Medicine through time : modern Flashcards
What has allowed rapid development in understanding causes of disease and illness?
Knowledge of Germs allowed specific cures and vaccines to be developed - e.g. Salvarsan 606 in 1909: the world’s first successful chemical cure.
Science and technology has allowed better and more efficient medical research. E.g Industrial dyes were essential for the staining of microbes.
What has been learnt about the impact of genetic factors on health?
Diseases are built into our DNA (1953). Diseases are handed down through generations.
What has been learnt about the impact of lifestyle factors on health?
Our diet and our activities can prevent illnesses such as Type-2 Diabetes and Lung Cancer among others and can also help mitigate against some hereditary illnesses.
What has the impact been of blood tests, scans and monitors?
Early diagnosis, more targeted diagnosis and greater knowledge of diseases and their causes.
MRI Machines / CAT Scans / Better X-Rays.
What was healthcare like in the first part of the 20th century?
The poor still relied on donations.
There were some developments in Welfare with the National Insurance Act and workers in specific areas creating Mutual Aid Funds.
What has the impact been of the NHS?
Healthcare free at the point of use. “Cradle to Grave” protection.
How has science and technology helped improve access to care?
Early detections of cancers and other serious illnesses.
Equipment has increased the money that the NHS spends on healthcare.
How has science and technology helped advance in medicines?
Better microscopes and dyes: have helped knowledge of pathogens and viruses.
Ultrasounds / MRIs: Have allowed more detailed diagnoses.
How has science and technology helped high-tech medical procedures and surgery in hospitals?
Key-hole surgery: targeted and more complex surgery than ever before.
CT Scans: Allow doctors to see anatomical features that are hidden in X-Rays.
Microsurgery: The first successful kidney transplant happened in 1956, lungs 1963 and livers and hearts from 1967 onwards. Microsurgery made this possible because it is needed to reattach tiny nerve endings and blood vessels.
What has the influence of the mass vaccinations campaign been?
Less circulation of disease in the population. Overall healthcare costs are kept down and more lives are saved.
What has the impact of government
lifestyle campaigns?
People make better life choices.
Campaigns such as Stoptober and Sugar Smart encourage people to stop smoking and eat less sugar.
What role did individuals play in the development of Penicillin?
Alexander Fleming: Discovered mould killed the germ, staphylococcus, in 1928.
Howard Florey and Ernst Chain: Took Fleming’s research and investigated further. They proved that penicillin could kill infections inside of the body. They managed to gain US support for mass production of the drug.
What role did the government play in the development of Penicillin?
Provided funding for mass production. They’re funding allowed for pure penicillin to be produced on a scale that saved millions of lives in World War Two.
What role did Science and Technology play in the development of Penicillin?
Science and technology allowed for the mass filtration process that was required for pure penicillin to be produced.
How did science and technology play an important role in diagnosis?
CT Scans and PET-CT Scans have been essential in finding out how advanced a tumour is.
Bronchoscopes have made it possible to take a sample of cells from a patient’s lung.
Transplants have made it possible for lungs to be replaced.
Radiotherapy has made it possible for concentrated waves to be used to interrupt the growth of tumours and even shrink them.
Chemotherapy floods the body with chemicals to be used as a relieving or curing measure for cancer cells.
