Abstract
This paper uncovers and explores the various medical advances and new ideas brought to light by countless professors, doctors, and many other medical practitioners. Though these online sources tackle different parts of medical thinking all sources are effective and resourceful in their own way. The research provided will consist of and focus on the topics such as; Stem cell research, medical advances with cancer, treatments for alzheimer’s, technological advances, implants, robotic surgery, and future medical implications that are possible in the year 2018. The future as we know it will keep advancing and new diseases will keep rising, therefore it is the job of many in the medical field to think outside the box and diagnose these medical issues so they can become a thing in the past. Below will discuss and take you through the progress as well as medical advances.
Introduction
Present-day it is hard to believe how far our medical advancements have taken us. Previously in the past medical procedures were grotesque and inhuman, it consisted of bloodletting witch had the patient bleed as a treatment to avert or halt the progress of a disease or illness. Today we have access to medical technology and various practioniors who specializes in a specific parts of the human anatomy. With numerous medical advances sometimes disease or illness is unknown to the medical field, however medical teams jump to the issue to try to find an answer to this epidemic. Medical advancements are constantly being researched by many teams such as the Stanford Med who “are advancing the frontiers of understanding in the biological sciences and biomedicine.” (Stanford medicine, 2018)
Currently, such diseases like cancer and alzheimer’s affect a great proportion of the people living in the states. With no effective treatment to completely eradicate the condition, medical treatments are issued that slow the progression of disease spread and can temporarily stop symptoms of the disorder. Possible treatments that can be given to patients are chemotherapy for cancer patients and supplements such as “fish oil supplements, aspirin, and even diabetes drugs “ to help patients cope with the disease.(“Possible new treatments for alzheimer’s., 2018)
However there are improvements that have impacted the world greatly, such inventions and innovations have successfully put humanity in the right path for growth and progression. With the instalments of medical technology and countless variations of implants, humans are given the ability to function normally and live without an issue. Though medical procedures might need tweaks and adjustments, it is only natural for medical advances to overcome it and progress as a whole. Therefore it is important that medical advancement continues for a lifetime.
Discussion of Research
This research discussed below refers to several medical advancements that date back in the past and in the future. There is just new information gathered each day in medical institutions, that it requires extensive research and testing to get medications and possible surgeries approved by the higher authorities in-charge. However it does not stop young developed minds to gather information and discuss upon the subjects gathered through extensive investigations. Below, will mainly walk you through such topics listed: stem cells, implants, medical technology, cancer, alzheimer’s, future developments
The order of the research is not scripted in a sequenced order rather it informs the reader of the medical advancements within the topic. It will give a better thought of what problems are occuring in the medical field and how researches, other medical professionals, and scientists respond from their thought processes and conclusions conjured up through their investigations.
Medical Advances: Alzheimer’s
Classified as a disease that affects the brain and nervous system, causing confusion, memory loss, and loss of some physical functions. (“Alzheimer’s,” 2018) Research and new implication to treat such a disease are being developed continuously to improve current treatments and possibly find a cure or a much simpler method of minimizing the symptoms of alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s disease has been studied since the 19th century (“Alzheimer’s,” 2018) that began with the Nun Study (1986) that uncovered various results that stated “some people’s brains begin to deteriorate early in their lives — sometimes decades before they show symptoms of dementia.” Presently new studies have been researched as alternatives, such as some over the counter drugs or supplements and in some cases people can suggest an ultrasound waves as treatment. Such a disease like alzheimer’s is one of many problems being searched for an definite solution so that alzheimer’s can be a thing in the past.
Medical Advances: Stem Cells
The MNT Editorial Team (2017) defines stem cells as:
“Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types.”
Stem cell research has advanced medical knowledge in potentially helping patients restore damage from the various accidents that causes tissue damaging. Additionally, stem cells help in the “learning of human development” (The MNT Editorial Team [MNT ET], 2017) With this research there is potential in discovering our probable characteristics or modifications that will be develop in the future. Stem cells that are acquired from the blastocyst phase or from an adult have regenerative abilities and since it is the most important factor for stem cells, their ability to regenerate is important for future medical advancements. (MNT ET, 2017) states, “Stem cells are either extracted from adult tissue or from a dividing zygote in a culture dish.” Though there are limitations there is a much brighter light in the researching of embryonic stem cells. Stem cells is unique for the capability to “differentiate into almost all cell types.” (MNT ET, 2017) If stem cell research was accepted, there would alteration in the ways of treating current patients. (MNT ET, 2017) states “stem cells extracted from embryos can be induced to become any desired cell type. This property makes stem cells powerful enough to regenerate damaged tissue under the right conditions.” stem cells therefore, need a boost of support in getting stem cell research accepted and tested, so that there may be medical advancement for new remedies.
Medical Advances: Implants
Interchangeable parts for implants require assembly by the medical device industries. Nowadays indicated by Amanda Holpuch (2018), medical implants are not expected to par with the requirements of a new prescribed drug including the various tests given to humans, rather it would be the complete opposite. Instead of the long difficult process of being approved by several organisations of superior status and authority, approval is simply credited to a company that demonstrates their medical implant is equivalent to a similar product on the market.Amanda Holpuch (2018) Though advancements on implants has encountered some difficulty we need to consider the positives in implants because they benefit patients for the better.
Medical Advances: Cancer
Everyone has heard of it the disease that is yet incurable. Cancer a disease in the form of a tumor that can be formed anywhere within the body. Such research targets the most common types of cancers they include: breast, lung, and prostate cancer are some of the most common types listed on Stanford Med (2018). The most interesting topic that caught my eye about cancer was not discovered within a patient but was discovered within an elephants’ genes (“Elephants”, 2018). Elephants have such genes: “TP53. This gene constantly checks cells to make sure they are not damaged by cancer or any other mutation.” and “ LIF6. This gene destroys damaged cells before they grow into tumors.” (“Elephants”, 2018) It opened up my mind to the idea that if there is a way to fight cancer in other organisms then there is a possibility to fight cancer that dwells inside humans.
Medical Advances: Medical technology
Technology has been around for years, and medical practitioners have found a breakthrough to use technology in the medical field. Such cases include: Computerized Tomography (CT scans), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Technological advances of high tech treatments consist of implants and robotic arms that resulted in helping Parkinson’s disease and to help control tremors within patients. Genetic tests allow for a screen for Down syndrome, Marfan syndrome, cystic fibrosis, specific cancers, and other diseases developed within the body. In the future gene therapy is said to be used by doctors to manipulate genes to treat such cases listed above and possibly alter genes to help the body function normally.Kowalski and K. M. (2003) Medical technology just keeps on growing with a wide variety of technological machineries to assist medical practitioners through the time consuming and tedious tasks, advancements in medicine make medical procedures less complicated leaving less room for error.
Medical Advances: Future Developments
The future in other words for the medical field is a blueprint or set goals of what situations need to be confronted. For the future of 2018 written by Wilke M. will introduce several new insights gathered by various researchers such as: Drones that are able to distribute medicines to isolated areas, Gene editing to help cure disease, Technology that allows patients with a paralyzed body to be able to communicate, An artificial pancreas for patients with diabetics to regulate their insulin intake, usage of the powerful cholesterol drugs (PCSK9 inhibitors), (ERAS) or enhanced recovery after surgery will help patients recover quickly with alternative methods and medication for faster recovery, breast cancer therapies that target specific cancer cells in the body, an implant that helps peoples with sleep anopea rest with ease, next-generation vaccines where they use freeze-drying to transport vaccines to other areas across the world to treat diseases and epidemics, and the progress for a human head transplant are implications we can see in the future of 2018. (Wilke M., 2018) All that being said medical advancement progresses all whilst helping patients with an illness or provide them with viable possibilities that would promote themself well.
Personal Bias
In my opinion I side with stem cell research and the extraction of stem cells from the blastocyst phase or from an adult because it is for a good cause, restoring damage from a potential injury. Considering the possibility for reconstruction in the body’s’ tissues and other discoveries that medical researchers will do to advance knowledge through their findings will benefit future findings and supportive implications aiding the stem cell research.
Implants have produced a four-hundred billion dollar industry, and as listed previously, implants has experienced their ups and downs. However, their success comes from the effectiveness of the product and if it helped the patient one way or another. Generally the production of these implants will only be increasingly better than the previous product. As laws and regulations are created to ensure positivity in patients receiving implants advancement in the medical implants will only get better.
New medical problems will only keep reappearing, it is inevitable to deny it. However, with medical advancements, being able to condense long procedures into a quick treatment that will cure another person is largely beneficial and should aided in hopes for better results.
Implications For the Future
“Elephants,” (2018) defines the the genes TP53 and LIF6 as, “TP53. This gene constantly checks cells to make sure they are not damaged by cancer or any other mutation.” and “ LIF6. This gene destroys damaged cells before they grow into tumors.” In other words these genes are cancerous fighting genes. Implications for how this knowledge can be used for medical advancements for the future is if stem cell research was somehow approved by the board, and then funded for the replacations of the genes TP53 and LIF6.
If this implication is acted upon there is a possibility for patients of a cancerous disease to live freely of the many burdens and heartaches cancer brings. If only they had an extra replica of the gene TP53 and LIF6, cancer would officially be a thing in the past. The pair of genes inside the body will naturally be able to fight cancer on its own, there would be no need for cancer research because through reproduction of the gene. Naturally patients who request the gene and get it implanted in the body will void the growth of tumors that would have been needed to be surgically removed. Surgical procedures take countless hours to complete, Implications in stem cell research to replicate cancer-fighting genes TP53 and LIF6 seems too good to pass up.
Reflection
Accumulating all the research I did not fully go into depth about each topic written on this paper. Rather the topics were generally summarized and gave general information on the impact medical advances have had on the majority, who are in need of medical services. Instead of gathering different chunks and fragments of different advancements throughout the years, I should have chosen one advancement and focused on it, such a topic like cancer has a large horizon of information, that a small research paper that is covering several topics, does not have enough adequate information there to provide the necessary information for a reader to fully understand the concepts being interpreted.
However I can say through the conduction of my research I gained a greater understanding of severe medical problems that affect a great proportion of people, how the problem is assessed when conducting analysis, and possible treatments and supplements used to treat or suppress the illness. Technological advances surprised me the most because new inventions and technological measures are being created to ensure an easier and precise reading when doing surgeries to avoid possible faults during the uniform procedures.
The knowledge I learned gave me a boost in my understanding of the medical field. It got me to think brighter about situations for the the thought that it will get solved by a great mind. Who knows, what if I am the one who discovers the solution to replications of the genes TP53 and LIF6? Medical advancements, advance society as we know it. Therefore we should trust medical advances.
Medical Malpractice Essay
Malpractice in the medical field is the improper, illegal, or negligent professional activity or treatment by a medical practitioner. A significant area of concern is medical error caused by humans. Errors that include having a doctor tear tissue and arteries that weren’t supposed to be part of the operation have been highly debated on to the point of what we can do. Some argue that medical robots could be the answer to the prevention of such malpractice. Robotic systems would increase surgical precision therefore decreasing medical malpractice. At times, surgical processes done by humans has left patients more worse than when they came in. There are already some robotic systems in service today. On the other hand, some argue that robotic systems cost more than they provide. One could argue that not every hospital has the funding to start to slowly incorporate their facilities with robotic services. That brings us to the question, would the use of medical robotics decrease the amount of malpractice in the medical field.
To commence, many say that risking people’s wellbeing is a serious problem that shouldn’t even be a discussion. According to U.S. News, it states, “Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer, causing at least 250,000 deaths every year, according to an analysis out Tuesday indicating that patient safety efforts fall far short.” Even though being a news outlet organization, the U.S. News report is based on actual evidence and evaluation from people who intend on getting the story out to the public. Their intent is to allow many to hear what has been happening around medical practices and what our options are in tackling this problem, such as handling it by medical robotics. It also states, “Patient safety efforts have failed to gain much traction, Makary says, because there’s no systematic effort to study medical errors or to put effective safeguards in place.” 1 The new era has a new problem that is, what some call, a growing epidemic especially in the eyes of those growing number of malpractice victims. Not only growing in the U.S. but as well as in countries around the world. In many situations, it has even caused death to patients that could’ve been saved if it weren’t for fatal mistakes made by medical practitioners. According to the Center for Justice Democracy who deal with medical cases that has a tendency in running into malpractice related cases frequently, it states, “during the birth of Sandra’s daughter Alexandra, the doctor contorted and stretched Alexandra’s spine, destroying her nerves and leaving her partially paralyzed.” The CJD could be seen as biased, but have the potential in gathering reliable research to which they can spread to the public. The procedure has left the patient in extreme discomfort and has even caused her to die. “Procedures, such as the one done to Alexandra, that has gone to cause a lot of harm to many serve as a sign that something would need to be done to prevent something like this from happening. A Dallas Morning News investigation found that two other babies, in this doctor’s care, had died,” according to the CJD (2), the stories of both Alexandra and the other two baby cases has the potential in supports the argument towards medical robotic systems even though it was coming from a news source, that is a paid organization, but have different intends instead of using these stories as publicity. This brings up the question, would it help prevent more malpractice from happening? Could it help save lives? The answer, to many, is simple, yes. Many believe that the introduction of medical robotics lessens the risk of human error by having robotic assistance.
Surgeons, physicians, and nurses are the superheroes of healthcare but even Captain Marvel needs a trusty sidekick and that’s where the robots come in. Surgical procedures take an enormous amount of precision that can prove to be too much pressure for doctors. They are human after all, so they make mistakes. What if robotic systems were implemented to do the procedures instead of humans? According to the Robotic Industries Association, “They (Robots) augment the surgeons’ potential with superhuman precision and repeatability.” Being an organization that supports robotic advancements they have a well-reasoned support that adds credibility when it comes to speaking on robotic systems in the medical field even though it still is a paid organization that could have swayed evidence but can also have reliable research that can be misinterpreted. Robotic systems have an extreme level of measurability that could help hospitals save lives at an efficient rate. They offer measurability only automated machines could achieve. Incredible measurability that allows doctors to be very careful and allow doctors to get into areas more confidently and quickly to get the patients where they need to be without any additional time of recovery. According to the journal story Robotic Surgery: the promise and finally the progress from the US National Library of Medicine, it states, “a series of liver resections where 30% of the patients were outpatients or short-stay patients.” Coming from a reliable journal from a U.S. government library. Many service robots offer a great deal of time efficiency with precision that allows doctors to go at q quicker pace without increasing the risk of malpractice. The service robot daVinci, is an example of an automated robotic system that can alleviate many problems. According to The Medical Futurist Institute, which is an organization, that has the manufacturer perspective, who has a team who are determined to help progress medical advancements. They special in medical robotics and to some this can have helped them in adding towards the reliability of medical robots and what they have to offer, but they could also have a bias say in the discussion towards medical robotics. The MFI states, “The surgeons are in complete control of the system always, however as the machine has greater reach and flexibility.” More precision which, again, helps alleviate problems areas with a much lesser risk of error. Human touch in the systems also allows many doctors to keep their jobs by having them direct the systems keeping them relevant in the medical field.
Robotic assisted surgery has many benefits that affect patients directly by “Shortening recovering time”, and indirectly by having surgeons to have ‘better visualization”, according to UCLA Health. UCLA health is a reliable school with up to date evidence that has many well supported pieces of evidence in their findings. UCLA is a top-class school that has highly reliable data since every study they do has to be thoroughly researched and very reliable to make it to the school website. Schools, more specifically colleges, have some of the most reliable research because they have in depth research that must be constantly checked if correct. Schools will also have professors check their work having an experienced individual look over the research. The miniaturized instruments benefit the patients as much as it does to surgeons. These hospitals not only in the U.S. but as well as Europe for a wider range of treatments. Treatments that have “fewer complications, such as surgical site infections, less pain and blood loss, as well as smaller, less noticeable scars,” according to the Mayo Clinic, a reliable source to some since they have a experience in the medical filed, but also that can be used against them since they might be biased to some information. . To many the chance to get medical robotic systems could be the chance to save lives and leave many patients in better conditions.
To what point is it too much to pay for undependable services? Eighteen years ago, the U.S. approved the daVinci, which was a costly robotic system. According to the Washington Post, “Today, machines made by Intuitive surgical, which still offers the only robotic assisted surgical system in the United States can cost up to $2 million.” The Washington Post has a plethora of reliable and credible sources even though still a news outlet it was still a reliable source based on the information provided. These Insanely costly machines were proving to be a waste of money for many hospitals that have barely any malpractice. The same hospitals that were content in trying these automated machineries seen no effect in these machines that costed millions in the U.S. Many other countries were also struggling implementing large amounts of medical robotic systems in the hospitals. Although struggling many countries such as India, did have many services implemented by not everywhere because it would surely cost them a pretty token. In the Washington Post it states, “the group that had robotic surgeries had less pain at a day and a week after surgery, but both groups returned to work equally as fast.” 8 Besides helping patients for a day, the result of implementing such systems had minimal impact in which patients were ready to return to work. For many patients that went through the struggle of gathering money to pay for such procedure might want to reconsider if it really is worth less pain for a day.
Prior to my research I believed that medical robotics would be an effective way of reducing malpractice. Since precision is a major part of medical activities, I noticed the advantages that can come from incorporating such systems. It offers amazing precision only automated systems could offer, but while researching I had run into evidence, such as pricing, that had at times swayed my opinion about medical robotics to the other direction. Robotic systems prices would be too much for low income, third world countries. Areas such as Africa, South and Southeast Asia would struggle in taking in robotic systems due to their lack of income. Besides the affordability problem, many countries such as the U.S. and India are already incorporating, or already to have, robotic systems in service. These countries and their incorporation of medical robots has swayed me back for support of incorporating the systems. More research must be done however. Evidence that shows the effects of medical systems in the medical fields and if it does affect malpractice. Still there is no need to add more resources needed to explore the issue in more depth. The way the issue is being researched has been quite consistent.
Works Cited
- “Medical Malpractice Story: Alexandra Katada.” Centerjd.org, www.centerjd.org/content/medical-malpractice-story-alexandra-katada
- “Robotic surgery.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 Feb. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/robotic-surgery/about/pac-20394974
- “Robots and Healthcare Saving Lives Together.” Robotics Online, www.robotics.org/content-detail.cfm/Industrial-Robotics-Industry-Insights/Robots-and-Healthcare-Saving-Lives-Together/content_id/5819
- “Robotics in Healthcare ¬¬- Get Ready!” The Medical Futurist, 9 Aug. 2016, https://medicalfuturist.com/robotics-healthcare/
- Johnson, Carolyn Y. “Expensive robots may not be making surgeons – or patients – much better.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 July 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/28/expensive-robots-may-not-be-making-surgeons-or-patients-much-better/?utm_term=.e2c615ee99d8
- “About Robotic Surgery at UCLA.” UCLA Robotic Surgery, www.uclahealth.org/robotic-surgery/what-is-robotic-surgery#isrobotic
- Lang, S, “A European multicenter study evaluating the flex robotic system in transoral robotic surgery.” The Laryngoscope., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27783427
- “Medical Errors Are Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-03/medical-errors-are-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-the-us
Inherent Bias In The Medical System
Inherent bias within the medical system against people of color come from a long establishment of whole dominated systems and it discourages African Americans to obtain the right medical care they deserve. In the 1980s, women of color and white women had similar mortality rate from breast cancer. However, after 30 years a widening and frightening disparity occurred, “Although 70 percent of white women live at least five years after being with breast cancer, that survival rate drops to just 56 percent for African American women” (Ressler, 2013). This is the case because African American women do not get the medical intervention to detect these diseases early, thus, preventing them to get proper treatment before it is too late. In addition to the lack of screening for these diseases, there is also the fact that African American women are more prone for cervical cancer due to specific vaccines that are developed and tested in mostly white subjects (Ressler, 2013). Because clinical trials for the vaccines are tested on white subjects, scientists and doctors are more likely to alter the vaccine specifically for the body and systems of whites, therefore, would not work well for African American women. Due to these two reasons, it contribute to the increasing death rate of cancer in the African American women community.
Many may make an argument claiming that the increase of breast and cervical cancers increase in African American women are due to “genetic mutations that predispose them to breast and cervical cancers”. (Ressler, 2013). Although that might be true, according to researchers it does not fully explain the widening and intolerable gap between patients. Simply to say, “breast cancer is still diagnosed more frequently in white women” (Ressler, 2013). For the reason that white women have access to high medical care while African American women “aren’t getting regular check-ups because they feel like they’ve been excluded from the health system their whole lives” (Ressler, 2013). Going to the doctors regularly and getting annual check ups increase the chance of detecting diseases early which leads to treatment before it becoming fatal.
Another reason that may contribute to the implicit racial bias within the medical community is the number of African American medical students being accepted into medical school. Although we do see more minority groups of physicians more than ever, recent studies show that the number of black graduates in medical school had been decreasing within the last 20 years (Ansell, Mcdonald 2015). More specifically, “Howard, Meharry and Morehouse- continue to graduate a disproportionate number of black medical students. In 2012, there were just 517 black men along the more than 20,000 graduating students of U.S medical schools” (Ansell, Mcdonald 2015). By accepting more African American students into medical school, it would simply mean more African American physicians in the medical community that would help those who do not get the proper care and treatment from white physicians. This is the case because according to Ansell and Mcdonald, “Black medical students are more twice as likely as white students to express a desire to care for underserved communities of color”. Therefore, in order to improve the medical care of African Americans, we must consider to accept more black students into medical school who shows promise to help and aid those who do not get the proper medical care and treatment as of right now from their provider.
Lastly, medical racism occurs when physicians have a preference on who to treat base on ethnicity. It is known that white physicians prefer to treat white patients, therefore, may spend less time treating African American patients. (“Unconscious” Racial Bias Among Doctors). This is link to bad patient care because if patients were to have good connection with physicians, “they are more likely to follow through with care, makeup follow-up appointments and better control diseases such as diabetes and depression” (“Unconscious” Racial Bias Among Doctors). In order to receive the best care, patients must be able to trust their physicians and feel respected. However, patients who felt rush during a visit would most certainly not feel welcome and liked; resulting in inadequate treatment and not get the help they came in to get in the first place. This proves that racial bias within the medical community is preventing African Americans to get the proper care due to negative interactions with white physicians who have particular liking for white patients.
To conclude, I believe medical racism do exist in the medical community specifically to African American patients. This is proven by the increase rate of death in African American women due to cancer, low rates of black students getting accepted into medical school and white physicians prefer to treat white patients, thus, spending less time with African American patients. I believe the first step to fixing this problem is to acknowledge that there is a problem and be aware of the statistics of African American patients in the healthcare system. From there, we are able to make changes that can improve medical care for African Americans and provide the care they deserve.