Technological Advancments - How Have they Affected Medicine?

The age of technology has brought about many useful inventions and innovations in agriculture, manufacturing and even entertainment, all of which make our lives easier.  However, no technological advancement can compare to those within the field of medicine. It is these technological advances that allow doctors to effectively diagnose patients accurately, and painlessly. In recent years, these technologies have allowed doctors to form a comprehensive understanding of the interior human body which has paved the path for an even greater understanding of human illnesses.

  Endoscopes, which are small, tube-like cameras, are used to inspect areas of the body that would otherwise require surgery to reach. This allows for proper diagnosis and treatment of infections that occur within the bowels and the lungs. Some endoscopes can even be used to retrieve foreign objects, which again, reduces the use of invasive incisions and even entirely eliminates them in some cases.



An endoscope complete with attachments.



MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, is another form of non-invasive diagnosis technology. MRIs work through the use of radio waves and computer imaging to produce a virtual image of the body which can be manipulated in three dimensions. MRIs are capable of detecting even the smallest changes of structures within the body, giving them great potential for diagnosing diseases. MRIs are commonly used to detect bleeding or swelling within parts of the body, such as the brain, and can also detect any abnormalities that may be present; for example, a tumor. This technology is even used to diagnosis problems with bones which is extremely useful in cases such as spinal trauma where there is little opportunity to make a diagnosis without causing further damage.



An MRI scan of a human head.



The study of the internal human body has also led to breakthrough inventions such as the pacemaker, invented by Canadian John Hopps, in 1950. In 1941 while experimenting with hypothermia and radio frequency heating to restore body heat, Hopps discovered that if a heart were to stop beating due to cooling, it could be restarted through the use of artificial stimulation using electricity. This discovery led Hopps to create the world’s first cardiac pacemaker, though it was external since it was too large to fit inside a human body.  

A diagram of a pacemaker within the human body.

Technology has come a long way in the past century and with that, our understanding of the human body has grown as well. It is because of these medical innovations that so many diseases can be diagnosed and treated while maintaining comfort and well being of patients. These discoveries truly do save countless lives everyday, and with more technology comes less sickness.

Sources:
http://www.medicinenet.com/mri_scan/article.htm
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcardiac.htm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153737.php   

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Mary Chiu

Great blog entry Mary! After researching endoscopes for my own blog, I found the swallowable sensor quite interesting as it completely replaces the need for them. It's quite amazing how fast technology progresses and how much of a positive impact it can have. I also had no idea that a Canadian was involved in the development of anesthetics. Amazing stuff!

Inggrid Wibowo

Nice entry Inggrid. Very informative and great choice of pictures that accent the information you provided. I studied endoscopes for my blog but I never knew that endoscopes were also used in conjunction with ultrasounds. It makes me wonder if ultrasounds are more effective internally or externally?

Fatal Harvest - Why Industrial Agriculture is Killing Biodiveristy

The population of our planet is exponentially increasing with every passing day. As more people are born into the world, our demand for food increases as well. Within the last few centuries, the 21st century being the most influential, farmers have started introducing new farming techniques to increase yield from crops and animals in a shorter time frame. Some of these techniques include selective breeding of both plants and animals, use of chemical pesticides, use of fertilizers, and mass production of very few particular crops. Though these methods have sustained humans for several hundred years, there are copious amounts of negative side effects involving biodiversity, as well as ecosystems as a whole, that are becoming apparent.

The selective breeding of crops and animals has helped to eliminate several undesired traits that would affect productivity and reduce yields. However, this process reduces the amount of genes within the gene pools of each organism, and so, plants and animals can no longer naturally adapt to threats within their ecosystem. This problem, coupled with the fact that most farms only produce one type of crop, greatly reduces bio diversity within farms to the point that farmers are forced to protect these genetically productive, yet inferior, crops with pesticides. Furthermore, producing only one type of crop for years on end has devastating effects on soil fertility which forces the use of chemical fertilizers. Sadly, trying to fix the problems caused by unnatural human intervention with more unnatural human intervention is hardly effective.



When only a single type of plant is grown, soil fertility suffers and pests can easily target fragile crops.

Pesticides can only be used for so long until the pests begin to adapt. When this happens, stronger, more harmful poisons need to be developed in order to cope with the newly adapted super pests. In the meantime, the natural predators of the pests are killed off since they can’t adapt to the poison as fast as their prey can. The fertilizers and pesticides can also leech into nearby water sources and negatively affect other ecosystems, further reducing genetic diversity.

Pesticides only prolong the inevitable destruction of crops all while increasing pest numbers in the long run.

The true to solution to these problems is a change in strategy. Instead of focusing on producing as much food as possible in the short term, farmers need to be thinking about the long term. In order to accomplish this, farms need to be less like factories and more like regular ecosystems. Animals and crops should be diversified and well adapted to the area of the farm. This saves the cost of having to immunize animals and spray pesticides to protect crops all while avoiding the devastating environmental effects that would have otherwise occurred. Animal and plant waste can be used to fertilize the soil and techniques such as rotating diversified crops will ensure the soil maintains its health. Farms like these can also be expanded to much larger sizes than traditional farms since they work together with the ecosystem they occupy instead of disrupting it. In short, this sustainable type of farming can provide us with all the food we need at much less the cost.

Diversifying crops in this way helps keep soil fertile and allows each different organism to benefit the farm in it's on unique way.

Sources:

http://lifemorenatural.com/?p=1155

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/biodiversity/

http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm

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Designer Babies - Saving People or Separating Them?

“Designer babies” is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics. In our modern society, such technological advances have become a reality as more and more options are becoming available to parents who wish to rule out the possibility of passing on dangerous genetic traits. This may seem like a noble thing to do, but several concerns regarding ethics have been brought to my attention.

            As expected, this procedure does not come cheap, costing as much as four thousand dollars for a screening and about thirty thousand dollars overall for the complete treatment. Since procedures such as these are not covered by Medicare programs, they are restricted to those who can afford to pay them from out of their pockets or in other words, upper class families. In essence, procedures like these are widening the already increasing gap between the rich and the poor. Unless this procedure is made available to the general populous, the rich will be able to choose to survive while the poor will have to face genetic defects and death.

            Any form of human genetic manipulation paves a dangerous path towards segregation. If we let procedures like these go to far, we humans may begin removing dangerous genes as well as undesirable genes. This will split our society into two different halves, genetically modified and non-genetically modified. Genetically modified people will excel in everything they do, since they will be designed that way, while anyone who isn’t genetically modified will have to compete against people who are naturally better. This will no doubt create huge problems within our country such as riots and protesting against the inequality that these procedures create. I for one do not want to bring that upon our country.

            We also have to take into account the religious conflict this will cause. Atleast most, if not al will definitely be against scientists playing God and deciding who lives, who dies, and what kind of person someone will turn out to be. This will create further conflict within our country as well as around the world.

            In summary, the application of any procedure involving human genetic manipulation brings us dangerously close to disastrous conflict within our country and amongst ourselves as a species. Until we can provide services such as these worldwide to every human being, we as a species are simply not ready for something as extreme as genetic manipulation. We save a few lives in the short term but in the long term we set ourselves up for war and chaos which will cost us far more lives than we could ever save.
Sources:
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101108/bc_ctv_investigates_making_babies_5_101108/20101116?hub=BritishColumbia

http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html

http://www.prochoiceforum.org.uk/ocrreliss7.php

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Recovery of Endangered Species

Humans have never shown a great deal of concern on how we impact the environment and its diversity, but in recent years we have begun to change that. Ever since the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the successor to the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, we have been making great strides in the protection and sustaining of biodiversity within nature. The Endangered Species Act allows the federal government of America to list species of life that are in need of human assistance and protect said species through any means necessary. This includes the protection of habitats, funding recovery projects that work towards increasing animal numbers to a sustainable population, and the outright banning of killing, hunting, harming, trapping, harassing, pursuing and just about any other type of negative impact a human could have towards an animal.

It is believed that among the hundreds of endangered species that the ESA has dealt with, at least ninety three percent has had an increase in population or has remained stable thanks to the act. This no doubt proves the effectiveness of the act and how bio diversity may have suffered without it.

One of the most famous success stories of the ESA is the preservation of the bald eagle. The use of harmful pesticides such as DDT caused chaos and death amongst much of the habitats that it was introduced in. The bald eagle’s habitat was one of the greatly effected areas. The use of these pesticides brought bald eagle breeding pairs down to four hundred recorded pairs. However the ESA and it’s predecessor the ESPA not only helped towards the banning of DDT and other harmful pesticides, but also took action to bring the bald eagle population back up to it’s current numbers of about seven thousand nesting pairs. The bald eagle species was removed from the list of endangered animals in 2007.

The ESA has made a great impact on not only animal life, but plant life as well. Eggert’s sunflower which is a rare type of plantlife found in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, was thought to be heading towards extinction. Oddly enough, Eggert’s sunflower is dependant on naturally occurring fires and animal grazing which was suppressed by human settlement. Under the influence of the ESA, studies were conducted and a plan was prepared to help reintroduce the natural fires that the sunflower is dependant on. As of 2005, Eggert’s sunflower was removed from the endangered species list.

The protection of any and all kinds of life also helps towards the protection of bio diversity. The Endangered Species Act has paved the path that allows humans to take control and initiative in protecting the very life that we have put in danger through our mistakes. Without it, many of the unique species found on our planet may have ceased to exist, though luckily, we now know that we have the power to prevent such things from happening.



Grizzly Bear. Removed from endangered species list in 2007.



  

Gray Wolf. Dramatic increase in population, not yet removed from list.







Peregrine Falcon. Removed from list in 2000.









Works Cited:

http://www.esasuccess.org/reports/

http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Understanding-Wildlife-Conservation/Endangered-Species-Act.aspx

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/habitat/esa/aboutesa.asp

http://www.dodbiodiversity.org/ch6/index_9.html

Images:

http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/bird/bald_eagle/bald_eagle_01tk.jpg

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/kentucky/images/art10856_1.jpg

http://www.treehugger.com/gray-wolf-hunt-500-dead.jpg

http://biology.usgs.gov/cro/ScienceInYourState/Montana/images/Grizzly-bear.jpg

http://mediacaffeine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/peregrine-falcon.jpg

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