Medical Achievements Since 1950
There have been many medical advancements since 1950. A few of these include: the success of the polio vaccine, DNA structure was discovered, the CAT scan, heart transplants, artificial hearts, cloning, and the use of artificial skin to treat burns.
Discovery Of DNA Structure
James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin, found the double spiral structure of DNA in 1953. (http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist9.html). Knowledge of DNA was to later be used in medicine, food (http://www.psrast.org/incomplkn.htm), and criminal investigation. There have been many more uses for the partial understanding of DNA.
Apgar Score
In 1952, Virginia Apgar created a standard way to test a newborn baby’s health, the Apgar Score. This is a zero to ten scale that measures the baby’s Appearance, Pulse, Grimace or reflexes, Activity or Muscle Tone, and Respiration. (A.P.G.A.R.). A score of seven to ten indicates a normal baby, four to seven indicates that the baby may need some resuscitation; a score of less than three indicates that the baby needs immediate medical care. A baby is tested one minute after birth and five minutes after birth, if the baby has problems, he or she is tested at ten minutes after birth. The Apgar Score was published in 1953. (http://apgar.net/virginia/index.html)
Heart-Lung Machine Successful
In 1953, surgeon John Heysham Gibbon used his Heart-Lung machine during surgery. Cecelia Bavolek was his patient and she relied on this machine for 29 minutes while Gibbon operated. (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blheartlungmachine.htm http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist9.html) She survived for three years.
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/manuscripts/ead/gibbon.html)

First Major Leukemia Fighting Drug
In 1959, Gertrude Elion was given a patent on Purinethol, the first major drug used to fight Leukemia. (http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist9.html) This drug caused a decrease in or disappearance of signs and symptoms of cancer in forty percent of children with leukemia. (http://www.inventorsmuseum.com/gertrudeelion.htm)
Development of CAT Scan
In 1967, a British electrical engineer, Sir Godfrey N. Hounsfield, developed a CAT (computerized axial tomography) scanner. This is a machine that makes a three-dimensional and detailed picture of organs by combining multiple, criss-crossing, x-rays, taken at different angles. The first commercial version of the CAT scan was introduced in 1972. (http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist10.html)
Successful Transplant of a Human Heart
In 1967, Christiaan Barnard performed a heart transplant on Louis Washkansky at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Louis Washkansky, a fifty-five year-old with an incurable heart disease, survived for 18 days after surgery. Washkansky died from double pneumonia because his immune system was weakened. The heart came from Denise Darvall, who was killed in a car accident.
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bmbarn.html)
The first successful human heart transplant in America was performed by Denton Cooley At Houston’s St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in 1968. The patient was forty-seven years old and lived for 204 days. Cooley performed twenty-two more heart transplants over the next year. (http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist10.html)
MRI Patent Granted
Raymond Damadian was granted a patent for his invention of a Magnetic Resource Imaging (MRI) device in 1974. (http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist10.html) The MRI is used to detect tumors, examine spinal cord injuries, and investigate disorders. It is commonly used to evaluate the brain, neck, spine, joints and other areas of the body. It shows images of cartilage, organs, muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, nerves, and blood flow. (http://www.laportehealth.org/healthcare/cancer/imaging.html#uses)
Use of Artificial Skin to Treat A Third Degree Burn
In 1981, Mark Walsh’s life was saved by Ioannis Yannas, a professor of medical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and John Burke, the chief of trauma surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Walsch was injured in an explosion at an aerosol-can factory. Yannas and Burke developed artificial skin, which was successfully implanted to Walsch. (http://www.medhelpnet.com/medhist10.html)
Implantation of the Jarvik Artificial Heart
In 1982 Barney Clark became the first patient to receive an artificial heart and lived for 112 days. Robert Jarvik was the designer of this device, after about ninety people received Jarvik’s, artificial hearts were banned in America.
Patent for Unique Blood Substitute
Thomas Runge led researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in the first successful use of a blood substitute. It was used during cardiac surgery and it increased oxygen levels to the brain. (http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/08_15_98/page_05.html)
Transplants
Pancreas
In 1966, a pancreas was first transplanted. Since then, there have been many more. In the past ten years, it has become more widespread to treat selected patients with type I diabetes with a pancreas transplant (often with a kidney transplant). There have been over 5000 pancreas transplants worldwide since 1993. (http://www.upstate.edu/surgery/uhsurgery/transplant/qa_kidpanc2.shtml) On September 10, 2002, Tim Ortiz became the first patient in Michigan to receive a pancreas using a new technique. He used to be a Type I Diabetic, he is no longer diabetic. (http://www.freep.com/news/health/panc24_20020924.htm)
Bone Marrow

In 1968, the first human bone marrow transplant was performed at the University of Minnesota. (http://www.peds.umn.edu/centers/BMT/) Bone marrow produces most blood cells, when it is damaged, a person’s ability to fight disease is weakened. It is common that a person gets a bone marrow transplant when he or she has cancer, genetic errors, or bone marrow failure. 12/7/02 (http://www.peds.umn.edu/centers/BMT/bmtfaq.html#gen4)
Vaccines
Polio Vaccine Success
In 1952 Jonas Salk killed a polio virus with formaldehyde but did not destroy it completely so that it would trigger a body’s response. He tried a refined vaccine on some children that had recovered from a previous polio infection. After they were vaccinated, their antibodies increased. Later, he tried the vaccine on some volunteers that had not had polio. None of them became ill but their antibodies did increase. In 1953, he reported his findings to The Journal of the American Medical Association. In April of 1954, the vaccine was tested nationwide. The vaccine produced sixty to seventy percent prevention of the virus. Unfortunately, about two hundred people were infected due to the vaccine and eleven died. The testing was stopped until the vaccine causing infection was found to have come from one poorly created batch from just one company. The vaccinations were resumed and polio cases were greatly reduced. In 1955, there were 28,985 cases. In 1956 there were only 14,647. In 1957, there were just 5,894. About ninety countries used the vaccine by 1959.
Albert Sabin later developed an oral vaccine from a weakened form of the live virus. The oral one was licensed in the United States in 1962 and soon became more popular than Salk’s.
Now, cases of polio are extremely rare in the United States, in fact, most are cause by the oral vaccine. In other parts of the world there are about 250,000 per year, most of these in countries that don’t have widespread vaccines. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm52sa.html) 12/8/02
Measles Vaccine
In 1963, the measles vaccine was licensed in the United States. This vaccine was very successful, during 1958-1962, there were 503,282 cases and 432 measles-related deaths on average per year. In 1998, there were 89 cases and no related deaths. Many of these cases were caused by imports. (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056803.htm) 12/10/02
Smallpox Eradicated
The smallpox virus had been around for a while, until, in the 1970s, a group of public health officials teamed up to destroy it. The weakness that smallpox had was that the way it survived was by being passed from one person to another. When somebody would get immunized, that would take out one more link. This was a huge task, but it was done. The last case of variola, the cause of smallpox, was in 1976. Now, the smallpox vaccine is no longer necessary. (http://www.health.state.nd.us/disease/bioterrorism/public/virual/Vaccinations1.htm) 12/10/02 There are two samples of smallpox left but they are controlled. (Mr. Kaetzel)
Nasal Influenza Vaccine
In 1997, a nasal flu vaccine was developed from a weakened live flu virus. This vaccine showed 93% effectiveness. This nasal spray would be more appealing to children. Every year, 35 to 50 million people get the flu and more than 20,000 die. (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/dateline/0997/nfvpec.htm)
Replantation
Replantation is the reattachment of a severed digit or limb. In the early 1960s, Julius Jacobson and Ernesto Suarez developed the operating microscope; this made replantation surgery much easier. In 1962, a 12-year-old boy’s arm was severed in a train accident. Ronald A. Malt successfully reattached his arm; this was the first successful replantation of an entire limb. Nowadays, replantation is very common. I know of many people who have had replantation surgery.
If one loses a limb or digit, appropriate action should be taken. All lost parts should be collected, even crushed parts that appear unusable because these can provide tendons or bone. The limb or digit should be put into a Ziploc bag and put in ice. (If possible, the amputated part should be wrapped in saline soaked gauze and put into a dry plastic bag and put into ice) Bleeding should be controlled (elevate) from the stump and blood lost should be estimated because this could be useful prior to surgery. Get to hospital! (http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic502.htm) 12/11/02
Joint Replacement
Hips
In 1958, hoping that it would allow smoother movement, John Charnley performed surgery in which he replaced an arthritic hip socket with a Teflon one. This was unsuccessful, so he tried polyethylene (the plastic that is used in most grocery bags, bottles and other common items http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/pe.htm). This worked well, he then needed something to attach the bone to the socket, he borrowed some polymehtylmethacrylate (also known as bone cement) from a dentist. Total hip replacement was born. By 1961, Charnley was performing this surgery with great results. He was eventually knighted by the queen of England, He is now Sir John Carnley. Many surgeons have improved upon Carnley’s technique and now over 100,000 hip replacements are performed in the United States. (http://www.utahhipandknee.com/history.htm)
Knees
John Insall designed the prototype that is used in today’s knee replacements in 1972. This was made from three parts that covered all three surfaces of the knee, these are, the femur, the tibia, and the patella or kneecap. Each part was attached with bone cement. Now, there are about 150,000 knee replacements in the United States. (http://www.utahhipandknee.com/history.htm)

Breakthroughs that Have to Do With Teeth
Cedata (Cell Demodulated Electronic Targeted Anesthesia)
It used to be that when a patient went to the dentist, he or she would have to choose between a needle, Novocain, or neither for pain relief. Now there is an alternative that does not cause numbness, have chemicals, or require needles, that alternative is Cedata. Cedata was developed in England and has been approved for use with crowns and fillings along with other restorative procedures.
“The inventor discovered that a specific, low frequency electronic signal applied to a nerve ending would block a pain impulse.” Unfortunately, that frequency can’t reach the nerve ending. The solution to that problem is attaching contact pads to the back of the patient’s hand, which produce slightly different high frequency signals. (Which can pass through the body harmlessly and easily) These two signals mix and partially cancel each other out, what is left is the low frequency that blocks pain. To get the frequency to the right spot in the mouth, a receptor that acts like an antenna is placed on the gums and this draws the signal to the treated area. The patient can control the signal strength to maintain a comfortable level of anesthesia. Cedata only affects the pain fibers and not the sensory fibers so that there is no numbness after the patient’s mouth is worked on. Because the patient still has sensory fibers, he or she can sense pressure and temperature changes but not pain, he or she can tell how the mouth is to the dentist, eliminating the need for the patient to return later for adjustments. The patient has little soreness after the procedure because most normal soreness is as a result of the gums healing from the normal needle. Cedata is great for people that don’t like needles and for those who dislike numbness that is associated with Novocain. (http://www.goldensmile.com/breakthroughs1.html)
Diagnodent
When a dentist is looking for tooth decay, he or she usually has to poke around in the patient’s mouth with metal hooks. Now, a laser is used by some dentists to detect problems. This is called Diagnodent, a dentist first points the laser at a healthy tooth. He or she then shines it on other teeth, when the laser shines on a tooth with decay, the tooth shines a different color and the dentist can investigate. The Diagnodent machine also shows the dentist a readout that tells if the patient needs a filling or not. This is a great thing because it makes the visit more comfortable for the patient and could make people with fear of dentists more likely to schedule a visit. (http://www.newsinmotion.com/series/dental/part2/index.htm)
Cerec 2
Cerec 2 is a way of making custom crowns or filling easier and faster. A special camera takes a high resolution picture of a tooth and a computer uses that picture to create a three-dimensional image of the crown that is needed. It cuts a block of the crown material (porcelain or composite material) with a diamond drill. After about 40 minutes, the crown is ready to be put in place. (http://www.newsinmotion.com/series/dental/part1/index.htm)
Dental Gum
The new technology that somebody can take care of their teeth with is called dental gum. It works by releasing calcium and phosphate into ::security: I am a moron, I stole this report from typicallyrandom.com:: the mouth, these minerals are used to repair tooth enamel. (http://www.newsinmotion.com/series/dental/part4/index.htm) Dental gum should not replace the regular brushing and flossing of teeth. (Of course, many people don’t floss regularly anyway)
Air Abrasion
Many people dread having fillings because of the drill. Now there is a technology that does not require a drill called air abrasion. Air abrasion uses small particles of aluminum oxide mixed with compressed air, this solution is directed in a stream to a tooth, this removes tooth decay and not as much of the tooth as a drill would. Unfortunately, air abrasion cannot be used with larger cavities or to remove silver-mercury fillings. (http://www.pacificfamilydental.com/drill-less_dentiry.htm)
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy has increased tremendously since 1950. In 1950 the life expectance at birth for a male in the United States was sixty-six. For females, it was 71.7. In 1998 it was 72.9 for a male and 83.3 for a female. In the United Kingdom, life expectancy for a male was 66.2 in 1950 and 74.8 in 1998. For females in the United Kingdom it was 71.1 in 1950 and 80.1 in 1998. Canada was not on this list. (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774532.html)
Conclusion
With these breakthroughs, the world of medical care has become easier, there are more alternatives to treatments, and disease is less devastating. The common dentist is becoming more popular and if you lose a digit or limb, that can be repaired. With these breakthroughs and many others, medical care is getting much more effective and healing is faster and less painful. I am glad to live in a country with great medical care.

Article © Typicallyrandom.com 2003

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