Article describes advancements of medicine from 18th century to the contemporary era.

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SCIENCE AND ADVANCEMENTS OF MEDICINE
Fernando Alcoforado *
The discovery of anesthesia which is a high security procedure that promotes partial or
complete analgesia while the patient is operated represented the first major scientific
advance in the field of medicine. The ether anesthesia was discovered in Boston in the
1840s. The only anesthetic known until then was made on the basis of alcohol and
powder, applied to the patient orally. Usually he was grabbed by the assistants while
biting something not to scream, until the operation was over. They were usually made
this way amputations considered at the time as major surgery. Although patients
withstand extraordinary pains, there was an urgent search for analgesics. To relieve
pain, various substances were combined, most extracted them from medicinal plants
that sometimes, the mixture was very strong and the patient died of an overdose
(GUÉRIOS, Floriano, CORTIANO, Edson, RIGONI, Fernanda. Anesthesia. IN : Keys.
São Paulo: Saraiva, 2006).
In addition to medicinal plants, most of the people sought in religion the strength to bear
the pain, which was seen as a punishment from God for the wicked and as purifying the
soul for good. The ether anesthesia was introduced in the United States in 1846 and
with chloroform in the United Kingdom in 1847. Inhalation of vapors of these
compounds not only put people to "sleep", making them insensitive to pain, but its use
meant patients to "become unconscious to torture." This great invention in the history of
medicine not only benefited the patients, but also made life easier for surgeons, who no
longer had to deal with desperate patients writhing in pain on the operating table during
an amputation, or a headlong flight. The discovery of anesthesia was, without doubt,
one of the clinical innovations that have revolutionized surgery [MARGOTTA, R.
História Ilustrada da Medicina (Illustrated History of Medicine). São Paulo: Manole,
1998].
Another major advance in medicine was the discovery of antibiotics given that, through
them, it was possible to fight against infection. The discovery of penicillin by Alexander
Fleming in 1928 was a Revolutionary fact because it was the first antibiotic used
successfully in the treatment of infections caused by bacteria. By using antibiotics,
diseases such as pneumonia, syphilis, gonorrhea and tuberculosis are no longer fatal.
Vaccines have also been one of the discoveries of great medical importance that have
brought improvements in the quality and life expectancy of the world population, as
work in the prevention of diseases that once came to be fatal. In the early twentieth
century were developed vaccines against infectious diseases such as tuberculosis,
diphtheria, tetanus and yellow fever. After the 2nd World War, vaccines have been
developed against polio, measles, mumps and rubella. And each year, more discoveries
have been developed and new vaccines such as against the influenza and new vaccine
against HPV. One of the present challenges is to develop vaccines against other viral
diseases such as HIV. Finally, the test image in Medicine (X-rays, CT scans, and
ultrasound) also represented major technological developments that improve the clinical
and surgery [MARGOTTA, R. História Ilustrada da Medicina (Illustrated History of
Medicine). São Paulo: Manole, 1998].
Medicine has evolved considerably in areas such as immunology, virology, genetic
engineering, cardiology, endocrinology, nuclear medicine etc. The discovery of
penicillin, organ transplantation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the use of

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pacemakers, among other discoveries and improvements that have allowed many
diseases to be avoided and even eradicated and other discoveries and further processed,
contributed decisively to improve the well being of the human being. Added to all this,
advances in artificial fertilization of the ovule in the laboratory and intrauterine
implantation of the fertilized ovule is a feat unparalleled in the history of human
reproduction. The field of genetic engineering has given rise to a promising event: the
determination of the structure of DNA - the basis of all living matter and responsible for
the transmission of the genetic code [SOUZA, Valdomiro. Projeto Genoma Humano
(Human Genome Project). São Paulo: Loyola, 2004].
The fibroscopy represented great progress in diagnostic methods because they replaced
the then used metal appliances, hard and full of limitations, laboratories have developed
highly sensitive techniques that contributed to the clinical diagnosis allowing detect
substances infinitely of small concentrations in body fluids and tissues, the discovery of
X-rays, in the late nineteenth century, and its application in diagnosis, in the early
twentieth century, was an important milestone in the history of medicine and, finally,
the isolation and determination of the chemical structure of hormones allowed the
synthesis of most of them in the laboratory [FIOCRUZ. Bases conceituais e históricas
do campo da saúde (Conceptual and historical bases of the health field). Available on
the website <http://www.ead.fiocruz.br/_downloads/material-620.pdf.>, 2003].
Numerous are the advances that are provided for Medicine in the future, as is the case of
the use of stem cells that are the great promise of science to revolutionize medicine
because they can turn into any cell of the body, the development of cyborgs establishing
the brain-machine interface, paving the way to help people with disabilities, paralysis or
who have suffered amputations to recover the movements, the cell setting controlled by
a synthetic genome created from computer instructions, creating ovule from adult cells
and the discovery of new antibiotics. Another major breakthrough in the future with
regard to transplants that were restricted initially to a single organ (kidney) and
currently, it is possible to transplant heart, lung, liver, pancreatic tissue and bone
marrow. In the future, certainly other organs may also be replaced.
Great progress is expected in the surgical procedures - especially heart surgery,
neurosurgery and ophthalmology - made possible thanks to the collaboration of other
disciplines such as anesthesiology, neurophysiology, bacteriology and immunology. In
addition to X-ray, medicine has technologies such as CT, MRI and other ways to
examine the body of a patient without a surgical invasion and will have as next move
the machines to read the thoughts and record even dreams. Penicillin was the first
antibiotic that paved the way for the birth of new antibiotics with the use of stem cells.
In turn, the beautiful DNA structure will make the genetic engineering that has grown in
the last 50 years come to "copy" living beings [ALMEIDA, Aline Mignon de. Bioética e
biodireito (Bioethics and biolaw). Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris, 2000].
The Human Genome Project started in 1990 with the involvement of more than 5,000
scientists will provide even greater advances in medicine. The mapping of all the genes
of the human body (DNA) through the Human Genome Project is one of the greatest
achievements in human history. The Human Genome Project is an effort of international
research to sequence and map all the genes of human beings. This project is extremely
important for future generations as it will enable the prevention of hereditary diseases or
at least alleviate its symptoms. The forecast of the scientists involved in the project is
that in 50 years, gene therapy will be available to most diseases and life expectancy of

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human beings will reach the age of 90. Today, it is already possible to know whether
the DNA of a person accuses the predisposition of certain types of cancer, and from this
finding, apply a preventive treatment in the patient. The Human Genome Project is
already facilitating the development of more potent drugs, has completed the discovery
of more than 1,800 disease genes, and develop at least 350 biotechnology products
resulting from the knowledge generated [SOUZA, Valdomiro. Projeto Genoma
Humano (Human Genome Project). São Paulo: Loyola, 2004].
Advances in genetics lead, however, ethical, social and legal problems. Law operators
constantly experience the dilemmas resulting from the application of biotechnological
knowledge, which can both be applied for humanity or protection to the individual, as
may be instrument of fomenter of racist practices, extermination and discrimination of
population carrier of diseases and anomalies ever recorded in their genes. It is
imperative that there is an ethical control for situations where technological innovations
are confronted with moral values, especially at the economic influence surrounding the
Human Genome Project, so that human dignity could succumb to economic interest. It
was established in 1988 the Human Genome Organization - HUGO - linked to the
bioethics committee of UNESCO which aims to "coordinate international efforts to
avoid duplication and overlap of research" [ALMEIDA, Aline Mignon de. Bioética e
biodireito (Bioethics and biolaw). Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris, 2000 and BEARDS,
Stela and NEVES, Marcos Almeida. Direito ao patrimônio genético (Law to genetic
heritage). Coimbra:.Almedina, 2006].
Currently, HUGO develops its activities on the prism of four principles: 1) the
recognition of the characteristic of the common heritage of humanity; 2) adherence to
international standards that deal with human rights; 3) respect for the values, traditions,
culture and integrity of those involved in the study; and 4) the defense of human dignity
and freedom. Obviously, it must be recognized freedom of research and the benefits to
the community, however, such results should obey lawful purposes. With advances in
biotechnology and deliberations on genetic manipulation, UNESCO, through its
International Bioethics Committee, issued the Universal Declaration on the Human
Genome and Human Rights, in order to meet the gaps resulting from this new reality,
thus protecting the fundamental rights from probable violations by practice of some
genetic engineering techniques.
* Fernando Alcoforado, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011),
Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012) and
Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2015).

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