Healthcare has changed a lot in the past 20 years. People now live on average at least ten years longer than they did in 1989, and medical advances have brought many breakthroughs and improvements in patient care. One of the main and most significant changes to healthcare over the past years have been the expansion in technology. Advancements in technology, especially in computers, have caused a major impact on today’s healthcare. “More specifically, profound effect on modern day medicine. ” [instruct. lanagara. ba. ca 1.
] [1] It has changed almost every aspect of the medical field, from the instruments used to the medicines prescribed to the operations preformed. “New technologies allow healthcare professionals to save people they never could have saved before. ”[collegeview. com 1. ] [2] “The 20th-century has brought with it much advancement in medicine. ” [utep. edu 1. ] [3]Below is a list of the then most important advancements, none of which would have been possible without improvements in technology. The Ten Most Important Discoveries of the Century 1 Antibiotics (Penicillin)
2 Anesthesia 3 Polio Vaccine 4 Birth Control Pill 5 Open Heart Surgery 6 Organ Transplant 7 Medical Imagery (x-rays, MRI, CAT scans) 8 Anti-inflammatory (Aspirin) 9 Ambulance Services 10 Genetic Based Research [4] Almost every instrument in the medical field has become computerized. Everything from thermometers to CAT scans is either a type of computer itself or is monitored by a computer. They calculate and factor all the data leaving rarely any information to be determined. Thus, allowing for more efficient results because it reduces the risk of human error.
Plus, since other healthcare professionals are busy caring for the patients new jobs are created to operate the computerized instruments. “Carefully designed instruments have given researchers the opportunity to better understand biological processes. ” [instruct. langara. ba. ca 1. ] [5]Microscopes, for example, have allowed organism and cells to be studied at an extremely high level. Researchers are able to observe the impact different medicines have on the organisms and cells and therefore can discover new ways to treat or prevent them.
X-rays also allow for a closer look at the human body. They let doctors check the density of bones and determine whether or not they are broken. Computer controlled machines, such as CAT scans and MRI’s provide images for doctors to analyze and as a result they furnish premium diagnoses and treatments. “New instruments allow researchers to perform experiments and study things that are otherwise inaccessible. ” [instruct. langara. bc. ca 1. ] [6] Recent improvements in technology have helped develop medicines to treat and prevent illnesses.
Antibiotics, for instance, were rating number one on the top ten advancements in medicine, which means they have made the largest strives in the 20th-century. Without antibiotics a simple common cold could eventually turn in to something more serious, even deadly. Therefore, antibiotics are a way to stop a sickness as well as a way of preventing a more serious illness. Vaccines have a similar function; they are a way of eliminating an illness before it starts. They make the body immune to the virus before it comes in contact with it.
This can save many peoples lives because most of the viruses the vaccines prevent are deadly. Some of the most common vaccines used today are the polio and the smallpox vaccinations. Another form of medication that is made great improvements is birth control. Birth control unlike antibiotics and vaccines does not save lives it prevents lives. It reduces a women’s risk of getting pregnant by 99% if it used properly, thus giving women the power to decide whether or not she wants to reproduce. There are many forms of birth control but the two most common are the pill and the shot.
The pill is taken at the same time of day everyday and the shot is received once every three months. Both are 99% accurate, the only difference is the preference of the women; what she feels more comfortable taking. Probably the most discussed technological advancement in medicine is operations. It is amazing what a doctor can do to better a person’s life. Organ transplants maybe the most fascinating. It is unbelievable to know that people are walking around with other people’s body parts functioning inside their own bodies as if it was their own.
A heart transplant is by far the most risky. Heart surgery stops the flow of blood to the brain, not allowing the brain to send out signals to the rest of the body, which is eventually stopping the body from functioning. A heart transplant is dangerous but without them any people would die. Only advancements in technology could have allowed for such miracles to be preformed. Laser eye surgery is another operation that is becoming more and more popular by the day. This surgery allows doctors to correct a person’s vision with the use of a laser.
They do not make any cut, the laser does all the work and the doctor controls it by a computer. A person can go from being legally blind to having almost perfect vision. It is amazing that the development of a laser could accomplish such great tasks. Another surgery used often is the process of scooping. It lets doctors take a look inside the body via a camera and also lets them fix the problem with a laser leaving only a minuet incision. Scoping is a popular surgery because it greatly reduces the recovery time.
For example, it can reduce a knee surgery’s recovery time from three months to less than one month with proper rehabilitation. Technology has permitted some remarkable operations to take place and they can only become more advanced. If one were to graph the top ten causes of death is the United States, one would find that all of the reasons for death can be prevented or are at least effect by the many technological advancements made in the medical field.
For example, heart disease is the number one killer of Americans but medicine prescribed to lower a person’s blood pressure can reduce this risk because high blood pressure is the number one reason a person has a fatal heart attack. Cancer, which is the number two cause of death among Americans, cannot be prevented but it can be eliminated or reduced through radiation, chemotherapy, or surgery.
Without improved technology the percentage of death would be significantly increased. Advancements in technology have positively affected the medical field more than any other professional field. Without technology researchers would not be able to discover new medicine and new way of preventing disease.
Doctors would not be able to receive such accurate testing results and they would not be able to perform nearly as many surgeries as they can with improved technology. Who knows what even more technological advancements will mean for all of medicine and for all of society. Bibliography Advancements in Medicine. [On-line]. Available:http://www2. utep. edu Medicine and Health. [On-line]. Available: http://www. collegeview. com Technological Advancements in Medicine. [On-line]. Available: http://www. instruct. langara. bc. ca Wilmore, Jack H. and David L. Costill. “Physiology of Sports and Exercise. ” 2nd ed. 1999.