Modern Medicine Flashcards
How did Alexander Flemming discover penecillin?
1928
- mould (fungi) had grown on one of his petri dishes had killed the bacteria in the dish
- a spore from this mould grown in a room below him had floated into his lab and killed the germs
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
- he initially thought it was just an antiseptic
Who began to research penicillin further?
1930s
-Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford uni
What factors helped in the mass development of penicillin?
World War II: huge quantities were needed to treat soldiers with infected wounds
Government funding: 1941
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?
- by 1945 250,000 soldiers were treated
- around 15% of British and US soldiers would’ve died without penicillin
- 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 has been the long term impact of the discovery of penicillin?
- led to new antibiotics being discovered
- huge Government sponsored programmes
- pharmaceutical industry had more finance to fund research
What negative impact did large pharmaceutical companies have?
- drug companies had sometimes taken short cuts and not tested drugs properly
e. g thalidomide (led to babies being born with deformities)
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 WWI impact surgery?
- mobile x-rays units were used
- first blood banks set up in 1915
- blood transfusion (by 1917 blood was being stockpiled and stored up to 28 days)
- splints increase survival rate of a broken leg from 20% to 80%
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)
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 to help children?
1906: Free School Meals (by 1914 over 158,000 children were having free school meals everyday)
1907: Education Act
1908: Children and Young Person’s Act (protected children from neglect)
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
-Government 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”
- doctors were afraid they would loose money
- government realised they could not pay for all of it
- 90% of doctors enrolled into the NHS but only 10% of doctors were in favour of the NHS
What are the main health problems that affect people today?
- cancer
- heart disease
- dementia
- diabetes (linked diseases)
