Medicine modern day (20th century) Flashcards
(22 cards)
WW1 making X-Rays more reliable
-Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X Rays in 1895
-X-Rays were used from the start of WW1 to find broken bones
-Equipment included glass tubes which were unreliable and often stopped working
-US scientist William Coolidge invented the ‘Coolidge Tube’ in 1913 which became widely used and still is today
-1914, Polish scientist Marie Curie developed mobile X-Ray units allowing doctors to transport X-Ray equipment
WW1 and overcoming blood loss
-Ideas of blood transfusions known from 17th C but rarely used because blood often clotted
-1900, Karl Landsteiner discovered blood groups and certain groups couldn’t mix as blood clotted
-Discovery meant doctors could perform more successful transfusions
-During WW1, seriousness of wounds from gunshots and explosive shells meant many soldiers died of blood loss
-1914, Albert Hustin found sodium citrate stopped blood clotting
-1917, discovery allowed the first ever blood depot to be set up at the Battle of Cambrai
-1946, British National Blood Transfusion service established
WW1 and development of plastic surgery
-Drs in France and Germany had been working on skin graft techniques since before WW1
-Harold Gillies to set up a plastic surgery unit for the British Army during war
-He reconstructed facial injuries so patients could have a normal appearance
-He developed pedicle tubes and kept detailed records of his achievements
-His work continued into WW2 by his assistant Archibald McIndoe who treated pilots who had been trapped inside burning aircrafts
Alexander Fleming and discovering pencillin
-He saw many soldiers who died of septic wounds caused by staphylococcal bacteria
-Whilst searching for a cure, he identified the antiseptic substance of tears, lysozyme, in 1922
-1928, he came to clean up some old culture dishes where he had been growing staphylococci
-By chance, a fungal spore had landed and grown on the dish
-The colonies of staphylococci around the mould stopped growing
-Fungus was identified as Penicillium notatum
-Published his findings in articles (1929-1931) but no one was willing to fund further research
Florey and Chain developing penicillin
-Penicillin needs to be purified
-Breakthrough was made by Howard Florey’s team in Oxford between 1938 and 1940
-Ernst Chain devised the freeze-drying technique to purify penicillium notatum
-At first, they didn’t have resources to produce penicillin in large amounts
-Florey knew it could be vital in treating wounds but British chemical firms were too busy making explosives so they went to America
-Dec 1941, US govt gave out grants to businesses that manufactured penicillin
-1943, British businesses also mass produced penicillin sufficiently for medics by 1944
-After the war, penicillin costs fell so it was accessible for general use
-Saved 15% of lives
Development of the pharmaceutical industry
-Late 1800’s, chemical industry in Britain, Germany and Switzerland was booming
-Late 19th and 20th C saw production of aspirin (1899), insulin (1929), sulphonamides (1932) and penicillin
-Success of mass produced drugs 1940’s helped modern pharmaceutical industry to take off
-Chemical companies help cure diseases like:
-Chemotherapy (cancer)
-AZT drug (HIV)
Problems in the pharmaceutical industry
-Drugs have to go through a series of clinical tests before being given to patients
-1950’s, thalidomide drug was originally used as a sleeping pill and given out without good tests
-Women with morning sickness used it and it affected their unborn babies who had under developed limbs
-Forced companies to do more thorough tests and govt set up a Committee on Safety of Drugs
-Antibiotic resistance has killed 25,000 people in the European union every year
Successful transplants
-1905, 1st successful transplant of the cornea
-First complete organ transplanted was kidney
-Livers, lungs, pancreas and bone marrow were all also successfully transplanted
-1st successful transplant of the heart was by South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard 1967
-Problem was with rejection as immune system attacks the disease
-Success was limited as doctors lacked effective immuno-suppressants
-Since the 1970s, researchers developed increasingly effective immuno-suppressants
How technology improved modern surgery
-Discovery of radiation in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie led to radiation therapy (using radiation to kill cancer cells)
-Development of lasers in 1950’s led to widespread use in correcting vision problems, cancer treatment and dentistry
-Advances in video technology led to development of keyhole surgery in the 1980’s:
-Endoscope camera put through a small cut to see into the body used for cause of pain, infertility, vasectomies and cyst removals
Alternative treatments
-Mistrust of modern medicine meant some used alternative therapies instead
-Acupuncture is putting needles in specific points of a patient’s skin to relieve pain
-Homeopathy is treatment using extremely weak solutions of natural substances
-These weren’t based on evidence gathered from scientific experiments
-Little evidence that these work effectively
-Some doctors are now working with alternative therapists to see if using a mix of alternative and mainstream medicine is beneficial
Booth’s report
-‘Life and Labour of the people’ (1898)
-Showed that 30% of Londoners lived in severe poverty
-It was sometimes impossible to find work
-Showed that some wages were so low they weren’t enough to support a family
Rowntree’s report
-He owned a factory in York
-He didn’t believe the problem in York was as bad as London so he did a survey of living conditions
-‘Poverty, a study of Town life’ published 1901 showed 28% of people in York couldn’t afford basic food and housing
Boer War
-1889, a large scale army recruitment campaign took place to find men fit enough for war
-Army officers found that 40% of volunteers were physically unfit for military service
-Govt were shocked and realised they had to sort out this problem with basic healthcare
Liberal social reforms
-Newly elected Liberal government and its chancellor David Lloyd George released social reforms to help the country
-1906= Free school meals introduced
-1907= Local Education Authorities gave school children free medical inspections
-1908= Old age pensions introduced
-1909= Labour exchanges to help unemployed find work
-1911= National Insurance Act passed (sick pay)
How world wars created pressure for social change
-WW1 and 2 broke down social distinctions
-Mass armies made the govt more aware of health problems of the poor
-Powerful people were concerned with solving this as they wanted a stronger army
-Evacuation of children showed rich rural communities on how disadvantaged they were
-After WW2, people looked for improvements in society leading to 1945 victory of Labour Party
How housing and health improved after WW2
-Towards end of WW1, PM David Lloyd George promised to tackle poor quality housing
-New council houses built in 1920’s/30’s
-WW2, bombing led to severe housing shortages
-Labour built 800,000 new homes (1945-51)
-1946, New Towns Act created new towns
-1961, report ‘Homes for Today and Tomorrow’ gave specific standards for new housing
-Included adequate heating and a flushing toilet
Beveridge Report and the welfare state
-1942, social reformer William Beveridge published a widely read report
-Called for the state provision of social security
-People should be free from ‘5 giants’: want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness
-Govt should care for all people and he suggested the creation of a welfare state to do this
-1945, Labour promised to implement Beveridge’s proposals for a Welfare state
-One of their first acts including the National Insurance Act 1946 to support anyone who couldn’t work (old age, sickness, pregnancy)
National Health Service
-Aneurin Bevan, the Labour Minister of Health
-Government nationalised hospitals and put them under local authority control
-Treatment made free for all patients
-Up until 1948, 8 million people had never seen a doctor so this gave them the right to
Reasons for the NHS
-During WW2, govt took control of all hospitals, creating the Emergency Medical Service
-Its success led to support for the NHS
-Made medical care free so it was accessible for everyone
-Guaranteed that hospitals would receive gov money rather than relying on charities
Reasons against the NHS
-Conservatives opposed it as they believed the cost would be huge
-Doctors saw themselves as independent professionals, they didn’t want to be controlled by the government
-Doctors worried they would lose a lot of their income
-Out of 45,000 doctors asked, 41,000 opposed
-Many threatened to go on strike in protest
Why the NHS was popular
-Although Conservatives were against it, they couldn’t abolish it as it was too popular
-It increased the number of people with access
-No of doctors doubled between 1948 and 1973
-Life expectancy went from 66 to 83 for women and 64 to 79 for men
NHS challenges today
-Increase in life expectancy means there are many more older people than in 1948
-They may have long term conditions which need regular attention and cost NHS a lot of money
-People’s lifestyle choices (smoking) put a strain on the NHS
-Modern treatments, equipment and medicine are very expensive and NHS has had to face rising expectations of what it can offer
-Cost of the NHS is rising rapidly- in 2015/16, NHS budget was £116 billion overall
