Topic 12 (medicine in modern britain) - Case studies

Question 1

Who was Alexander Fleming?

Answer 1

a student of medicine in London

Question 2

How did a major world event motivate Fleming to find a cure for blood poisoning?

Answer 2

Fleming was shocked by the number of deaths caused by infection, despite the use of antiseptic, during the first world war

Question 3

What is an antibiotic?

Answer 3

A medicine that stops an infection by killing or halting the growth of bacteria

Question 4

How did Fleming discover the antibiotic properties of penicillin?

Answer 4

• Whilst testing germs, he noticed mould growing in one of his petri dishes and that there was no bacteria growing around the mould
• He tested the mould by injecting it into infected mice, and the mice recovered without any side-effects

Question 5

For what reason was Fleming unable to continue his research?

Answer 5

The Great Depression started, which meant there was very little money to fund medical research

Question 6

Which two factors influenced Fleminds discovery?

Answer 6

1. War

2. Chance

Question 7

How did Florey come into contact with the work of Fleming?

Answer 7

He was reading an article that Fleming had written on Penicillin

Question 8

Describe the first use of penicillin on a human?

Answer 8

• Florey and Chain adminstered penicillin to a policeman who was suffering from blood poisoning that was life-threatening.
• He was just about to die but began to make a recovery after being given regular doses of penicillin.
• The policeman soon died as the penicillin had run out

Question 9

How did Florey and his assistant, Chain, continue Flemings work?

Answer 9

They turned penicillin into a powder form by freeze-drying it and adminstered regular doses to infected mice, who all recovered

Question 10

How did Florey and Chains test on the policeman highlight the major challenge to making effective use of penicillin?

Answer 10

The major challenge was that it was hard to mass-produce penicillin.

Question 11

What major world event resolved Florey and Chains problem of mass production?

Answer 11

The outbreak of the 2nd world war meant that the US government allocated money to drug companies that wanted to invest in producing penicillin

Question 12

List three potential causes that people suspected might be responsible for the dramatic rise in cases of lung cancer?

Answer 12

1- Increased air pollution from industry
2- Increased automobile traffic
3- exposure to gas from the 2nd world war

Question 13

How did Licknits first observe the link between smoking and lung cancer and what action did he take?

Answer 13

• He began to notice that most of his patients with lung cancer were heavy smokers
• He published a paper about it and started an anti-smoking campaign

Question 14

Why was Licknits work limited?

Answer 14

He had no proof

Question 15

List three advanced medical techniques that were used to prove the link between smoking and lung cancer

Answer 15

1. Animal testing
2. Chemical analysis
3. Epidemiology

Question 16

Give an example of how the government in the UK has taken action to prevent lung cancer

Answer 16

The government have been enforcing that cigarette packages carry warning labels