Modern Medicine

When is the modern medicine period?

c.1900 - present

Individuals: Wilhelm Roentgen (4)

Discoverd Xrays (1895). 
This allowed doctors to see  through the body, allowing them to diagnose health problems. 
They were especially useful during WWI in helping identify foreign objects like metal from shrapnel. Xrays have been widely used since the 1900s.

Individuals: Karl Landsteiner (3)

Discovered blood groups (1901).
He discovered that each blood cell contains antibodies that react against the antibodies from a different blood group.
This allowed for blood transfusions which significantly improved treatment and surgery.

Individuals: Marie Curie (3)

Discovered radiation could kill and destroy tissue (1903).
This opened the way for the treatment of cancer using radiotherapy.
She won a noble prize for her research

Individuals: Paul Ehrlich (3)

Discovered the first magic bullet called Salvarsan 606 which treated syphilis (1909).
It is called Salvarsan 606 because it was the 606th compound the tested.
He discovered this by infecting rabbits with syphilis, then giving them a chemical cure to see if they could be cured without making them ill.

Individuals: Gerhard Domagk (2)

Discovered the second magic bullet, prontosil, which treated blood poisoning (1932).
He experimented on mice and tried Prontosil on his daughter to discover this.

Individuals: Alexander Fleming (3)

Discovered, by accident, that penicilin mould can kill bacteria without harming nearby cells.
He succesfully used penicilin to treat a friends eye infection in 1929.
He published his findings in a journal in 1929.

Individuals: Florey and Chain (2)

Used Fleming’s findings to turn penicillin into an antibiotic to treat and prevent infection.
They were funded by America and were able to mass produce pure penicilin to treat humans due to pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizier.

Individuals: Aneurin Bevan (3)

The Labour Minister for Health who led the creation of the National Health Service(1948)
He helped convince doctors who were against the NHS to accept it.
The NHS offered free healthcare from the “cradle to the grave”

Individuals: Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, James Watson (3)

Franklin took the first x-ray photograph of DNA (1953).
Crick and Watson used these photos to discover the double helix structure of DNA which makes up our genes.
They used powerful microscopes to discover this.

Causes: Germs (1)

Continued to be believed in by everyone- scientists and citizens

Causes: Genetic Diseases (2)

Fron 1953, scientists have understood that certain diseases are caused by genetic factors eg. Cystic fibrosis and type 1 diabetes.
This understanding was helped by the discovery of DNA by Crick and Watson (1953) and also by the Human Genome Project (2003)

Causes: Lifestyle factors (1)

Scientists understand that lifestyle choices such as smoking and poor diet can lead to increased risk of disease/condition eg. lung cancer and obesity

Treatment: Magic bullets (2)

Chemical cures that target bacteria. Salvarsan 606 treated syphilis (Ehrlic, 1909) while Prontosil treated blood poisoning (Domagk, 1932)

Treatment: Side note (2)

Over time, germs have become more resistant to penicilin. This has led to new antibiotics being developed, such as macrolides

Treatment: Antibiotics (4)

A drug used to treat infection.
The first was penicillin (Fleming 1928).
Previously, a simple prick on the skin could lead to infection and death.
They allow people to recover from many types of infection and are also given after surgery to reduce the risk of infection

Preventions: Mass Vaccination Campaigns(1)

The government has continued to help people get vacccinated: polio 1950, measles 1968, covid-19 2020

Preventions: Governemt laws (4)

Government action continued.
The Clean Air Act was passed in 1956 to reduce air pollution. Smoking in public places was banned in 2007.
Cigarette packaging had to be plain without branding from 2016.

Preventions: Lifestyle campaigns (1)

The NHS/Government has had several campaigns to encourage people to live healthily; eg. Stoptober to reduce smoking and Change4Life to encourage families to eat healthily and exercise

Surgery: Anaesthetics (1)

From the 1930s, it could now be injected directly into the bloodstream for a faster effect and  easier to control dosage

Surgery: Aseptic surgery (2)

The standard way of doing surgery
Surgeons work in completely clean environments with sterilised tools and clothing

Surgery: Transplants

Blood transfusions now allow organ transplants eg. heart, lung and kidney transplants save lives

Surgery: Hi-tech surgery (2)

Modern technology has allowed keyhole and robotic surgery. This means less invasiveness and faster recovery time.

Lung cancer: Context (2)

Smoking became popular from the late 1800s and led to a rise in lung cancer.
In 1950, the link between smoking and lung cancer was proven.

Lung cancer: Radiotherapy (1)

Beams of radiation are used to kill cancer cells. However this has side effects.

Lung cancer: Chemotherapy (1)

Chemical medicines used to shrink tumours. This has serious side effects.

Progress enablers: Government (5)

The government has had a huge impact on medicine since the 1900s as they aren’t laissez-faire anymore
1. Opened the NHS in 1948
2. Funding medical research and treatment
3. Passing laws to help prevent disease and illness
4. By educating people about dangers to their health

Progress enablers: The American Government (4)

The American government heped Florey and Chain mass produce penicillin by providing them with funding.
They then invited Florey and Chain to further their research by granting them $3M.
By D-day the Allies had produced 2.3M doses of penicillin for soldiers.
In 1945, it was estimated that the US army was giving 2M doses of penicilin per month

Progress enablers: Technology (1)

Diagnosing illness is now much easier due to CT scans, MRI scans, ultrasounds, and x-rays

Progress enablers: Attitudes (2)

Widespread belief in and respect for science has led to international cooperation among scientists to work together to find solutions; eg. the Human Genome Projet completed in 2003

Institutions: The Liberal Government (2)

The government that ran the country from 1905-1915.
They brought lots of changes to improve access to healthcare for working people

Liberal Government Laws (3)

Free School Meals (1906)
School medical inspections (1907)→ schools are checked to make sure they are providing a sufficient level of healthcare
The National Insurance Act (1911) → enabled workers to access medical care by paying into a fund which medical care and treatment would be paid for (didnt include family of workers)

The NHS (2)

Formed in 1948 in response to the Beveridge Report (1942) which recommended healthcare should be free for all and could be funded by taxes.
The creation of the NHS was overseen by the Minister of Health, Anuerin Bevan. It provided healthcare from the “cradle to the grave”

The NHS: Impact (4)+1

GP surgeries available to all → free of charge
Most medicines → free of charge
A&E & hospital care → free of charge
Campaigns to promote healthy living and public health
BUT → costs + aging population = no longer as effective