South Pointe Extra Credit - Read the article below, and write me a one paragraph discussion of how you think the technological advance has impacted your life. To find out more about each particular advance, follow the links included or Google the headings. Either turn in the paragraph in class, respond to the post through the comments link at the bottom of the article, or send me an email at jgiacobbe_southpointe@cox.net. Make sure you include your name and class, so I
know who to give the extra credit to.
Greatest Medical Advance: Sanitation
Sanitation Gets Top Vote in Medical Advances From Readers of the Journal BMJ
By Miranda Hitti, WebMD Medical News
Jan. 19, 2007 -- Sanitation is the greatest medical advance since 1840, according to voters in a poll on the medical journal BMJ's web site.
The runners-up: antibiotics and anesthesia, says BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal).
Last year, BMJ invited readers to submit nominations for the top medical breakthrough since 1840, the year the journal was launched.
BMJ then posted 15 nominations and invited people to vote on its web site between Jan. 5 and Jan. 14, 2007.
Votes poured in from more than 11,000 people (mainly doctors) in
countries including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy,
Spain, U.K., and the U.S.
Here, in order, are the results:
1. Sanitation: 1,795 votes. The importance of clean
drinking water and waste disposal was recognized in the late 1800s, as
diseases began to be linked to impure water. However, the World Health
Organization says there is still a long way to go. More than 1.1
billion people now lack access to drinking water from an improved
source; 2.6 billion do not have basic sanitation.
2. Antibiotics: 1,642 votes. Alexander Fleming, a
British bacteriologist, discovered penicillin in 1928 by accident when
he sloppily left a Petri dish of bacteria unwashed in his lab. He found
a substance (later named penicillin) growing on it that killed the
bugs, and modern-day antibiotics got its start. Fleming shared the
Nobel Prize in 1945 for the discovery.
3. Anesthesia: 1,574 votes. In 1846, a Boston
dentist used ether during surgery, putting an end to much of the pain
of operations. Since then, general anesthesia has become a mainstay.
4. Vaccines: 1,337 votes. Vaccines have helped prevent a variety of diseases -- including polio, whooping cough, and measles. The first was Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine, in 1796.
5. Discovery of DNA structure: 1,000 votes.
Scientists James Watson and Francis Crick presented the structure of
the DNA helix, the molecule responsible for carrying genetic
information from one generation to the next, in 1953. It earned them
the Nobel Prize in 1962.
6. Germ theory: 843 votes. In the late 1800s, Louis
Pasteur was the first to suggest that disease is caused by exposure to
microorganisms. Others furthered the theory, showing that specific
diseases are caused by specific "bugs."
7. Oral contraceptive pill: 842 votes. The pill arrived on the U.S. market in 1960. For women who use it correctly, oral contraception can be up to 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.
8. Evidence-based medicine: 636 votes. As the name
suggests, evidence-based medicine involves making use of the current
best evidence (such as research), combined with a patient's values and
a doctor's clinical experience, to make decisions about patient care.
The term was coined in the early '90s and the concept has been evolving
ever since.
9. Medical imaging: 471 votes. The X-ray was
accidentally discovered in 1895. Since then, the field has expanded,
giving us computed tomography (CT scans), positron emission (PET
scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs), and ultrasound. 10. Computers: 405 votes. From medical records to
insurance, to making sure your new medication isn't going to clash with
an existing one, computers are now considered as important as their
stethoscopes by some doctors. They've been in use in medicine since the
early 1960s. Doctors can access information on new drugs and
interactions, new medical studies, and clinical trials, and keep
patient records stored at their fingertips.
11. Oral rehydration therapy: 308 votes. This
therapy involves giving fluids by mouth to replace losses by the body.
It was first reported in 1964; now it's a mainstay of treatment in
patients with cholera, acute diarrhea, and other conditions.
12. Risks of smoking: 183 votes. The first report of the connection between smoking and lung cancer was published in BMJ in 1950. Even so, tobacco use still kills an estimated 440,000 Americans each year.
13. Immunology: 182 votes. The history of
immunology is traced to 1798, when Edward Jenner found that people
could be immunized against the disease smallpox. Numerous other
immunology discoveries followed, leading to a greater understanding of
such things as allergies and antibodies.
14. Chlorpromazine: 73 votes. Discovered in 1952,
chlorpromazine (Thorazine) was the first antipsychotic medication. It
was used to treat psychotic disorders and their symptoms, such as
hallucinations, hostility, and delusions. Its development brought new
understanding of the biological basis for mental illness, and some say
it provided more humane management.
15. Tissue culture: 50 votes. Tissue culture
(keeping tissue alive and growing it in a culture medium for research
or other purposes) was "discovered" in 1907; but it took until the
1950s for it to become an important tool for clinical investigation.
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