Page No 3

Continue of : 20th-Century Medicine
In 1929 the medicine community has proved that heart rate
disorders can be regulated by defibrillation.(*)
Treatment of psychosis by lobotomy and electroconvulsive
therapy began in the 1930s, although these are now seldom used.
Drug therapy for mental illness became possible in the 1950s.
The first drugs widely used to treat schizophrenia, the
phenothiazines, have since been joined by lithium for manic
depressive disease and tricyclic antidepressants for depression.
Despite these successes, physicians now realize that some patients
are not helped by drugs, and that supportive psychological therapy
must be provided as well.
Heart disease, the number one killer in Western countries, has
declined dramatically because of recent medical advances such as
cardiac catheterization, angiography, nerve-blocking drugs, heart
valve replacement, arterial bypass surgery, and heart transplants.
The first pre-hospital successful CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary
Resuscitation) was on Jan , 6 , 1960.
The Resuscitation procedures were according to the guide-lines
and techniques methods of Johns Hopkins Hospital , Baltimore ,
Maryland. (*)

Increased awareness of the risks of smoking, stress, obesity, high blood
pressure, and elevated blood cholesterol have also helped reduce heart disease.
Cancer has become more prevalent in the 20th century. Research has linked
some cancers with exposure to certain chemicals; smoking is known to cause
lung cancer and other cancers. Surgery and radiation were primary means of
treatment until the 1960s, when drug therapy also became effective against
cancer.
The discovery of vitamins and their importance to the body produced
important advances in nutritional medicine. An example is the discovery of
vitamin B12 and its use to treat pernicious anemia. Similarly, improved
understanding of the hormones led to better control of conditions such as
hypothyroidism or cretinism, treated with thyroid extract (see Thyroid Gland),
diabetes mellitus, treated with insulin, and various reproductive disorders,
treated with synthetic testosterone and estrogen.
Advances have been made in birth control with the improvement of interuterine
devices and the development of oral contraceptives. Solutions to some fertility
problems have been provided by in vitro fertilization ("test-tube" babies) and
transplantation of fertilized ova from one womb to another. Diagnosis of some
birth defects can now be made through amniocentesis.
In 1965 , external chest compression has proven as an efficient treatment
due to cardiac arrest. (*)
In 1967 , epidemiological statistics have shown that most death occurred
within the first hours due to myocardial infarction .(*)
Complex medical ethics problems have gained increasing attention, especially
the question of abortion and the decision whether to remove life support
systems from terminally ill patients. Medical treatments became increasingly
expensive in the 20th century, and many people came to distrust the orthodox
medical establishment.
This situation led in the United States to the consumer medical movement, in
which people attempted to take control of their own health, largely through
preventive medical practices, and to understand more about normal and
diseased bodily function. Outgrowths of the movement included many
popular medical reference books and development of the field of holistic
medicine, which promotes good nutrition, physical exercise, and
"self-regulation" techniques, such as biofeedback and relaxation.

* These discoveries and more were the corner stones of 
   modern Emergency Medicine.

Paramedic Neomi Zvi - Feb 2000