Medical Advances Throughout History
A Top Ten List By Katelyn Parsons
The Rundown
So the set-up of each paragraph will go like this:
- Date
- Info
- Impact rank and why
The Impact Rank is based on how it affected other items on this list, or progressed them. So, the more it impact and had a greater impact, the higher on the list. Enjoy!
Vaccines, 1796
And now for the Impact Ranking! On this item, we have...
Number Seven?
Yes, number seven. This item did not impact anything on this list that I could think of. Because of this, I converted to how many people it impacted, and if it was truly something remarkable. The smallpox vaccine cancelled out the smallpox virus completely, and smallpox is the only one of it's kind to be wipe from existence by humans. Because of this, number seven seemed appropriate.
Blood Transfusion, 1818
James Blundell performed the first ever blood transfusion on woman who had hemorrhaged during child birth. The donor was the husband of the woman. Blundell transferred about 4 ounces, or 0.118294 liters, of blood from the husband. The wife made a healthy recovery, and Blundell went on to do ten more transfusions. Five of these transfusions proved to benefit the receiving end of the blood.
And the Impact Ranking is...
Number five, for various reasons. Firstly, without knowing how to first transfer blood, how could we have safely transferred human organs? Many precautions had to be took to make sure the blood was transferred safely, and even more sophisticated precautions had to be taken to make sure the organs were alright. Because this item impacted two other items on this top ten, those being the first organ transplant and the first heart transplant, five is pretty fitting.
Surgical Anesthetic, 1846
The Impact Ranking is...
Number four.
Now, anesthetic did impact the same items as blood transfusion did: organ transplants and heart transplants. But, anesthetic made a bigger impact on both than blood transfusion. You couldn't just cut open a living person, pull out their heart, then put in a new one. They'd probably die of shock before the heart was removed. People needed to be asleep to transplant organs.
Transferring the Cowpox Disease
Transfusion of the Bloody Kind
Boston Demonstration of Ether
Antiseptic, 1867
Impact Rank?
Number one!
Antiseptic has achieved the rank of number one because it lead to the sterilization of the operating room, the cause of a major killer in surgery patients. Because the infections killed so many less, more and more people wanted to get the treatment they needed to save their life. Although carbolic acid was proven to be bad for people and replaced, it was the beginning of something amazing.
X-rays, 1895
The Impact Ranking is... Number Six!
Roentgen's invention, though extremely important, did not impact anything on this list. Because of this, I reverted to the ranking I used for vaccines: how many people it helped, and how big of a breakthrough it was. X-rays were and are a major breakthrough because it allows us to see breaks in bone that before would have to be discovered during invasive surgery. It prevented the unnecessary need of invasive surgery, and the risk of infection.
Blood Types, 1909
The Impact Ranking for this item is...
Number two! Blood types impacted three items on the list, those being blood transfusion, organ transplant, and heart transplant. Yes, blood types did come after blood transfusion, but it still impacted and changed the way we transferred blood. It made transferring blood a lot safer for people, because there was a lesser chance of rejection from the receiver of the blood.
Insulin, 1921
Number Nine! Yes, insulin did not rank very high on the impact scale because it did not impact anything on this list. But, being a constant live-saving remedy, insulin will always be important. It is keeping millions of people alive and healthy around the world. Well, it keeps everyone alive and healthy, but isolated insulin is helping those with diabetes the most.
The First X-ray of Mrs. Roentgen's Hand
Blood Types and their Combatibility
Dr. Banting and Best with Diabetic Dog
Penicillin, 1928
The Impact Ranking is... number eight! This is because antibiotics didn't effect any of the other advancements on this list, but it solved a lot of problems. Before the discovery antibiotics in general, there were no effective treatments for rheumatic fever, gonorrhea or pneumonia. Antibiotics changed this.
Organ Transplant, 1954
The Impact Rank is...
Number five!
The first organ transplant effected thee first heart transplant, and in a good way. Because the first operation was successful, more daring surgeries were attempted, such as the first heart surgery, a major breakthrough in organ transplants.
Heart Transplant, 1967
And the final Impact Ranking of this flyer is...
Number Ten!
Yes, heart transplant gets a number ten because it didn't affect anything on this list. It is an extremely important discovery, mind you. It shows that most organs can be transplanted, but not extremely sensitive organs, such as the brain. The kidneys, lungs, intestines, hearts... we can donate a lot of organs!
Dr. Fleming Working
During the Kidney Surgery
Patient After Heart Surgery
Resources
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/TenWays/story?id=3605442&page=1&singlePage=true
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html
http://www.harvardapparatusregen.com/index.php/about/history-of-human-transplants/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/discoveryofinsulin.php
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0932661.html
http://www.news-medical.net/health/History-of-Blood-Transfusion.aspx
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1930/landsteiner-bio.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/05/health/digital-doctor.html?_r=0#/#time15_349
http://www.aabb.org/tm/Pages/highlights.aspx
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/30693/title/The-First-X-ray--1895/
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1930/landsteiner-bio.html