This BMJ article published on-line this month is an engaging discussion of major medical progress since 1840. If you're interested in what the article has to say, here's the link : (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/334/suppl_1/DC3) . The 15 milestones noted in the article are:
Anaesthesia
Antibiotics
Chlorpromazine
Computers
Discovery of DNA structure
Evidence-based medicine
Germ theory
Immunology
Medical imaging (x-rays, etc.)
Oral contraceptive pill
Oral rehydration therapy
Risks of smoking
Sanitation (clean water and sewage disposal)
Tissue culture
Vaccines
While all of these represent incredible medical advances, personally I would replace EBM with aspirin. This is not to minimize the value of EBM, in fact Dickersin, Strauss, and Bero make some great points in the article about the contributions of EBM to modern medicine. My reason for counting aspirin in the top 15 are based on the well-documented, profound effects of aspirin on reducing cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. This is particularly important when we consider the current and future relevance of ischemic heart disease, which is projected to be the #1 cause of death worldwide by 2020. Aspirin costs pennies, but saves lives.
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1 comment:
I am curious why you chose EBM out of the 15 to be replaced by aspirin?
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