Modern medical advances
Marie Curie鈥檚 discovery of radiation opened the way to the first successful treatments for cancer. Modern scanning techniques, blood tests and The science of genes in living organisms. have all helped doctors to diagnose cancers earlier. Alongside modern treatments, eg chemotherapy and radiation treatment, these methods have greatly reduced the number of deaths.
Other developments have also improved treatment:
- ModernA drug that causes loss of feeling or consciousness. are injected directly into the bloodstream, allowing better control of dosage.
- Keyhole surgery means that surgeons can perform some operations through very small incisions. This means that damage caused by operations is reduced and patients take less time to recover from surgery.
- Greater specialisation means that surgeons tend to concentrate on specific areas of medicine, eg cardiac surgery. This allows them to become better at what they do.
- Modern scanning techniques give surgeons a much better idea of the problem before they begin to operate.
Limitations of modern medicine
In spite of so much progress in the treatment of illness and disease, doctors are still not able to cure viral infections, such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 鈥 a disease of the human immune system caused by infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). and the common cold. Life expectancy is increasing, but cancer and heart disease remain two of the major causes of death, particularly among older people.
Alternative treatments
Some traditional and complementary treatments are still used alongside modern medicine. They include:
- Chiropractic treatment involves chiropractors working on joint problems through manipulation. This technique goes back to ancient Greece and came to Britain in its modern form in 1925.
- Osteopathy is a similar idea but it uses manipulation to encourage healing for a wider range of conditions.
- Acupuncture involves putting needles into parts of the body - some people believe it can encourage health and healing. It is an ancient Chinese medical technique that came to Britain in the 1960s.
- Herbal medicine can now be found on the high street in chemists and health food shops.
Hypnotherapy, hydrotherapy and aromatherapy are also traditional treatments that are still used today.