Keeping Pace With Modern Medicine

The more I look at modern technological breakthroughs, the more I am in awe. These days, we actually have devices that are able to detect if your heart is about to fail, and then take steps to prevent a heart attack. I am referring to a device called an ICD, or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. This device is a battery run electrical pulse emitter that is connected to a patient's heart with very tiny wires and includes a component that monitors heart rate. If a patient's heart rate becomes erratic, the ICD can deliver a shock that will set the heart back into a normal rhythm. Such devices are generally recommended by doctors to patients who have had heart attacks in the past or other serious heart issues.

Credits:

ADAM. "Implantable Cardioverter-defibrillator." 16 May 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 30 June 2009.

"Implantable Cardioverter-defibrillator Image." 16 May 2007. HowStuffWorks.com. 30 June 2009.

The Modern Stent

Modern medical technology is a wonderful thing. Now, patients suffering from poor blood flow in thier internal arteries can turn to a small piece of metal called a "stent". Stents are extremely small pieces of metal mesh that can be expanded to help hold open an artery and improve the circulation of blood throughout the body. Despite the potential for the stent to collapse, it is still probably the most effective tool against poor blood flow that doctors have today. Even if a stent collapses, it can be reopened. Patients must still take blood-thinning medication even after they recieve a stent or stents. Technology is continuing to improve stents, and one day the stent may be a medical miracle with a 100% success rate.

Credits:

American Heart Association. "Stent Procedure." AmericanHeart.org. <http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4721>. 23 June 2009.

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/Libertestent.JPG (image)

Tempatures are rising

Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei is credited with inventing the modern thermometer. Called an air thermometer, it was a device in which a colored liquid was driven down by the expansion of air. As the air got warmer and expanded, the liquid dropped. In 1612 Italian physician Santorio Santorio adapted the device to measure the body's change in temperature due to illness. A century later, in 1714, German physicist Daniel Fahrenheit invented the mercury thermometer. Thermometers in use today, contain liquid mercury, which rises as it gets warmer.

http://www.enotes.com/history-fact-finder/science-invention/who-invented-thermometer

An exceptionally rare c. 1850 surface clinical thermometer with ivory scale and original box. The end of the ivory has a small hole for placing a string to swing the instrument and allow centrifugal force to reset the mercury, an early feature.

A superb c. 1860 axilla clinical thermometer with ivory scale marked: G. TIEMANN & CO. NY. The instrument's original triangular-shaped case is present.

http://antiquescientifica.com/archive23.htm

Histoy of the Ultrasound

Today when a woman is pregnant she has the pleasure of seeing her baby via ultrasound pictures at varying stages of her pregnancy. At some point she can even chose to have a 3D picture taken. But that was definitely not the case for women giving birth 30 to 40 years ago. The definition of an ultrasound is energy generated by sound waves of 20,000 or more vibrations per second. The ultrasound started out as underwater testing of the speed of sound in the 1800's. As time went on scientists and physicists continued to discover different uses for this type of sonar. Actually most of the devices used in the 1800 and 1900's were used for Naval ships to detect if there was anything coming at them in the water. Then in the 1920's high intensity ultrasound was used for therapy on animal tissues. It was highly used in rehabilitative medicine and was even believed to be the "cure-all" for such problems as arthritis, asthma, hemorrhoids and urinary incontinence. The 1940's is when ultrasound was experimentally being used as a diagnostic tool. Then in 1949 the United States finally had their first report of diagnostic use of the ultrasound! It's amazing what can happen in over 100 years!
Since that time the ultrasound has continued to grow and flourish. And it's truly amazing what can be seen using the ultrasound now a days!

http://www.ob-ultrasound.net/history1.html

Chinese Medical Evolution

Chinese medicine, like the medical fields of many other countries, has grown tremendously in the past 100 years. It has its roots that can be traced back nearly 2400 years, beggining with acupunture and herbology. A major problem that has been facing China though is that they are reluctant to leave their old ways of practicing medicine. By the late 1980's the Chinese government realized that if they were to compete with other countries on a national level they would have to impose stricter regulations. In a country of over one billion they only found 500 doctors that were sutable to practice medicine under the new codes. China is an up and comming country that will make their name in the global economy and medical industry. They have the potentional and recources to become one of the strongest countries in the world



http://www.traditionalstudies.org/website/Chinese%20Medicine%20Evolution.html

ADHD -- New Title to an Old Problem?

Why is it that only within the past two centuries that young active little boys have now been considered to have a problem? What happened to the times when 'boys will be boys'? I don't understand that now, out of the entire history of human evolution, have active boys now suddenly have an affliction called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? Maybe it's a new cancer spreading out through the youth of America. Perhaps it's a made-up illness used to sedate the children of parents who need some quiet time after they realized kids are a lot of work. Whatever it is, I would bet anything that this 'ADHD' is nothing new, and parents have dealt with rambunctious kids for centuries, but only now has medicine progressed enough that we can silence the children if we choose to. I submit that these advancements in science need to be considered long and hard by ethics committees all over the world. Even more so, it's too early to tell if the new found drugs they are giving these children have any long term effects (40, 50, 60 years from now). I'm not trying to say that ALL kids diagnosed with ADHD should live without this medication, I'm simply saying that many kids that are normal and simply have active outbursts from time to time are being treated hastily with medication they don't need!

The Incredible, Yet Simple Band-Aid

Eighty-eight years ago, Earle Dickson, an employee of Johnson & Johnson invented the band-aid. Dickson wanted to find a better bandage for his wife who was constantly getting small cuts on her fingers while she was working in the kitchen. Composed of a piece of tape, a small piece of gauze on the tape, and some crinoline to keep the whole thing sterile, the simple band-aid would eventually become a staple in most households in America. Seriously, how annoying would it be if you had to go back to the old way of things, cutting gauze and medical tape to fit your cut? Now, you can just pick the right size band-aid to fit your needs out of a box of assorted sizes. Here is a modern day commercial for Dickson's invention.



Credits:
Bellis, Mary. "History of the Band-Aid." About.com. <http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventions/a/bandaid.htm>. 13 June 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s34b8T44514 (video)