Project?
A large collaborative biological research project aiming to decode all the genes in the human body and identify their roles
The money for the Human Genome Project, among other sources, came from the governments of which countries?
The USA, Britain, Japan, China, France and Canada
When was the first cloned animal bred?
1996
What was the first cloned animal which was bred?
A sheep named Dolly
When did the first cloned animal which was bred die?
February 2003
What did the first cloned animal which was bred die from?
Lung disease
What was the first cloned animal cloned from?
A cell taken from a 6-year-old ewe
When did American surgeons implant electrodes into the visual cortex of a blind man, letting him “see” well enough to drive a car?
2002
When was the Human Genome Project declared complete?
2003
When was the first partial face transplant carried out?
2006
When was the first HPV (anti-cancer) vaccine approved?
2006
When was the Argus II prosthetic eye released?
2007
When was the first full face transplant?
2008
When was the first human liver grown from stem cells?
2013
Who were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry?
French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American scientist Jennifer Doudna
Why were Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna awarded the Nobel Prize?
They were awarded for their discovery of “genetic scissors” - a new genome editing technology
When was the first COVID-19 vaccine administered in the UK?
December 2020
What were some major factors contributing to medical development in the late 20th century?
Technology; Change in attitudes; War; Government and finance; Communication; Individual character
What are some examples of technology which have pushed forward medical progress?
Keyhole surgery and MRI scanning
In 2002, what was the average age a woman would live to?
80 years
In 2002, what was the average age a man would live to?
75 years
What did researchers in 2002 think would be the average age people would live to by 2070?
100 years
Is there an antibiotic for tuberculosis?
Yes
What are some diseases which have vaccines for them?
Polio, measles, mumps and whooping cough
What is MRSA?
An antibiotics-resistant bacteria
What does MRSA stand for?
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
When was MRSA first reported?
1961
Where was MRSA first reported?
In a British study
What percentage of people in the UK in 1919 died from infectious diseases?
20%
What percentage of people in the UK in 2000 died from infectious diseases?
1%
What percentage of people in the UK in 1919 died from heart / circulatory diseases?
14%
What percentage of people in the UK in 2020 died from heart / circulatory diseases?
46%
What percentage of people in the UK in 2000 died from cancer?
26%
What percentage of people in the UK in 1919 died from cancer?
8%
What percentage of people in the UK in 1919 died from respiratory diseases?
18%
What percentage of people in the UK in 2000 died from respiratory diseases?
11%
What percentage of people in the UK in 1919 died from nervous system-related causes?
Only “Nervous system” given as a cause of death
36%
What percentage of people in the UK in 2000 died from nervous system-related causes?
Only “Nervous system” given as a cause of death
13%
What percentage of people in the UK in 1919 died from injuries / poisoning?
4%
What percentage of people in the UK in 2000 died from injuries / poisoning?
3%
What are some examples of infectious diseases?
whooping cough, tuberculosis (TB)
What are some examples of respiratory diseases?
pneumonia / bronchitis
What are some diseases doctors are still not able to cure?
As of 2021 / book publication
AIDS, the common cold
What is alternative medicine?
Any way of treating an illness which doesn’t rely on mainstream, doctor-dispensed medicine or proven evidence gathered using the scientific method
According to a survey on the popularity of alternative therapies, what percentage of people have tried herbal medicine, been satisfied by it and not satisfied by it?
2000 British people took part in, does not seem like an overly-important statistic
Tired - 12%, satisfied - 73%, not satisfied - 18%
According to a survey on the popularity of alternative therapies, what percentage of people have tried homeopathy, been satisfied by it and not satisfied by it?
2000 British people took part in, does not seem like an overly-important statistic
Tired - 4%, satisfied - 66%, not satisfied - 16%
According to a survey on the popularity of alternative therapies, what percentage of people have tried acupuncture, been satisfied by it and not satisfied by it?
2000 British people took part in, does not seem like an overly-important statistic
Tired - 3%, satisfied - 50%, not satisfied - 47%
According to a survey on the popularity of alternative therapies, what percentage of people have tried chiropratic, been satisfied by it and not satisfied by it?
2000 British people took part in, does not seem like an overly-important statistic
Tired - 2%, satisfied - 68%, not satisfied - 19%
According to a survey on the popularity of alternative therapies, what percentage of people have tried hypnotherapy, been satisfied by it and not satisfied by it?
2000 British people took part in, does not seem like an overly-important statistic
Tired - 2%, satisfied - 43%, not satisfied - 50%
According to a 2014 survey of nearly 2000 people, what percentage are satisfied with the service they receive from their doctor?
71%
According to a recent survey, what proportion of people in Britain have consulted alternative healers and used alternative medicines?
Book published in 2021
1 in 5
What proportion of doctors are actively involved in the promotion of alternative medicine?
Book published in 2021
1 in 10
What is complementary medicine?
When an alternative practice is used together with conventional medicine
What are some examples of alternative medicine?
Aromatherapy, herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, hypnotherapy
What is positive health?
Focus on the prevention of disease rather than cure
What is an antibiotic used for?
Cure bacterial infections and sometimes prevent them
