Such astonishingly innovative and
original have been the ideas in the field of medicine that to decide which is
the most important one is a debate for the ages. From original inventions and
concepts to instrumental breakthroughs, medical researchers have ensured that
the average human life expectancy keeps increasing at a steady rate worldwide.
By creating awareness through community health programs and placing a ban on
smoking in public areas, the governments too have contributed with an appreciable
reduction in number of smoking related cancers and heart ailments. So
monumental is the body of work in the field of medicine in the form of concepts,
ideas or experimental techniques that selecting a few among them would be a
gross injustice. However, an attempt will be made below to tabulate a few of
these innumerable advances which may serve as representatives of the many
avant-garde medicinal research.
Human Genome: Any debate
on the most important breakthroughs in medical research is incomplete without
the Human Genome project. Human Genome constitutes the 23 pairs of chromosome
pairs with the entire set of human genetic information stored within. Complete
understanding of the human genome is a topic of active research and would be
vital for breaking the hereditary curse of many genetically transferred
diseases like Alzheimer’s, Huntington etc.
Stem cell research: Of all the advances none is more resourceful
than stem cell research. Stem cells are specific cells found in all
multi-cellular organisms which have the ability to divide and differentiate into
other specialized cells. This property gives researchers an exciting
possibility to restore and/or regrow cells of the body and is of extreme
importance in fighting Cancers which are caused by unregulated cell growth. In
human beings, adult stem cells can be cultivated from the umbilical cord or by
autologous method. The cultivation of stem cells from umbilical cords has made
this field of research land into troubled waters with the moral police. More
importantly the second method of extracting stem cells through autologous is relatively
safer and may be extracted from a person's own bone marrow, adipose tissue
(lipid cells) and blood. Stem cells have already become a routine technique in
bone marrow transplants and have massive potential future applications as it
provides a method tap into a huge reservoir of cells which could restore or
replace malignant/damaged cells.
Management of HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS is a curse that has spread into
epidemic proportions, especially in underdeveloped and developing
countries. Although a complete cure is still a far-cry but highly active
anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) has enabled to increase the life expectancy of
HIV patients considerably. HAART constitutes prescribing a combination
of various drugs to both reinforce the immune system of the body and also
prevent infections. A lot of research is still being conducted with
retro-viruses to achieve a complete cure for this deadly disease.
Controlling diabetes by Bariatric
surgery: Diabetes the commonly used
acronym for diabetes mellitus is one of the most widespread illnesses
with as many as 285 million diabetics as of 2010. Diabetes is caused as a human
body's sugar levels increases above safe limits because of decrease in the insulin
(hormone which regulates the sugar i.e. glucose levels in the body) hormones in
the body. Based on recent advances Bariatric surgery which were previously used
to treat obesity has been found to achieve cure for Diabetes occuring from the body cells not being able to use insulin properly (Type 2 DM). Bariatric surgery
thus gives a potential method to cure diabetes and brings hope to
millions of people suffering from this illness.
Robotic techniques in surgery: There have been tremendous advances in the field of surgery but it still remains a high risk propositions; owing to many
possibilities of complications during the procedure. However with the advent of
robotic techniques, human errors have been considerably
reduced and the precision of the overall surgeries has been greatly improved.
Robotic techniques are definitely in for the future and new
instruments are being engineered to conduct more and more complex surgeries worldwide.
Novel diagnostic techniques -
Functional MRIs and Mass Spectrometry: With advances in modern analytical techniques there have also been
many advances in diagnostic techniques. Functional MRIs for mapping or imaging
the brain activity has helped diagnose conditions like depression, brain cancer
and autism. Also Mass Spectrometry has emerged as an important tool of the
identification of bacterial infections within a few minutes. These are just two
of many new analytical tools which have greatly improved the medical diagnostic
capabilities.
The above are only a few representatives of innumerable modern medical techniques that are helping provide relief to many
including our near and dear ones. With the internet-boom and the
improvements in connectivity medical practitioners are able to access various
experts within minutes resulting in many lives being saved world over. Most
modern hospitals are now looking at digitization of their medical capabilities
to gaining immediate access to cutting-edge research. It is simply
inconceivable in today's world to survive without modern health care. However,
still a lot of work still needs to be done. As more and more time and money is
being invested into research more and more advances are happening every day. For now
however it may be proudly said that the world is a much safer place than it was a century ago
and the future looks ever more healthier.
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