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
What was the most dangerous microbe?
- staphylococci
- it caused septicaemia (blood poisoning)
What did Fleming notice when he returned from holiday in 1928?
- that 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 him had floated into his lab 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
- he published his findings in articles but no one would fund further research
Who began to research penicillin further in 1937?
How did they prove that penicillin killed infection?
-Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford uni
-they tested it on 8 mice in 1940 and 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 it was tested on policeman but he died after 5 days when the drug ran out
What factors helped in the mass development of penicillin?
World War II: 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
Government funding:Florey met with the US Govt who agreed to pay several huge chemical companies to make gallons of it
What short term impact did penicillin?
- by 1945 250,000 soldiers were treated
- around 15% of British and US soldiers would’ve died without it
- after the war it helped to treat illnesses like pneumonia and tonsillitis
What other antibiotics followed?
- streptomycin 1944 (treated TB)
- tetracycline 1953 (skin infection)
- IVF treatment 1978
What other drugs followed in the 20th century?
-new vaccines to treat polio,tranquilisers and birth control pill
What has been the long term impact of the discovery of penicillin?
- led to new antibiotics being discovered
- huge Govt sponsored programmes
- pharmaceutical industry had more finance to fund research
What negative impact has this had?
- drug companies had 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
- based on old traditional treatments
How has the BMA reacted to alternative medicine?
- described homeopathy as ‘witchcraft’
Why are more antibiotic-resistant bacteria increasing?
Give example of one?
- overuse (doctors prescribe them for minor illnesses
- effectiveness (bacteria evolve)
- patients pick up superbugs in hospitals
MRSA
How did technology help improve surgery in the early 20th century?
- x -rays (mobile x-ray machines used in WWI-allowed surgeons to identify location of bullet wounds without having to cut them open)
- splints (for broken legs)
- blood transfusions
Who discovered x-rays and what impact did this discovery have?
Wilhelm Roentgen 1895
- led to x-ray film being used by 1918
- CT scans allowed surgeons to see tissues and bones in 3D
Who helped in the area of blood transfusions and what impact did this have?
- Karl Landsteiner discovered blood groups (1900) allowing transfusions
- once anti-coagulants were added to blood it could be stored for 28 days
How did WWI impact surgery?
- mobile x-rays units were used
- Harold Gilles (pioneer of plastic surgery)set up a skin graft unit to treat facial wounds,over 5,000 service men were treated
- first blood banks set up in 1915
- army identified 80,000 men with shell shock and hospitals were set up
- new techniques (splints)
How did WWII impact surgery?
- Govt set up British Blood Transfusion Service to use blood donors in WWII
- blood plasma developed in 1940 making it easier to store and transport blood
- penicillin used to prevent infection
- Dwight Harken made improvements to heart surgery by cutting into beating hearts to remove shrapnel
- cataract surgery (Harold Ridley)
- healthy diets
- war sped up developments in surgery as Govt spend money on research and techniques
How has war hindered medical progress?
- doctors are taken away from normal duties to treat war casualties
- medical research stopped
How did surgery progress after WWII?
- radiation therapy to target cancer
- 1952 first kidney transplant
- 1961 first heart pacemaker
- 1967 Dr Barnard undertook the first heart transplant operation (patient lived for 18 days)
- keyhole surgery (operations through small cuts and using fibre optic cameras)
- laser surgery (1987)
Other medical developments post WWII?
- CAT and MRI scans help to aid diagnose
- discovery of DNA (1953) led to research
Was the Govt worried about the health of the nation?
- 40% of soldiers who had signed up for the Boer War had been unfit to enlist
- Govt worried that this evidence of poverty would harm the economy and strength of nation
What dod Charles Booth discover?
- published “Life and Labour of the people” in 1889
- it found 35% of London lived in abject poverty
- began to change people’s attitudes towards the poor
What did Seebohm Rowntree find?
- study “Poverty,A study in Town Life” in 1889
- showed that nearly 1/2 the working class people in York lived in poverty
- he coined the term “poverty line”
Which political party passed reformed to help the poor?
The Liberal Party
Why did this political party pass reforms?
- they were worried about the strength and power of the country
- some politicians like DAVID LLOYD GEORGE believed in direct action from the Govt and they were worried about the appeal of the labour party
What were the limitations of these reforms?
- poor families couldn’t afford to pay for medical treatment
- pensions were limited to those who had worked all their lives
- many Conservatives objected to pay for these reforms
What reforms were passed?
1906: Free School Meals
1907: Education Act
1908: Children and Young Person’s Act (protected children from neglect)
1908: Old Age Pensions Act (over 70s received pension provided they had worked all their lives)
1911: National Insurance (sick and unemployment pay if you paid into the scheme)
What report was introduced during WWII?
What did it state?
The Beveridge Act 1942
- it set out proposals for welfare state and the need to eliminate the five “Giant Evils” of Want, Disease,Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness
- Govt should help people “from the cradle to the grave”
- people were shocked at the health of some of the evacuated children
Which political party did introduce a welfare state in Britain?
Labour (Clement Attlee was PM)
What was the NHS?
1948: brought together hospitals,doctors, nurses,opticians,pharmacists and dentists under one umbrella organisation
- healthcare was free at the point of delivery
- Aneurin Bevan was in charge of overseeing the NHS
Who opposed the NHS?
- many doctors and Winston Churchill who said it was a “curse on the country”
- 10% of doctors were in favour of it
What happened in 1952 to make the Govt realise that towns needed cleaning up?
What did the Govt do to deal with this?
Killer smog over London
passed the Clean Air Acts 1956 and 1968
What other measures did the Govt pass in the 1960s to improve towns and cities?
- new towns built such as Milton Keynes
- slum clearance (poor housing was replaced by ‘modern’ tower blocks with central heating, bathrooms and fitted kitchens
What are the main health problems that affect people today?
- cancer
- heart disease
- dementia
Why are people more likely to die of these diseases?
- unhealthy lifestyle (diet/exercise)
- people living longer
- obesity
How could the NHS solve these problems?
Targeting prevention rather than cure
For example educating people on smoking and exercise
What advances in drugs have been made recently?
The Medical Research Council has set up funds to develop new products such as new drugs for AIDS
What are the pressures facing the NHS today?
- cost (technology becoming more advanced,operations and treatment become more expensive)
- not completely free now (prescriptions,dental treatment and dentistry have to be paid for)
- drug companies sell drugs too expensively and the NHS can’t afford them leading to increasing prices
