Best Medical Inventions of the 1950s Medical advancements and inventions happen every day and back in the 50s a lot of very life saving, very important life saving medications. The medications do have a profound effect on the patients who have been recipients of them. Doctors from all over the world have came together to discover and improve upon these medical items. I believe that doctors are truly amazing people who go above and beyond to help society. I do not feel like doctors are respected as much as they used to be. I do not know if it is just a lack of respect for one another which kind of seems to be just the going trend right now. 1. Polio Vaccine (1952): Polio has been eradicated in The United States and most other countries as well. It is a crippling disease that left children and babies mangled and unable to live regular lives because of it. Once again medicine and technology came together to destroy a major problem. When this vaccine was introduced to the public it changed the world. I know a man who had polio as a boy. His back and spine are crooked. He was a high school teacher, and a very popular one as well. He is still alive and it is 2016. Unfortunately, for him, he has a lifelong history of smoking and he has had surgery to remove one of his lungs. With his crooked back from the polio and his 2. First Open Heart Surgery (1951): The first open heart surgery paved the way for all future operations that have to be done on the heart. These surgeries are done to unblock arteries that have been blocked by plaque. Sometimes veins are removed from the legs and used for the heart. Many lives have been saved do to this medical breakthrough. Now, there is a procedure that is done at one of the local hospitals that uses a robot to do the surgery. Sometimes heart surgery is known to change the personality of a person or even their temperament. 3. Pacemaker (1952): The pacemaker Is a device that keeps the heart in a regular rate and rhythm. I remember my grandfather going through getting a pacemaker and he would mention that kind of shock his heart. I hated to hear him say such a thing but, I didn't know what to do either. My grandmother used to have us over for a rather large Sunday dinner. My grandfather, would always mention the weeks that he had been bad when we were over there visiting. I always felt so bad for him. 4. First Organ Transplant (1950): The kidney was the first organ to be transplanted. This technology, has paved the way for other breakthroughs for more transplants. Kidney transplants are performed on those individuals who are in end stage kidney failure. I am not really sure why my grandfather didn't get a kidney transplant. I don't remember even hearing it being discussed. He was put on dialysis and then he just seemed to go downhill from there. If he was not feeling bad from dialysis, he was feeling bad from the pacemaker shocking his heart back into place. 5. DNA Discovered (1953): The discovery of DNA lead to the arrest of many criminals and also DNA testing was used to prove many people innocent. When the use of DNA testing was brought about it has been approved to be used as evidence in past cases because, so many people are falsely accused. The DNA is an encoding molecule that is genetic in structure, functions in organisms and viruses. This technology is truly amazing. Because of this technology, the use of DNA testing has worked in both ways: trying to make right the wrong (when someone is falsely convicted and does serve time but, also convicted criminals had been free since committing the crimes. DNA testing keeps getting better and better and by that I mean more sophisticated. The specimen samples have gotten smaller over the years.
6. First Heart-Lung Machine (1951): This machine takes over control of your heart and lungs during surgery. This machine helps regulate oxygen and the heart beat during various operations. The invention of this machine has helped to save lives and as technology has made improvements over time, advancements are being made to this machine as well. 7. Contraceptive Pill (1957): This birth control is used to prevent pregnancy. This method of birth control doesn't keep you from getting sexually transmitted diseases. These pills taken the same time everyday have a profound effect on pregnancy. They work when taken correctly and regularly 98 percent of the time. There's still a fight today about whether insurance companies should pay any money towards birth control pills. By taking this stand, insurance companies, try to get out of paying for birth control pills at every turn. 8. Tetracycline (1950): This antibiotic is used to treat acne, rosacea and originally Cholera, which was deadly. This medicine has been used also for Dental operations and has been marketed by tons of company's. This drug actually has very few side affects and it helped to eradicate Cholera. 9. Antihistamines First Used (1950): This drug is used to treat many ailments in the world. Some of the uses of this medication are: diarrhea, angio-edema, nausea, vomiting and dermatitis just to name a few. Before this discovery people had to deal with lots of nasal problems without much help. 10. Coronary Angiography (1958): This procedure allows a catheter to access coronary circulation of the heart. This heart test helps in many areas of the heart including: stenosis, restenosis, heart chamber size and heart muscle contraction. http://hubpages.com/education/Top-Medical-Inventions-of-The-1950s