12 far-reaching medical discoveries

Protozoa and bacteria (1676): Antony van leeuwenhoek (Antony van leeuwenhoek) Contribution: laying the foundation of bacteriology and protozoology, so far mankind has begun to understand this new biological field
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"Water fleas or water lice can barely be seen by human eyes, but these little creatures I see are ten thousand times smaller than them" Anton Leeuwenhoek excitedly described his latest in a letter to the Royal Society of London Discovery
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Anton Leuwenhoek (Antony van leeuwenhoek, 1632-1723) founder of microbes, Dutch businessman
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Because of his enormous contribution in 1680 was elected member of the Royal Society, he was a lover of making a magnifying glass and microscope, before and after the production of more than 400 microscopes and magnifying glass, and author of papers called "nature's mysteries" of
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In 1688, microscopic observation of the tadpole's tail found microvessels, and together with Malpiki confirmed Harvey's theory of blood circulation
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The discovery of protozoa and sperm in 1675 and the discovery of bacteria in 1681 laid the foundation for microbiology and medicine.
Of course, Leeuwenhoek's earliest hypothesis of sperm structure was very interesting
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Nitrous Oxide (1799): Humphry·Davy Contribution: Provided anesthesia for surgery "This kind of anesthesia is only local at first, then the paralysis effect will gradually spread throughout the body" David said Description of the nitric oxide anesthesia experiment
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David is a very talented person.
He has learned from doctors and pharmacists, so he has a good understanding of medicine
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In view of David's outstanding performance during his studies and research, he eventually became the chairman of the Royal Society
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After David discovered that nitric oxide has anesthetic effects, he boldly predicted the future clinical application, but this application was actually realized 50 years later
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His greatest contribution in chemistry is to open up a new way to produce metal elements by electrolysis: that is, to use voltaic batteries to study the chemical effects of electricity..
The caustic alkali that could not be decomposed before was electrolyzed, and potassium and sodium were discovered.
Later, alkaline earth metals such as barium, magnesium, calcium and strontium were produced
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He is considered the scientist who discovered the most elements
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Vaccine (1796): Edward Jenner Contribution: Basic theory and practical application of vaccinology Smallpox was a deadly disease without medicine in the 18th century, with a fatality rate of up to 40%.
Smallpox (Smallpox) It is a severe infectious disease caused by the smallpox virus, and it is also the only infectious disease that has been eliminated by humans worldwide
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But as long as people who have been vaccinated with vaccinia will not be infected with smallpox, Jenner is familiar with an accepted saying among female dairy workers and farmers in his area: vaccinia is a mild disease of cattle, but it can also be transmitted to humans.
, If a person is infected with cowpox, he will never get smallpox again
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In May 1796, Jenner injected an eight-year-old boy, James Phips, with a substance taken from a cowpox pus from a female dairy worker
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As expected, the child contracted vaccinia, but soon recovered
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Jenner planted him with smallpox again, and as expected, the child did not develop smallpox symptoms
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It has been hundreds of years since Jenner discovered the smallpox vaccine.
Humans finally eliminated the smallpox virus in 1979, and the theory of the vaccine has been continuously improved in practice
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Selective bacterial culture method (1881): Robert Koch Contribution: Differentiate different types of bacteria and lay the foundation for bacterial science.
Koch found in the laboratory that potato slices were covered with colonies of different colors.
Inspired, Koch invented the method of selective cultivation of bacteria on the plate.
Based on his own experience in isolating pathogenic bacteria, Koch summed up the famous "Koch principle"
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Under the guidance of this principle, the 1870s to the 1920s became the golden age for the discovery of pathogenic bacteria, during which a large number of previously unknown bacteria were discovered
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In addition to the groundbreaking work in confirming pathogens, Koch's microbiological methods have been used today, laying a solid foundation for microbiology as an important independent sub-discipline in life sciences.
These technologies include separation and Pure culture technology, culture medium technology, hanging drop specimen inspection method, tissue section staining method
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X-ray (1895): Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen (Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen) Contribution: Provide a new perspective for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases He was convinced that he had discovered a new kind of ray, so he named it X-ray, which means unknown ray
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If discussing the greatest improvement of X-rays to daily life, it should be the pioneer of medical imaging technology for disease diagnosis.
Early X-ray technology is very harmful to the human body.
With the follow-up of technologies in other fields, in the 1970s, X-ray technology took the fast train of the computer revolution, and then the first CT scanner using electronic computer X-ray tomography was born.
Now this technology is very mature and convenient
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Roentgen won the Nobel Prize in 1903 for his outstanding research results in X-ray
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Penicillin (1928): Alexander Fleming (Alexander Fleming) Contribution: Provide an effective means for the treatment of bacterial infections Fleming discovered lysozyme in 1923, and penicillin was first discovered in 1928
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After further research and improvement by the British pathologist Fraure and the German biochemist Chann, they were successfully used to treat human diseases.
The three won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
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The discovery of the antibacterial properties of penicillin is hailed as a myth in the history of medicine, in which many accidental factors and subjective persistence are mixed
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Although Fleming published a paper on penicillin in 1929, he did not classify penicillin independently, so the research results at that time did not receive attention
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Subsequently, with the efforts of Flory and Chann, the problem of separation and increase in production was solved, and large-scale production of penicillin was realized.
In October 1943, the US military signed the first batch of penicillin contracts.
Penicillin was used to treat wounded soldiers.
And saved many lives on the battlefield
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Fleming, Flory and Chann won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for "the discovery of penicillin and its clinical effects
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" The Pancreas/Diabetes Association (1889): Joseph von Mering; Joseph von Mering, Oskar Minkowski Contributions: Paving the way for the discovery of insulin and the control of diabetes Scientists got acquainted at the University of Strasbourg.
At first, the two of them studied pancreatin.
In order to verify the idea, they began to observe the thirst state of the pancreatic dog and the sugar content in the urine
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In subsequent studies, they found that subcutaneous injection of insulin can alleviate the symptoms of hyperglycemia in dogs with pancreas removed, and finally determined the role of the pancreas in maintaining normal blood glucose levels
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Today, the vast majority of diabetic patients still need regular subcutaneous injections of insulin to relieve their condition
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Warfarin (Warfarin) 1940: Karl Paul link, Mark Arnold Stahmann Contributions: lay the foundation for oral anticoagulants and anti-thrombosis Role
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It can inhibit the synthesis of coagulation factors II, VII, IX, and X in the liver involved in vitamin K, inhibit the formation of new thrombi by inhibiting the activation of coagulation factors, limit the expansion and extension of thrombus, and inhibit the formation of new thrombus on the basis of thrombus.
, Inhibit the occurrence of thrombosis and embolism, which is conducive to the body's fibrinolytic system to remove the formed thrombus
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Warfarin does not have the effect of thrombolysis (thrombolysis).
The reduction or disappearance of thrombus after using warfarin is the result of the mechanism (fibrinolysis) that the body removes thrombus while inhibiting the formation of new thrombosis. .
In 1933, two scientists accidentally discovered warfarin while studying the cause of blood loss in cattle.
They discovered that the cattle feed contained a monomeric coumarin, which formed a double body during the process of feed corruption and affected vitamin K blood clotting.
The performance, which in turn causes the cattle to lose blood
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But at first, warfarin was always used as rat poison.
It was not until an American soldier who tried to commit suicide took warfarin that the drug was found to be safe in the human body, combined with the need for clinical anticoagulants.
Warfarin is used as a clinical coagulant to prevent and treat thromboembolic diseases, including thrombosis and development, treat thromboembolic phlebitis, reduce the incidence and mortality of pulmonary embolism, reduce major surgical operations, rheumatic heart disease, hip The incidence of venous thrombosis in arthrodesis, artificial heart valve replacement surgery, etc.
, it is also an auxiliary drug for myocardial infarction
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Intraocular lens (intraocular lens) 1949: Harold Ridley's contribution: Provide a technology to prevent blindness.
Ridley inspected the eyes of Royal pilot Gordon Cleaver (wounded by plastic fragments) and found that the plastic fragments did not affect the vision of the patient, so Ridley The idea of ​​artificially manufacturing a lens was born, and the implantation operation was successfully implemented in 1949 to implant a plastic lens in the eyes of cataract patients
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The technology was also controversial when it first came out.
Ridley upgraded the technology in the 1960s to make the technology safer and more effective.
In 1981, it was approved by the FDA for marketing
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At present, this technology has been used millions of times worldwide, and has made great achievements in eye care and cataract treatment
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Benzodiazepines: Leo Sternbach Contribution: Effective anti-anxiety drugs Benzodiazepines are new sedative and hypnotic drugs discovered by accident.
In the 1950s, Sternbach was studying synthetic hypnotic molecules.
However, the designed structure has not been synthesized, and accidentally found that the seven-membered ring assembly product, chlordiazepoxide, has a good sedative effect. .
In addition to chlordiazepoxide, the value of benzodiazepines began to be widely recognized.
Between 1969 and 1982, this type of drug was the best-selling drug in the United States, with a peak sales of $600 million
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There are currently more than 30 kinds of benzodiazepines, the treatment areas include anxiety, muscle relaxation, insomnia, anesthesia, epilepsy, these drugs are still active in the clinical frontline
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Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (1963): Charles Dotter contribution: the cornerstone of interventional radiology Dotter is considered the father of interventional radiology for his invention of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
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Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is Dotter's most important medical contribution.
In fact, he also invented other interventional techniques, including balloon catheters, double-lumen balloon catheters, safety guide wires, the concept of percutaneous arterial stents, and stent grafting
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Helicobacter pylori and gastritis and peptic gastric ulcer (1982): Barry Marshall, Robin Warren contribution: completely transformed the diagnosis and treatment of gastritis and gastric ulcer.
The Helicobacter pylori hypothesis was mocked by scientists and doctors when it was first proposed.
, They don’t believe that there will be bacteria living in the highly acidic stomach
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To draw attention to this theory, Marshall took the bacteria in the test tube and developed a gastric ulcer shortly afterwards, and then cured the gastric ulcer with antibiotics
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Based on these results, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren proposed that Helicobacter pylori is involved in the etiology of gastritis and peptic ulcer
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On April 5, 1984, their results were published in the world's authoritative medical journal "The Lancet"
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Once the results were published, they immediately caused a sensation in the international gastroenterology community and set off a worldwide research boom
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The world’s major pharmaceutical companies have successively invested huge sums of money in the development of related drugs.
The professional journal "Helicobacter" came into being.
The World Helicobacter Conference was held regularly, and there were countless research papers on Helicobacter. .
Through human trials, antibiotic treatment and epidemiological studies, the role of Helicobacter pylori in gastritis and gastric ulcers has gradually become clear, and scientists have also deepened their understanding of the pathogenic mechanism of the pathogen
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The two were awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their contributions to this research
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The uncertainty of scientific research is huge, and the results are often separated from the original idea.
It is commonplace to return without success.
It is also accustomed to accidentally insert the willow.
As long as you don't choose the wrong direction, you can ensure that the process is practical and unlucky.
In bad circumstances, there will always be good results
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Reference source: 12 Key Accidental Discoveries in Medicine