Medicine in Modern Britain Flashcards
1
Q
what was there progress of medicine in the 20th century?
A
- understanding causes of genetic disease
- focus on illness prevention
- development of treatments
2
Q
what lifestyle factors affect health?
A
- poor diet
- lack of exercise
- smoking
- drinking alcohol
- stress
3
Q
how did the government attitude change?
A
- they no longer had a laissez-faire attituded and were more involved
4
Q
what is the governments role in medicine?
A
- fund medical research and treatment
- pass legislation to prevent disease and illness
- educate people about dangers to their health
5
Q
what is a magic bullet?
A
- a chemical treatment that kills specific bacteria inside the body without harming the body
6
Q
describe the development of Salvarsan 606:
A
- Paul Ehrlic worked with Robert Koch
- in 1900, Ehrlic presented the concept of a magic bullet
- Ehrlic tested arsenic compounds to find a cure for syphilis
- in 1909, Sahachiro Hata retested all of the compounds and discovered the first bullet, Salvarsan 606
- it was able to kill the bacteria causing syphilis
7
Q
describe the development of Prontosil:
A
- it was the second magic bullet
- in the 1930s, Gerhard Domagk used experiments on mice to find out Prontosil killed the bacteria causing blood poisoning
- when his daughter got blood poisoning, she became the first human to use Prontosil and was cured
- after many experiments, scientists discovered it contained sulphonamide
- after this, many drug companies went on to develop sulphonamide cures for diseases like pneumonia and scarlet fever
8
Q
what and when was the first antibiotic discovered?
A
- penicillin in 1928
9
Q
describe the primary development of penicillin:
A
- in 1928, Fleming was studying soldier wounds and infections
- he left some dishes on the windowsill containing staphylococci
- above his lab, someone was working with penicillin mould
- some mould landed on the dishes
- when he came back, he noticed the penicillin killed the bacteria
- used penicillin to treat a friend’s eye infection
- however it did not work on deep infections and it took long to produce
- in 1929, he wrote his findings up but did not continue his study
10
Q
describe the secondary development of penicillin:
A
- in 1938, Florey and Chain read Fleming’s article and realised it could be effective
- they got some funding but with WW2, the support was limited
- instead they secured money from America
- they discovered it could cure infections in mice
- they realised they needed to mass produce to test on humans
- by 1941, enough was made to test on a human (Albert Alexander who had a bacterial infection)
- the treatment worked but they ran out and Alexander died
- this still showed penicillin effectiveness
11
Q
why was penicillin mass produced?
A
- in 1941, the USA entered WW2 and realised its importance for soldier and funded production
- British companies followed
- By D-Day 2.3 million doses were produced
12
Q
what was the 1911 National Insurance Act?
A
- enabled workers to access medical care
- workers, employers and the government would pay into a fund from which medical care and treatment would be pad for
- ## but it did not include family members
13
Q
when was the Ministry of Health set up?
A
- in 1919
- first government department to have an overview of health across the country
14
Q
describe the William Beveridge report of 1942:
A
- an NHS that is free for everyone
- access to medical care and treatment that would be paid for from taxes
15
Q
what was the opposition to an NHS?
A
- many doctors had worked privately and did not want to lose any income
- Aneurin Bevan overcame this by agreeing that doctors could continue to treat private patients
