Advancements inmedicine have been and will continue to be one of humanity’s greatestachievements. Technological advances in the medical field have made it so mucheasier to diagnose, treat, and potentially cure so many than ever before. Theseadvancements have helped us in many ways. Medical research has made our societystronger and has propelled us in the right direction of maintaining our healthand prolonging life itself. Medicine is the skill and practice of thediagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. Medicine embodies a mixture ofhealthcare practices progressed to sustain and restore wellbeing by theprevention and recovery of illness. One way technological advances in medicinehave helped our society is by the invention of vaccines.
The Center of DiseaseControl (CDC) defines a vaccine as a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produceimmunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease. “Vaccinesare usually administered through needle injections, but can also beadministered by mouth or sprayed into the nose”. (https://www.cdc.
gov) Thepractice of vaccination dates back centuries. Buddhist monks drank used todrink the venom of snakes to build up protection from the bite. Edward Jenneris considered the father of vaccines in 1796.
He injected a 13 year-old-boywith the cowpox virus, which developed immunity to smallpox. Two years afterthis, the first smallpox vaccine was developed. This eventually led to theeradication of the virus. Surgeryhas had a great number of advancements since its beginnings.
“The history of surgical procedures reaches backto the Neolithic and pre-Classical ages. The first evidence of a surgicalprocedure is that of trephining, or cutting a hole in the head. This procedurewas practiced as early as 3000 BC and continued through the Middle Ages andeven into the Renaissance”. (https://www.hartfordstage.org) Using thefoundations of our predecessors, we can achieve the same goals in a more safeand lower risk procedure. Laparoscopic surgeryis a technique that uses numerous minor incisions.
Doctors monitor theirprogress by watching images taken by the camera connected to it. Now, surgeriesincluding gallbladder, hernia, anti-reflux, and colon surgeries now take just afew hours. The laparoscopic operations result in briefer stays and quicker recoveryperiods.