We are blessed to live in an age when health care innovations have transformed human existence. The last century has brought us numerous innovations that have eliminated many deadly diseases, prolonged lifespans and increased the quality of our lives. Here is a look at the ten most life-improving health innovations of the past century.
1. Vaccinations
The use of vaccinations to eliminate deadly diseases like smallpox, measles and polio is the most important health innovation to date in human history.
2. Antibiotics
The use of antibiotics to fight infection has saved millions of lives over the last century.
3. Creation of Blood Banks
The ability of doctors to have stored blood on hand to give patients in an emergency has been an amazing asset that has saved countless lives.
4. Cancer Treatments
Cancer was once a mysterious disease that was a horrible thing to endure. It is still a scary diagnosis, but it is not the instant death sentence it once was thanks to innovations like chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
5. Organ Transplants
It still seems miraculous that people’s lives can be saved by getting a transplanted organ like a heart or liver. The development of immunosuppressive drugs that keep the organ from being rejected by the host’s body is an important part of this innovation.
6. Heart Surgery Advancements
The ability to operate on the heart has been around since the 1800s, but it was once almost assuredly fatal. Now, it is a routine procedure performed thousands of times daily all over the world.
7. Modern Hearing Aids
Before the 20th century, hearing aids were crude devices that were not particularly effective. Now, Los Angeles hearing devices are extremely effective, and they are much more cosmetically appealing than they used to be.
8. Widespread Use of X-Rays
X-rays were discovered in 1895, but it was not until the 1920s that technology was developed to make them available for widespread use by doctors.
9. Vitamins
Many people take vitamins for granted, but the nutritional diseases like scurvy that have been eradicated due to better nutrition and vitamins were notoriously evil scourges before their invention.
10. HIV Drugs
Young people of today are unaware of just how scary HIV and AIDS were back when they first hit the public consciousness in the 1980s. The development of the drugs to keep HIV from developing into AIDS has made this once deadly disease into a manageable illness that people can now live with indefinitely.