Modern Medicine Flashcards
What did Alexander Fleming discover in WW1?
That antiseptics seemed unable to prevent infection in deep wounds – he wanted to find something to kill microbes that caused infection.
That antiseptics seemed unable to prevent infection in deep wounds – he wanted to find something to kill microbes that caused infection.
Staphylococci that caused septicaemia (blood poisoning). Fleming became determined to find a way to treat infected wounds.
What did he notice when he returned from holiday in 1928?
That a mould – penicillin – that had grown on one of his petri dishes had killed the staphylococci in the dish. A spore from this mould grown in a room below hi had floated into his laboratory and killed the germs.
What did Fleming call Penicillin?
An antibiotic – ‘destructive of life.’
Why didn’t many people hear of his work?
He didn’t inject penicillin into animals to prove it could kill infection and he did not have the funding to develop the drug.
Who began to research penicillin further in 1937?
Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, at Oxford university.
How did Florey and Chain prove that penicillin killed infection?
They texted it on 8 mice 1940 and then on humans in 1941. When a patient was injected with penicillin, the infection cleared up but if the penicillin ran out, they died. E.G. They tested it on a policeman but he died after 5 days when the drug ran out.
What factors helped in the mass development of penicillin?
1) World War Two was a major factor in transforming the supply of penicillin because huge quantities were needed to treat soldiers with infected wounds. In 1943, it was used for the first time on allied soldiers in North Africa.
2) Government funding. Florey met with the US government who agreed to pay several huge chemical companies to make gallons of it.
What short term impact did penicillin have?
By 1945 250,000 soldiers were being treated. Around 15% of British and US soldiers would have died without it. After the war it helped to teat illnesses like pneumonia, tonsillitis and meningitis. Florey and Chain got the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1945.
What other antibiotics followed?
Streptomycin 1944 (treated TB) , tetracycline 1953 (skin infections), Cortisone 1950 (arthritis), cyclosporine 1970 (prevents body rejecting transplants, IVF treatment 1978.
What other drugs followed in the 20th century?
New vaccines to treat polio, tranquilisers, birth control pill, pills for depression……..
What has been the long term impact of the discovery of penicillin?
It led to new antibiotics being discovered as well as huge government sponsored programmes to develop it. This has then led to the pharmaceutical industry having the finance to develop more drugs and fund more research.
What negative impact has this had?
Drug companies have sometimes taken short cuts and not tested drugs properly – e.g – Thalidomide led to babies being born with deformities.
What examples of alternative medicine are there?
Hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, hypnotherapy and acupuncture – some are based on old traditional treatments using natural treatments rather than chemicals.
What price Charles said about homeopathy in 2006?
He told the WHO that it is ‘rooted in ancient traditions that intuitively understood the need to maintain balance and harmony with our minds, bodies and the natural world.’
How has the BMA reacted to alternative medicine?
It described homeopathy as ‘witchcraft’.
What are more bacteria becoming resistant to in the modern day?
Antibiotics.
Why is this?
1) Overuse – doctors prescribing them for minor illnesses
2) Effectiveness – bacteria evolve and become resistant
3) Patients picking up superbugs in hospital
Give an example of a new superbug.
MRSA.
How did technology help improve surgery in the early 20th century?
1) X-rays: Mobile x-ray machines used in WW1 – allowed surgeons to identify location of bullet wounds without having to cut bodies open.
2) Splints for broken legs
3) Blood transfusions
