As I wake up in the morning, a stinging pain goes through my head. I feel nauseated. I go to the doctor and he recommends a remedy. I decide to use that to treat my migraines. I fill my bathtub, plug an open wire in the switch and let the wire rest in the water while I get into the tub. This is the scenario that might have happened if I was living in the 20th century, but now I can just take a pill and feel better.
Medicine is a field that has the capacity of constant evolution and transformations. Although medicine has developed and improved immensely since the 20th century, there are still some areas of medicine (neurology, oncology, etc.) that are still only partially understood. This development in medicine can be primarily attributed to the immense development in technology sparked by the Industrial Revolution and pioneer scientists. It was due to the development of a sophisticated device like the microscope that led to the discovery of cells and the fact that every living thing is composed of cells. The development of technology and medicine went hand in hand.
Some of the many other factors that contributed to the development of medicine include improved sanitation, advanced communication, and improvement in the education system.
The primary developments in medicine during the 20th century were control of infectious diseases and the development of vaccines. The major diseases that were controlled include, but are not limited to, tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, viral infections, cholera, and malaria. Even after all these major advances, medicine hasn't been able to win against many diseases. The HIV virus hasn't been completely understood and eradicated due to the development of many drug-resistant strains of microorganisms, for example. Although there have been efforts to combat cancer, there is no efficient treatment. There have been efforts to map the brain and understand its physiology but there is a vast amount of information that is unknown.
Medicine is constantly evolving along with technology, so these challenges will hopefully be overcome.
