Medicine as we know it has changed dramatically over the past decade. Beginning to spread 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 1800 was only 36 years. With people living into their 90s and 100s today, there is one thing to thank, and that is progress in medical science. But before medicine could advance as it has, life before modern medicine was completely different. There are some practices that surgeons and doctors do to help patients, including drilling holes in the patient's skull to relieve stress and neurological problems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The procedure is called Trepanning and has always been performed on people who were considered unusual or anomalous acting. The belief was that if a hole was drilled into the patient's head all the way to the surface of the brain tissue, then he would get rid of any seizures or mental disorders. Some neurologists suggested that in the 1870s this procedure was performed to keep spirits away and keep 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 injuries. Another procedure used as cupping. Cupping is the practice in which the patient has a heated cup placed on certain areas of the body. The cup is then left there for 15 minutes so that it can leave a visible mark. There are two ways cupping is performed, dry and/or wet methods. The wet method involves small incisions in the skin to allow blood to flow while everything is happening. A third procedure would be the use of leeches. The use of leeches first emerged in ancient India. The method works based on the fact that leech saliva has anesthetic properties, which is why medical procedures were practically painless for patients. There are also dangerous chemicals and medications used for patients. Nowadays, mercury is called a toxin. It was then used at the end of the 20th century. There are three types of mercury: inorganic mercury, organic mercury and liquid mercury. The only non-hazardous form of mercury are 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 point, but is now for cosmetic use. Organic mercury and liquid mercury are particularly dangerous. Liquid mercury decimates at room temperature, filling wherever it is with very small, invisible mercury atoms that are odorless. If the atoms are absorbed, they will first go 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. Back then, cocaine was a drug used by patients. It was used for toothache, the first official use of the drug dates back to 1884, where it was used as an anesthetic during surgical operations. It soon expanded into the market in the form of toothache drops, lozenges and wine. In the early 1900s, a safer but not as potent version of the drug was created, such as Novocaine. Another drug used is heroin. It was used as a medicine againstcough for children. Originally, codeine was supposed to be the supplement for cough medicine, but by mistake, diamorphine was added to codeine and thus heroin was created. It was widely used in the pharmaceutical industry until 1924, when it was finally banned. Before antipsychotic drugs, doctors performed lobotomies on patients with psychological conditions and mental disorders. Antipsychotics are tranquilizers that are a form of drugs used to manage psychosis. Lobotomies are surgical operations in which the prefrontal lobe is performed. Neurologists would bring the procedure back into vogue in America and say it can cure schizophrenia, depression and much more. How the procedure works involves the doctor operating on the patient inserting a thin, sharp instrument into the tear duct of the patient's eye socket far enough to hit the bones. Then, the doctor used a hammer and lightly tapped the tool until it broke in the area of ​​the skull protecting the prefrontal cortex. Finally, the doctor moved the instrument, freeing the bone and destroying any brain fibers around it. Before the antibiotic penicillin, mold was used to heal wounds. Since the ancient Egyptians, people have placed moldy bread in poultices to treat sores and infections. In 1929, penicillin was reconstructed and produced correctly. Discovering new ways to improve medicine never happened overnight. It was a step by step process, where once one thing was created to exist, it leads to more and more ideas. Here's how modern medicine could become the advanced saving grace it is today. Starting in the 19th century, scientists made a breakthrough with the “germ theory”. He helped demonstrate the principles of hygiene and: antisepsis in the treatment of wounds. Numerous discoveries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries focused on infection control. By the end of the 20th century, mortality from infection had dropped from 30% to 4%. There is one specific scientist to give credit to and that is Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur was a chemist and microbiologist. He worked with his team, together with Claude Bernard, also a scientist, on a task to find the reasons why there were problems affecting local industries. Pasteur explained that bacteria played a role in why common store-bought products such as wine, beer and milk became sour. One solution to this problem would be to boil or cool the bacteria to kill them. Pasteur was almost certain that pathogenic attacks came from outside, bringing the germ theory of disease into play. However, to Pasture's disapproval, many scientists did not believe that small microscopic creatures could do such harm to a person or, even if possible, kill a human or any other species; Furthermore, Pasteur insisted that numerous diseases, such as smallpox, cholera, and the chickenpox virus, occur when germs enter the body, thus allowing him to develop vaccines. Antibiotics represent the pinnacle of human innovation and are the reason why countries outside of the United States are also thriving. In the 1950s, antibiotics were called “wonder drugs” because they could convert bacterial infections into treatable conditions. Penicillin was also popularized during World War II as a treatment for syphilis and, of course, wounds. Since the antibiotic has a high usage rate during these times, this would bring a breakthrough in the healthcare sector. Before the discovery of antipsychotic medicine, patients underwent psychoanalysis, although many of them did not. In the 1940s, scientiststhey began to explore psychopharmacology and develop new compounds to treat mental illnesses, for example, in 1926 acetylcholine was thought to be a neurotransmitter, in 1937 antihistamines were identified. Various types of therapy such as insulin coma therapy and electroconvulsive therapy were used to help patients with mental illnesses. At the beginning of the 1950s it was finally possible to understand how DNA was structured. Initially, 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 realize that the immune system uses the structure of HLA antigens on cells as a unique biological necessity. If not recognized by the human body, HLA antigens attack the cell beyond recognition causing the host to create antibodies and other substances. Of course, as medicine advances and benefits people's lives, along with these advances come negative side effects. An example would be the loss of natural immunity in the body to infectious diseases. The absurdity of the action of medical scientists whose effect is to weaken rather than strengthen the survivability of the human race may take another toll. People living in highly developed populations can be put in serious danger 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 sanitation requirements and personal hygiene education have created a relatively favorable environment in advanced countries. But people living in such favorable circumstances fail to realize and acquire the natural immunities of those who survive the dangers of unprotected environments. When the discovery of the Salk vaccine in reducing polio among American children was successful in 1955, it was assumed that it would help children around the world. But the World Health Organization has warned against mass vaccination in countries with poor public health facilities, where most of the population has already acquired natural immunity in early childhood. In highly developed countries, polio was known to affect the elderly, but in those poorer areas the infection almost exclusively affected children. A mass inoculation program would greatly reduce the natural destruction of the poliovirus and could lead to an outbreak of the disease if the artificial immunity resulting from the vaccine was not regularly renewed. Harmful side effects of miracle drugs. The “wonder drugs” began in 1936 with sulfanilamides and continued through an ever-expanding list of new compounds. This has been a key factor in reducing mortality rates due to infections, as with many other beneficial discoveries in medicine. Side effects have become a consideration in drug research. They may not appear at all in many people taking the miracle drugs, but they certainly appear frequently. In 1956, the Food and Drug Administration documented 800 hospitals and 1,600 doctors on their experiences with antibiotics. The investigation showed that various ailments, from mild to fatal, had afflicted a large number of patients. Life-threatening reactions to antibiotics have been reported, reported as shock, superinfections, and severe skin reactions. These reactions resulted in disorders of the blood, skin, kidneys, heart and nervous system. Some have paved the way for infections that are more serious than the original disease. Cortisone was also a widely used drug for.