The Medical Revolution
What was it?
Recently, the entire globe has faced a life-changing pandemic known as COVID-19. Ring a bell? During this time, the medical industry has been working and growing to protect society from this contagious virus. Throughout history the medical industry has been seeking to develop new means to protect populations. The medical industry has learnt and grown from severe diseases and has revolutionised in many areas in healthcare. It could be argued that if it were not for the medical revolution... well... none of us might be here!
Why was it so significant and important for the medical industry to improve, grow, and learn?
It is absolutely vital for the medical industry to continue improving, growing, and learning. The average human lifespan is lengthening rapidly. In 1950, the average human lifespan ranged from mid-40s to mid-50s. Nowadays, it lies at the low-mid 70s. This may seem like a great feat. And it is! People around the world get to live more, see more, and do more! In addition to this, the world population is also increasing. There is an obviously need for medical advancement in order to meet the needs of this aging and expanding population.
It could be argued that the impacts of climate change also provide a key reason for advancements in the medical industry. Drought, bushfires, and other disasters have been linked to the impact of climate change. Developments in the medical industry are essential in meeting the needs of casualties involved in these events. The medical industry must be able to cope with these events. The medical industry will need to ensure a safe future for every person out there so that the world can continue prospering and growing.
Which major events forced the medical industry to be revolutionised?
In history, certain events have caused, well in other words forced, the medical industry to be revolutionised. Without these events, the world would not have the tools and knowledge to be fighting this ongoing disease, COVID-19 (2019 and continuing today). We would not have had the tools to fight the bubonic plague, aka the Black Death that began in 1333 in China and is still occurring (in very remote regions) today. The smallpox pandemic (3rd century and continuing today) and the influenza pandemic (1918-1919) are other examples of events that have devastated millions of lives. However, responding to these, the medical industry has grown and developed.
How has the medical revolution affected society today?
The medical revolution has deeply affected society today in various ways. Nowadays, society has very important medical functioning tools. Here are 3 huge and significant medical inventions that have protected society during the toughest of times:
- Vaccines and needles
Even though vaccines have a strong reputation for being painful and annoying, they are absolutely vital for the survival of dangerous life-threatening diseases. Across the years, scientists and doctors have been perfecting different sorts of vaccines from the COVID-19 vaccine to the flu shot. If early scientists and doctors hadn't started to craft this ingenious idea in the mid 18th century, thousands if not millions more people would have inevitably died from the smallpox disease. The invention of vaccines was extremely important for the survival of humanity during the surge of smallpox disease and is still extremely important for the survival of humanity during the Coronavirus pandemic.
- X-rays
The full term for an 'X-RAY' is Energetic High-Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation. Everyone knows that if you break a bone or injure yourself somehow, an X-RAY is coming your way. Here is a definition from Microsoft Bing Definition:
an electromagnetic wave of high energy and very short wavelength, which is able to pass through many materials opaque to light.
In short, this means that X-RAYS operate by sending a high energy electromagnetic wave over you but as humans are opaque to light, the wave passes through our bodies showing our bone structure. The original inventor of the X-RAY was German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. He discovered the X-RAY on the 8th of November 1895. Generally, it is rare for a human to survive breaking a bone without treatment. And to get treatment, a diagnosis is required. Without an X-RAY, there can be no certain diagnosis of the injury. The invention of the X-RAY was incredibly significant as it is used in many areas of medicine for both humans and animals.
- Defibrillators
In school, everyone is taught basic CPR; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (according to many internet sources). We are taught that if someone is found possibly unconscious, we need to act with basic CPR. In severe cases, the basic CPR doesn't actually work to bring the person back to consciousness. In these situations, a defibrillator is used and it, in short, sends strong electric pulses into your body using pads attached to the defibrillator. These have been vital for many sorts of events and locations such as:
- Public/ competitive pools
- Professional sport games
- Hospitals
- Schools
This device protects society when swimming, playing sport, etc.
How significant will the Medical Revolution be in the future?
We believe that the Medical Revolution will be immensely important in the future!
As stated in the introduction, people across the world are experiencing longer life spans. This will means that there will be a larger percentage of elderly in need of healthcare. As also stated, the Medical Industry will need to provide care for many more elderly people because the elderly are more prone to having medical issues and such.
Again referring back to the introduction, the world population number is rapidly increasing which mean that the Medical Industry will need to be able to provide for every citizen of the world (of course first, second, and third world countries would differ in the amount of money that they would be willing to spend for the medical supplies and care).
Overall, the Medical Revolution would be undeniably significant in the future because of the numbers of people around the world becoming elderly and the increasing world population. If the Medical Revolution ceased to exist in the future, the whole world would inevitably collapse because of the lack of proper medical supplies (vaccines, X-RAYS, Defibrillators (refer to above content)). The importance of the Medical Revolution is off the charts and is tremendously significant.
This page was written by Leila Odbert.