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  • Essay / The revolution in medicine: Louis Pasteur's discovery of microbiology

    Medicine as we know it has changed radically over the last decade. Emerging during the Industrial Revolution, medicine has saved lives, increased access to appropriate care and improved the quality of life as we know it. Medicine as we know it has contributed to a positive increase in average life expectancy, which in the 1800s was only 36 years. As people today live between 90 and 100 years, there is one thing to thank, and that is the advancement of medicine. medical science. But before medicine could advance as it did, life before modern medicine was completely different. There are a few practices that surgeons and doctors have followed to help patients, one of which involves drilling holes into the patient's skull to relieve stress and neurological problems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The procedure is called Trepanning, it was always performed on people considered to be acting romantically or abnormally. The belief was that if a hole was drilled through the patient's head to the surface of the brain tissue, it would eliminate all seizures and mental disorders. Some neurologists suggested that in the 1870s this procedure was intended to ward off spirits and retain them in people's brains. Other neurologists have suggested that the procedure was used to relieve swelling and pressure buildup in the skull after head trauma. Another procedure used as Cupping. Cupping is where the patient places a heated cup on certain areas of the body. Then the cup is left there for 15 minutes so that it can leave a visible mark. There are two ways to perform Cupping, with dry and/or wet methods. The wet method involves small incisions in the skin to let the blood flow while everything is happening. A third procedure would be to use leeches. The use of leeches first appeared in ancient India. The method works due to the fact that leech saliva has anesthetic properties, which is why medical procedures were practically painless for patients. Unsafe chemicals and medications were also used on patients. Today, mercury is considered a toxin. At the time it was used in the late 20th century. There are three types of mercury: inorganic mercury, organic mercury and liquid mercury. The only non-hazardous form of mercury is inorganic mercury compounds that form when mercury combines with elements other than carbon, such as chlorine, sulfur, or oxygen. Inorganic mercury was used as an antiseptic at one time, but is now used for cosmetic purposes. Organic mercury and liquid mercury are particularly dangerous. Liquid mercury decimates when it is at room temperature, it fills wherever it is found with very small invisible and odorless mercury atoms. If the atoms are absorbed, they will go first to the lungs, then to the brain and blood. Organic mercury can proliferate in the body and can potentially cause blindness, memory loss, numbness, seizures and even death. Cocaine was then a drug used by patients. It was used against toothache. The first official use of the drug was in 1884, where it was used as an anesthetic during surgical operations. Hequickly developed on the market in the form of toothache drops, lozenges and wine. In the early 1900s, a safer, but less potent, version of the drug was created, such as Novocaine. Another drug used is heroin. It was used as a cough medicine in children. Codeines were originally intended to be a supplement to cough medicines, but diamorphine was added to codeine by mistake, and then heroin was created. It was widely used in the pharmaceutical industry until 1924, when it was finally banned. Before antipsychotic medications, doctors performed lobotomies on patients with psychological disorders and mental disorders. Antipsychotics are tranquilizers that are a form of medication used to treat psychosis. Lobotomies are surgical operations where the prefrontal lobe is performed. Neurologists are reportedly bringing this procedure back into fashion in the United States and claiming it can cure schizophrenia, depression and much more. The procedure worked by which the doctor operating on the patient would push a thin, sharp tool into the patient's tear duct far enough until it touched the bones. Next, the doctor would use a hammer and very lightly tap the tool until it penetrated the area of ​​the skull protecting the prefrontal cortex. Finally, the doctor would move the tool, freeing the bone and destroying any brain fiber surrounding it. Before the antibiotic penicillin, mold was used to treat wounds. As far back as the ancient Egyptians, people put moldy bread into poultices to treat wounds and infections. In 1929, penicillin was reconstructed and manufactured correctly. Discovering new ways to improve medicine never happens overnight. It was a step-by-step process, where once something is brought into existence, it leads to more and more ideas. Here's how modern medicine could become the advanced saving grace it is today. Beginning in the 19th century, scientists made a breakthrough with “germ theory.” It made it possible to prove the principles of hygiene and antisepsis in the treatment of wounds. Many breakthroughs during the 19th and 20th centuries focused on infection control. By the end of the 20th century, the rate of deaths from infection had fallen from 30% to 4%. There is one scientist in particular who deserves credit: Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur was a chemist and microbiologist. He worked with his team, alongside Claude Bernard, also a scientist, to find the reasons for the problems affecting local industries. Pasteur explained that bacteria plays a role in why common store-bought products, such as wine, beer and milk, become sour. One solution for this would be to boil or cool the bacteria to get rid of them. Pasteur was almost certain that pathogen attacks came from outside, thus bringing the germ theory of disease into play. However, to Pasture's disapproval, many scientists did not believe that small microscopic creatures could do so much harm to a person or even, if possible, kill a human or any other species. Additionally, Pasteur insisted that many diseases, such as smallpox, cholera and chicken pox, occur when germs enter the body, allowing it to develop vaccines. Antibiotics represent the pinnacle of human innovation and are the reason why countries outside the United States are also thriving. In the 1950s, antibiotics wereonce called “wonder drugs” because they could transform bacterial infections into curable conditions. Penicillin was also popularized during World War II as a treatment for syphilis and sores, of course. As antibiotics have a high rate of use during these periods, this would cause controversy in the health sector. Before the discovery of antipsychotic medicine, patients received psychoanalysis, although many did not. In the 1940s, scientists began exploring psychopharmacology and developing new compounds to treat mental illnesses. For example, in 1926 acetylcholine was considered a neurotransmitter, in 1937 antihistamines were identified. Different types of therapies such as insulin therapy and electroconvulsive therapy have been used to help patients suffering from mental illnesses. In the early 1950s, it was finally understood how DNA was structured. At first, geneticists did not know how DNA worked until the discovery of the double helix by James Watson and Francis Crick. Immunity. It didn't take long for doctors and scientists to understand that the immune system uses the profile of HLA antigens present on cells for a unique biological necessity. If not recognized by the human body, HLA antigens attack the cell unrecognizable, resulting in the creation of antibodies and other substances by the host. Of course, as medicine advances and brings good to people's lives, these advances also come with negative side effects. An example would be the loss of the body's natural immunity to infectious diseases. The absurdity of the action of medical scientists, the effect of which is to weaken rather than strengthen the capacity for survival of the human race, could have other harmful consequences. People living in highly developed populations can be put at great risk by the removal, even for a short time, of the health safeguards to which they are accustomed. Vaccination against diseases, water purification systems, enforcement of sanitary requirements, and education in personal hygiene have created a relatively harmless environment in advanced countries. But people living in such favorable circumstances fail to realize and acquire the natural immunities that allow them to survive the dangers of an unprotected environment. When the discovery of the Salk vaccine to reduce polio in American children was a success when used in 1955, it was taken for granted that it would help children around the world. But the World Health Organization has warned against mass vaccination in countries with poor public health infrastructure, where most of the population has already acquired natural immunity from a young age. It is recognized that in highly developed countries, polio strikes the elderly, but in poorer regions, the infection affects almost only babies. A mass vaccination program would greatly reduce the natural destruction of the poliovirus and could lead to an epidemic of the disease if the artificial immunity of the vaccine was not regularly replenished. Harmful side effects of miracle drugs. The “Wonder Drugs” began in 1936 with sulfanilamides and continued with an ever-expanding list of new compounds. This has been a key factor in reducing death rates from infections, as with many other beneficial discoveries in medicine. Side effects have become an element to take into account in the.