Page 283 - New Medley 5 Semester 2

Medicine

The main aim of doctors is not only finding the cause of a disease, but
also to cure it to make a person healthy. Many new medicines have been

invented and developed to cure diseases.

In olden days, surgical operations were very painful. Nowadays, surgeons

make the patient unconscious before starting any operation. They bring the
patient under general or local anaesthesia before an operation. Chloroform,

introduced by James Simpson, was probably the first medicine used for
making a person unconscious. Chloroform is to be inhaled. Now many

new methods have been developed to make the person
unconscious.

Bacteria can spread many diseases, such as tuberculosis,
cholera, typhoid, etc., in our body. Alexander Fleming was

the first person to develop Penicillin in 1928. This can
prevent the growth and spread of bacteria in our body.

This medicine is called antibiotic. Now many diseases
can be cured easily and totally. Alexander Fleming

Preventing Diseases

Many dreadful diseases have been causing deaths of
thousands of persons all over the world. The scientists

wanted to save these persons, who suffered from smallpox
or other such diseases. Smallpox was a dangerous disease in

the 18th century. Dr Edward Jenner of England discovered
and developed a vaccine for smallpox.

Dr Jenner was fond of asking questions about the personal
lifestyle of his patients. Once a dairymaid told him that Dr Edward Jenner

she would never catch smallpox, as she had suffered from cowpox, which
human beings catch from cattle. Dr Jenner thought that cowpox could

be a protection against smallpox.

On an experimental basis, Dr. Jenner injected the germs of cowpox in the

body of a boy in 1796. After about 8 weeks, the same boy was injected

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