Modern medicine Flashcards
Early advances in genetics
- Microscopes were not yet powerful enough to prove his theory
- By 1951 scientists knew that characteristics were passed from parent to child. At King’s College in London, Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins created the first X-Ray photographs of DNA.
Crick and Watson
- In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick saw the x-rays provided by Franklin and built on this with new technology, using a technique called crystallography which uses radiation to take a higher power X-ray photograph.
The Human Genome Project
- Between 1990 and 2003, James Watson led a project to map the human genome (every gene in the human body)
- It took 13 years and involved 18 teams of scientists from all over the world to decode and map the human genome.
What helped DNA be discovered?
- Science and Technology: powerful microscope technique crystallography and later, the electron microscope
- Key individuals: Franklin and Wilkins, Watson and Crick
Lifestyle factors
- Smoking: linked with high blood pressure, cancers, heart disease
- Diet: Sugar and fat have a particularly negative impact, leading to type 2 diabetes etc.
- Drinking too much can lead to liver diseases and kidney problems
- Fashion for tanning has led to rise in skin cancer cases
The impact of technology: Diagnosis
- Blood tests can test for an enormous number of conditions
- Blood pressure monitors help diagnose high and low blood pressure
- Blood sugar monitoring allows people suffering from diabetes to check their blood sugar regularly
- ECGs use electrical impulses to track heart activity
Antibiotics: Fleming
- Alexander Fleming was a British doctor with an interest in bacteriology
- In 1928 Fleming left some petri dishes in the lab whilst he went on holiday
- Upon his return, he discovered that mould had grown around some of the staphylococcus bacteria and appeared to be killing it off: penicillin
Antibiotics: Florey and Chain
- In 1939, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain received Fleming’s original papers.
- They tested the extracted penicillin on infected mice and set about growing as much as possible so they could start a human trial.
- By 1941, there was enough penicillin to test on one person. The volunteer was a policeman, Albert Alexander, who had developed septicaemia - a bacterial infection - from a rose thorn cut. The penicillin worked and Albert began to recover, however they ran out of penicillin after five days, and Albert later died.
NHS: Early Years
- NHS was introduced on July 5th 1948.
- Aimed to provide medical care for the entire population of Britain and was paid for through National Insurance contributions.
- Initial problems included 19th century hospitals in desperate need of renovation, more hospitals in London and the South East than elsewhere and many GPS not providing a satisfactory service
NHS: 21st century
- Hospitals have become increasingly high tech, with the development of new machinery to treat the body.
- Examples include advanced x-rays, smaller and cheaper machines such as dialysis and robotic prosthetic limbs
21st century surgery
Developments in 21st century include:
- Microsurgery (first kidney transplant was in 1956, lung transplant in 1963) - this was made possible by microsurgery which reattaches tiny nerve endings and blood vessels
- Laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery - Tiny cameras and narrow surgical instruments are used so that surgeons can operate through tiny incisions some distance away from the area being operated on -
Why did the government abandon Laissez Faire?
1) Increased understanding of disease means that the government knows it will have an impact and their intervention will change things
2) Increased understanding of the methods of prevention: Increased understanding naturally leads to more effective methods of prevention being introduced e.g. compulsory vaccination campaigns, passing laws and communicating health risks.
Lung Cancer in the 21st C: Causes
- 85% of cases are in people who do, or have, smoked.
- Chemicals in the air such as radon gas are sometimes to blame.
- Rise in cases of lung cancer coinciding with aggressive advertising for cigarettes dating from WW1.
Lung Cancer in the 21st C: Treatment
- Transplants: replacing a diseased lung with a healthy, donor lung - raises ethical concerns
- Radiotherapy: Radiowaves are aimed at the tumour trying to shrink it or inhibit growth.
- Chemotherapy: Patients are injected with many different drugs in the aim of shrinking the tumour.
Lung Cancer in the 21st C: Prevention
- In 2007 they banned smoking in all workplaces
- In 2015 this ban was extended to cars carrying children under 18
- Tobacco products are increasingly taxes and advertising of products was banned in 1965.
- Increasingly, the gov release anti smoking campaigns with stark health messages.
- From 2012, all cigarette packaging displayed warning messages and discouraging images.
