Medicine

    Medicine

    The practice of medicine is based on diagnosis and treatment. A hundred years ago, the physician felt the pulse and came to various conclusions about illnesses.

     He had only a few instruments to diagnose a disease. Within the last hundred years, medical technology developed. Now the physician has sophisticated medical instruments to diagnose diseases.

     X – ray machine that was invented in 1895, came into regular use. It was invented by Wilhelm Rontgen. With the help of this machine the doctors were able to see the inside of the body and diagnose diseases. In 1973 the CAT scan machine was invented. With this invention medical science was revolutionized. The patient is kept inside the machine and the body is scanned by X – rays.

    Medical technology continues to develop very rapidly. Today the changes of the body can be observed and measured. These findings are the key to diagnosing diseases and deciding treatment.     

The E.C.G machine was invented during the last century. It is used to find out how the heart works. The damage caused by a heart attack can be measured on this machine.

    Modern technology is able to support failing organs. Ventilators are used to maintain oxygen levels to assist breathing.

    Sir Alexander Fleming, whose discovery of Penicillin led to the discovery of many other antibiotics. The antibiotics help in treating a large range of bacterial infections.

     Modern technology hs helped immensely to develop surgery. Now lasers are used in surgery. Kidney stones and gall bladder stones are removed through laser surgery. Laser treatments are used for treating eye diseases too.

    Medical science and technology has developed so much that surgeons transplant organs from one body to another. Kidney transplantation was first attempted in 1902. Today it is a well established operation. Heart transplantation was first performed in South Africa, in 1967. It was done by the surgeon, Christian Barnard.

      Immunization programmes are carried out to give protection to children. This has greatly decreased previously common diseases.