Scientific breakthroughs have created many useful medicines, which will certainly soon be freely available. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the ten most amazing medical breakthroughs of 2015, which are sure to make a serious contribution to the development of medical services in the very near future.
Discovery of teixobactin
In 2014, the World Health Organization warned everyone that humanity was entering a so-called post-antibiotic era. And she turned out to be right. Science and medicine have not produced truly new types of antibiotics since 1987. However, diseases do not stand still. Every year new infections appear that are more resistant to existing medications. This has become a real world problem. However, in 2015, scientists made a discovery that they believe will bring dramatic changes.
Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics from 25 antimicrobial drugs, including a very important one, called teixobactin. This antibiotic kills germs by blocking their ability to produce new cells. In other words, microbes under the influence of this drug cannot develop and develop resistance to the drug over time. Teixobactin has now proven highly effective in the fight against resistant Staphylococcus aureus and several bacteria that cause tuberculosis.
Laboratory tests of teixobactin were carried out on mice. The vast majority of experiments showed the effectiveness of the drug. Human trials are due to begin in 2017.
One of the most interesting and promising areas in medicine is tissue regeneration. In 2015, the list of recreated artificial method organs has been replenished with a new item. Doctors from the University of Wisconsin have learned to grow human vocal cords from virtually nothing.
A team of scientists led by Dr. Nathan Welhan has bioengineered tissue that can mimic the functioning of the mucous membrane of the vocal cords, namely the tissue that appears as two lobes of the cords that vibrate to create human speech. The donor cells from which new ligaments were subsequently grown were taken from five volunteer patients. In laboratory conditions, scientists grew the necessary tissue over two weeks, and then added it to an artificial model of the larynx.
The sound created by the resulting vocal cords is described by scientists as metallic and compared to the sound of a robotic kazoo (a toy wind musical instrument). However, scientists are confident that the vocal cords they created in real conditions (that is, when implanted into a living organism) will sound almost like real ones.
In one of the latest experiments on laboratory mice with inoculated human immunity, researchers decided to test whether the rodents' body would reject the new tissue. Fortunately, this did not happen. Dr. Welham is confident that the tissue will not be rejected by the human body.
Cancer drug could help patients with Parkinson's disease
Tisinga (or nilotinib) is a tested and approved medicine that is commonly used to treat people with symptoms of leukemia. However, a new study conducted medical center Georgetown University, shows that the drug Tasinga may be a very powerful treatment for controlling motor symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease, improving their motor function and controlling non-motor symptoms of the disease.
Fernando Pagan, one of the doctors who conducted the study, believes nilotinib therapy may be the first of its kind. effective method reducing the degradation of cognitive and motor functions in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.
Scientists gave increased doses of nilotinib to 12 volunteer patients over a six-month period. All 12 patients who completed this drug trial experienced improvement in motor function. 10 of them showed significant improvement.
The main objective of this study was to test the safety and harmlessness of nilotinib in humans. The dose of the drug used was much less than what is usually given to patients with leukemia. Despite the fact that the drug showed its effectiveness, the study was still conducted on a small group of people without the involvement of control groups. Therefore, before Tasinga is used as a therapy for Parkinson's disease, several more trials and scientific studies will have to be conducted.
World's first 3D printed ribcage
The man suffered from a rare type of sarcoma, and doctors had no other choice. To prevent the tumor from spreading further throughout the body, specialists removed almost the entire sternum from the person and replaced the bones with a titanium implant.
As a rule, implants for large parts of the skeleton are made from a variety of materials, which can wear out over time. In addition, replacing bones as complex as the sternum, which are typically unique to each individual case, required doctors to carefully scan a person's sternum to design the correct size implant.
It was decided to use titanium alloy as the material for the new sternum. After conducting high-precision 3D CT scans, the scientists used a $1.3 million Arcam printer to create a new titanium rib cage. The operation to install a new sternum in the patient was successful, and the person has already completed a full course of rehabilitation.
From skin cells to brain cells
Scientists from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, have spent the past year studying the human brain. They have developed a method for transforming skin cells into brain cells and have already found several useful applications for the new technology.
It should be noted that scientists have found a way to turn skin cells into old brain cells, which makes them easier to further use, for example, in research into Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and their relationship with the effects of aging. Historically, animal brain cells have been used for such research, but scientists have been limited in what they can do.
Relatively recently, scientists have been able to turn stem cells into brain cells that can be used for research. However this is quite labor-intensive process, and the resulting cells are not capable of imitating the functioning of the brain of an elderly person.
Once researchers developed a way to artificially create brain cells, they turned their efforts to creating neurons that would have the ability to produce serotonin. And although the resulting cells have only a tiny fraction of the capabilities of the human brain, they actively help scientists research and find cures for diseases and disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and depression.
Birth control pills for men
Japanese scientists from the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases in Osaka have published a new scientific paper, according to which in the near future we will be able to produce actually working contraceptive pills for men. In their work, scientists describe studies of the drugs Tacrolimus and Cixlosporin A.
These medications are typically used after organ transplant surgery to suppress the body's immune system so it does not reject new tissue. The blockade occurs by inhibiting the production of the enzyme calcineurin, which contains the PPP3R2 and PPP3CC proteins normally found in male semen.
In their study on laboratory mice, scientists found that as soon as rodents do not produce enough PPP3CC protein, their reproductive functions are sharply reduced. This led researchers to the conclusion that insufficient amounts of this protein could lead to sterility. After more careful study, experts concluded that this protein gives sperm cells the flexibility and the necessary strength and energy to penetrate the egg membrane.
Testing on healthy mice only confirmed their discovery. Just five days of using the drugs Tacrolimus and Ciclosporin A led to complete infertility in mice. However, their reproductive function was fully restored just a week after they stopped receiving these drugs. It is important to note that calcineurin is not a hormone, so the use of drugs in no way reduces libido or excitability of the body.
Despite the promising results, it will take several years to create real men's birth control pills. About 80 percent of mouse studies are not applicable to human cases. However, scientists still hope for success, since the effectiveness of the drugs has been proven. In addition, similar drugs have already passed human clinical trials and are widely used.
DNA stamp
3D printing technologies have led to the emergence of a unique new industry - the printing and sale of DNA. True, the term “printing” here is rather used specifically for commercial purposes, and does not necessarily describe what is actually happening in this area.
The executive director of Cambrian Genomics explains that the process is best described by the phrase “error checking” rather than “printing.” Millions of pieces of DNA are placed on tiny metal substrates and scanned by a computer, which selects those strands that will eventually make up the entire sequence of the DNA strand. After this, the necessary connections are carefully cut out with a laser and placed in a new chain, pre-ordered by the client.
Companies like Cambrian believe that in the future, people will be able to use special computer hardware and software to create new organisms just for fun. Of course, such assumptions will immediately cause the righteous anger of people who doubt the ethical correctness and practical benefits of these studies and opportunities, but sooner or later, no matter how much we want it or not, we will come to this.
Currently, DNA printing is showing some promising potential in the medical field. Drug manufacturers and research companies are among the early clients of companies like Cambrian.
Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden went even further and began to create various figures from DNA chains. DNA origami, as they call it, may at first glance seem like simple pampering, but this technology also has practical potential for use. For example, it can be used in the delivery of drugs into the body.
Nanobots in a living organism
The robotics field scored a big win in early 2015 when a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego announced that they had completed their task while inside a living organism.
The living organism in this case was laboratory mice. After placing the nanobots inside the animals, the micromachines went to the rodents’ stomachs and delivered the cargo placed on them, which were microscopic particles of gold. By the end of the procedure, the scientists did not note any damage to the internal organs of the mice and thereby confirmed the usefulness, safety and effectiveness of the nanobots.
Further tests showed that more gold particles delivered by nanobots remained in the stomachs than those that were simply introduced there with food. This has led scientists to believe that nanobots in the future will be able to deliver needed drugs into the body much more efficiently than with more traditional methods of administering them.
The motor chain of the tiny robots is made of zinc. When it comes into contact with the acid-base environment of the body, it occurs chemical reaction, as a result of which hydrogen bubbles are produced, which propel the nanobots inside. After some time, the nanobots simply dissolve in the acidic environment of the stomach.
Although the technology has been in development for almost a decade, it wasn't until 2015 that scientists were able to actually test it in a living environment rather than in regular petri dishes, as has been done many times before. In the future, nanobots could be used to identify and even treat various diseases of internal organs by exposing individual cells to the desired drugs.
Injectable brain nanoimplant
A team of Harvard scientists has developed an implant that promises to treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders that lead to paralysis. The implant is an electronic device consisting of a universal frame (mesh), to which various nanodevices can later be connected after it is inserted into the patient’s brain. Thanks to the implant, it will be possible to monitor the neural activity of the brain, stimulate the functioning of certain tissues, and also accelerate the regeneration of neurons.
The electronic mesh consists of conductive polymer filaments, transistors or nanoelectrodes that interconnect intersections. Almost the entire area of the mesh is made up of holes, allowing living cells to form new connections around it.
By early 2016, a team of Harvard scientists was still testing the safety of using such an implant. For example, two mice were implanted into the brain with a device consisting of 16 electrical components. The devices have been successfully used to monitor and stimulate specific neurons.
Artificial production of tetrahydrocannabinol
For many years, marijuana has been used in medicine as a pain reliever and, in particular, to improve the conditions of cancer and AIDS patients. A synthetic substitute for marijuana, or more precisely its main psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC), is also actively used in medicine.
However, biochemists from the Technical University of Dortmund have announced the creation of a new type of yeast that produces THC. Moreover, unpublished data shows that these same scientists have created another type of yeast that produces cannabidiol, another psychoactive component of marijuana.
Marijuana contains several molecular compounds that interest researchers. Therefore, the discovery of effective artificial way creating these components in large quantities could bring enormous benefits to medicine. However, the method of conventionally growing plants and then extracting the necessary molecular compounds is currently the most effective method. Inside 30 percent dry matter modern species marijuana may contain the desired component THC.
Despite this, Dortmund scientists are confident that they will be able to find a more efficient and faster way to extract THC in the future. By now, the created yeast is re-grown on molecules of the same fungus instead of the preferred alternative of simple saccharides. All this leads to the fact that with each new batch of yeast the amount of free THC component decreases.
In the future, scientists promise to optimize the process, maximize THC production and scale up to industrial scale, ultimately satisfying the needs of medical research and European regulators who are looking for new ways to produce THC without growing marijuana itself.
HISTORY OF MEDICINE:
MILESTONES AND GREAT DISCOVERIES
Based on materials from Discovery Channel
("Discovery Channel")
Medical discoveries have transformed the world. They changed the course of history, saving countless lives, pushing the boundaries of our knowledge to the boundaries where we stand today, ready for new great discoveries.
human anatomy
In ancient Greece, treatment of disease was based more on philosophy than on a true understanding of human anatomy. Surgery was rare, and dissection of corpses was not yet practiced. As a result, doctors had virtually no information about internal structure person. Only during the Renaissance did anatomy emerge as a science.
Belgian physician Andreas Vesalius shocked many when he decided to study anatomy by dissecting corpses. Material for research had to be obtained under the cover of darkness. Scientists like Vesalius had to resort to not entirely legal 
methods. When Vesalius became a professor in Padua, he became friends with the director of executions. Vesalius decided to pass on the experience gained from years of skillful dissections by writing a book on human anatomy. This is how the book “On the Structure of the Human Body” appeared. Published in 1538, the book is considered one of the greatest works in the field of medicine, as well as one of greatest discoveries, since it provides for the first time a correct description of the structure of the human body. This was the first serious challenge to the authority of ancient Greek doctors. The book sold out in huge numbers. They bought it educated people, even far from medicine. The entire text is very meticulously illustrated. Thus, information about human anatomy has become much more accessible. Thanks to Vesalius, the study of human anatomy through dissection became an integral part of the training of doctors. And this brings us to the next great discovery.
Circulation
The human heart is a muscle the size of a fist. It beats more than a hundred thousand times a day, over seventy years - that’s more than two billion heartbeats. The heart pumps 23 liters of blood per minute. Blood 
flows through the body, passing through a complex system of arteries and veins. If all the blood vessels in the human body are stretched out in one line, you get 96 thousand kilometers, which is more than two times the circumference of the Earth. Until the beginning of the 17th century, the process of blood circulation was misunderstood. The prevailing theory was that blood flowed to the heart through pores in the soft tissues of the body. Among the adherents of this theory was the English doctor William Harvey. The workings of the heart fascinated him, but the more he observed heartbeats in animals, the more he realized that the generally accepted theory of blood circulation was simply wrong. He writes unequivocally: “...I wondered if the blood could move as if in a circle?” And the very first phrase in the next paragraph: “Subsequently I found out that this is so...”. While performing autopsies, Harvey discovered that the heart had unidirectional valves, allowing blood to flow in only one direction. Some valves let blood in, others let blood out. And it was a great discovery. Harvey realized that the heart pumps blood into the arteries, then it passes through the veins and, completing the circle, returns to the heart to then begin the cycle all over again. Today this seems like a truism, but for the 17th century, William Harvey's discovery was revolutionary. It was a crushing blow to established ideas in medicine. At the end of his treatise, Harvey writes: “When I think of the countless consequences this will have for medicine, I see a field of almost limitless possibilities.”
Harvey's discovery greatly advanced anatomy and surgery, and simply saved the lives of many. Used in operating rooms all over the world surgical clamps, blocking the flow of blood and keeping the patient's circulatory system intact. And each of them is a reminder of the great discovery of William Harvey.
Blood groups
Another great discovery related to blood was made in Vienna in 1900. All of Europe was filled with enthusiasm for blood transfusions. First there were statements that the therapeutic effect was amazing, and then, after a few months, 
reports of deaths. Why was the transfusion sometimes successful and sometimes not? Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner was determined to find the answer. He mixed blood samples from different donors and studied the results.
In some cases, the blood mixed successfully, but in others it coagulated and became viscous. Upon closer inspection, Landsteiner discovered that blood clots when special proteins in the recipient's blood, called antibodies, react with other proteins in the donor's red blood cells, called antigens. For Landsteiner this was a turning point. He realized that not all human blood is the same. It turned out that blood can be clearly divided into 4 groups, to which he gave designations: A, B, AB and zero. It turned out that blood transfusion is successful only if the person is transfused with blood of the same group. Landsteiner's discovery immediately affected medical practice. A few years later, blood transfusions were performed all over the world, saving many lives. Thanks to the accurate determination of blood type, organ transplantation became possible by the 50s. Today, in the United States alone, a blood transfusion is performed every 3 seconds. Without it, about 4.5 million Americans would die each year.
Anesthesia
Although the first great discoveries in the field of anatomy allowed doctors to save many lives, they could not alleviate the pain. Without anesthesia, operations were a living nightmare. Patients were held or strapped to the table, and surgeons tried to work as quickly as possible. In 1811, one woman wrote: “When the terrible steel plunged into me, cutting veins, arteries, flesh, nerves, I no longer needed to be asked not to interfere. I let out a scream and screamed until it was over. 
The torment was so unbearable.” Surgery was the last resort; many preferred to die rather than go under the surgeon's knife. For centuries, improvised means were used to relieve pain during operations; some of them, such as opium or mandrake extract, were drugs. By the 40s of the 19th century, several people were simultaneously searching for a more effective anesthetic: two Boston dentists, William Morton and Horost Wells, 
known to each other, and a doctor named Crawford Long from Georgia.
They experimented with two substances that were thought to relieve pain - nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, and also a liquid mixture of alcohol and sulfuric acid. The question of who exactly discovered anesthesia remains controversial; all three claimed it. One of the first public demonstrations of anesthesia took place on October 16, 1846. W. Morton experimented with ether for months, trying to find a dosage that would allow the patient to undergo surgery without pain. He presented the device of his invention to the general public, consisting of Boston surgeons and medical students.
A patient who was about to have a tumor removed from his neck was given ether. Morton waited as the surgeon made the first incision. Amazingly, the patient did not scream. After the operation, the patient reported that he did not feel anything during this time. The news of the discovery spread throughout the world. You can operate without pain, now you have anesthesia. But despite the discovery, many refused to use anesthesia. According to some beliefs, pain should be endured rather than alleviated, especially the pangs of childbirth. But here Queen Victoria had her say. In 1853 she gave birth to Prince Leopold. At her request, she was given chloroform. It turned out that it eases the pain of childbirth. After this, the women began to say: “I will also take chloroform, because if the queen does not disdain it, then I am not ashamed.”
X-rays
It is impossible to imagine life without the next great discovery. Imagine that we do not know where to operate on a patient, or which bone is broken, where the bullet is stuck, or what the pathology may be. The ability to see inside a person without cutting them open was a turning point in the history of medicine. At the end of the 19th century, people used electricity without really understanding what it was. In 1895, German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen experimented with a cathode ray tube, a glass cylinder with highly rarefied air inside. 
X-ray was interested in the glow created by the rays emanating from the tube. For one experiment, Roentgen surrounded the tube with black cardboard and darkened the room. Then he turned on the phone. And then one thing struck him - the photographic plate in his laboratory was glowing. X-ray realized that something very unusual was happening. And that the ray emanating from the tube is not a cathode ray at all; he also found that it did not respond to magnets. And it could not be deflected by a magnet, like cathode rays. This was a completely unknown phenomenon, and Roentgen called it “X-rays.” Quite by accident, Roentgen discovered radiation unknown to science, which we call X-ray. He behaved very mysteriously for several weeks, and then he called his wife into the office and said: “Bertha, let me show you what I’m doing here, because no one will believe it.” He put her hand under the beam and took a photo. 
The wife is said to have said: “I saw my death.” After all, in those days it was impossible to see the skeleton of a person unless he died. The very thought of filming internal structure a living person, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. It was as if a secret door had opened, and a whole universe opened behind it. X-ray discovered a new, powerful technology that revolutionized the field of diagnostics. The discovery of X-ray radiation is the only discovery in the history of science that was made unintentionally, completely by accident. As soon as it was made, the world immediately adopted it without any debate. In a week or two, our world has changed. The discovery of X-rays underlies many of the most modern and powerful technologies, from computed tomography to the X-ray telescope, which captures X-rays from the depths of space. And all this is due to a discovery made by accident.
Theory of microbial origin of diseases
Some discoveries, for example, X-rays, are made by chance, while others are worked on long and hard by various scientists. This was the case in 1846. Vein. The epitome of beauty and culture, but the specter of death hovers in the Vienna City Hospital. Many of the women giving birth here died. The cause is childbed fever, infection of the uterus. When Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis began working at the hospital, he was alarmed by the scale of the disaster and puzzled by a strange incongruity: there were two departments. 
In one, doctors delivered babies, and in the other, midwives delivered mothers. Semmelweis discovered that in the department where doctors delivered babies, 7% of women in labor died from so-called puerperal fever. And in the department where midwives worked, only 2% died from childbirth fever. This surprised him, because doctors have much better training. Semmelweis decided to find out what the reason was. He noticed that one of the main differences in the work of doctors and midwives was that doctors performed autopsies on deceased mothers. They then went to deliver babies or examine mothers without even washing their hands. Semmelweis wondered whether doctors were carrying some invisible particles on their hands, which were then transmitted to their patients and caused death. To find out this, he conducted an experiment. He decided to make sure that all medical students were required to wash their hands in a bleach solution. And the death rate immediately dropped to 1%, lower than that of midwives. Thanks to this experiment, Semmelweis realized that infectious diseases, in this case, puerperal fever, have only one cause and if it is excluded, the disease will not arise. But in 1846, no one saw the connection between bacteria and infection. Semmelweis's ideas were not taken seriously. 
Another 10 years passed before another scientist paid attention to microorganisms. His name was Louis Pasteur. Three of Pasteur's five children died of typhoid fever, which partly explains why he was so persistent in searching for the cause of infectious diseases. Pasteur was put on the right track by his work for the wine and brewing industries. Pasteur tried to find out why only a small part of the wine produced in his country spoiled. He discovered that sour wine contains special microorganisms, microbes, and it is they that cause the wine to sour. But by simple heating, as Pasteur showed, microbes can be killed and the wine will be saved. Thus pasteurization was born. Therefore, when it was necessary to find the cause of infectious diseases, Pasteur knew where to look for it. It is microbes, he said, that cause certain diseases, and he proved this by conducting a series of experiments from which a great discovery was born - the theory of microbial development of organisms. Its essence is that certain microorganisms cause a certain disease in anyone.
Vaccination
The next great discovery was made in the 18th century, when about 40 million people worldwide died from smallpox. Doctors could not find either the cause of the disease or a cure for it. But in one English village, talk that some local residents were not susceptible to smallpox attracted the attention of a local doctor named Edward Jenner.
It was rumored that dairy farm workers did not get smallpox because they had already had cowpox, a related but milder disease that affected livestock. Patients with cowpox developed a fever and developed sores on their hands. Jenner studied this phenomenon and wondered if perhaps the pus from these ulcers somehow protected the body from smallpox? On May 14, 1796, during an outbreak of smallpox, he decided to test his theory. Jenner took the liquid from a sore on the arm of a milkmaid who had cowpox. Then, he visited another family; there he injected a healthy eight-year-old boy with the cowpox virus. In the following days, the boy had a slight fever and several smallpox blisters appeared. Then he got better. Six weeks later, Jenner returned. This time he inoculated the boy with smallpox and waited to see how the experiment would turn out - victory or failure. A few days later, Jenner received an answer - the boy was completely healthy and immune to smallpox.
The invention of smallpox vaccination revolutionized medicine. This was the first attempt to intervene in the course of the disease, preventing it in advance. For the first time, man-made products were actively used to prevent 
the disease before it appears.
50 years after Jenner's discovery, Louis Pasteur developed the idea of vaccination, developing a vaccine against rabies in humans and anthrax in sheep. And in the 20th century, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, independently of each other, created a vaccine against polio.
Vitamins
The next discovery took place through the efforts of scientists who had been struggling independently with the same problem for many years.
Throughout history, scurvy was a serious disease that caused skin lesions and bleeding in sailors. Finally, in 1747, the Scotsman ship surgeon James Lind found a cure for it. He discovered that scurvy could be prevented by including citrus fruits in the diet of sailors.
Another common illness among sailors was beriberi, a disease that affected the nerves, heart, and digestive tract. At the end of the 19th century, the Dutch physician Christian Eijkman determined that the disease was caused by eating white polished rice instead of brown unpolished rice. 
Although both of these discoveries pointed to the connection of diseases with nutrition and its deficiencies, only the English biochemist Frederick Hopkins could find out what this connection was. He suggested that the body needs substances that are found only in certain foods. To prove his hypothesis, Hopkins conducted a series of experiments. He gave the mice artificial nutrition consisting exclusively of pure proteins, fats, 
carbohydrates and salts. The mice became weak and stopped growing. But after a little milk, the mice got better again. Hopkins discovered what he called the “essential nutritional factor,” which was later called vitamins.
It turned out that beriberi is associated with a lack of thiamine, vitamin B1, which is not found in polished rice, but is abundant in natural rice. Citrus fruits prevent scurvy because they contain ascorbic acid and vitamin C.
Hopkins' discovery was a defining step in understanding the importance of proper nutrition. Many body functions depend on vitamins, from fighting infections to regulating metabolism. It is difficult to imagine life without them, as well as without the next great discovery.
Penicillin
After the First World War, which claimed over 10 million lives, the search for safe methods of repelling bacterial aggression intensified. After all, many died not on the battlefields, but from infected wounds. Scottish physician Alexander Fleming also participated in the research. While studying staphylococcus bacteria, Fleming noticed that something unusual was growing in the center of the laboratory dish - mold. He saw that the bacteria around the mold had died. This led him to assume that it secretes a substance that is harmful to bacteria. He called this substance penicillin. Fleming spent the next few years trying to isolate penicillin and use it to treat infections, but was unsuccessful and eventually gave up. However, the results of his labors turned out to be invaluable.
In 1935, Oxford University employees Howard Florey and Ernst Chain came across a report on Fleming's curious but unfinished experiments and decided to try their luck. These scientists managed to isolate penicillin in its pure form. And in 1940 they tested it. Eight mice were injected lethal dose streptococcal bacteria. Then, four of them were injected with penicillin. After a few hours, the results were clear. 
All four mice that did not receive penicillin died, but three of the four that received it survived.
So, thanks to Fleming, Flory and Cheyne, the world received the first antibiotic. This medicine was a real miracle. It treated so many ailments that caused a lot of pain and suffering: acute pharyngitis, rheumatism, scarlet fever, syphilis and gonorrhea... Today we have completely forgotten that you can die from these diseases.
Sulfide preparations
The next great discovery came during the Second World War. It cured dysentery among American soldiers fighting in the Pacific. And then led to a revolution in 
chemotherapy treatment of bacterial infections.
All this happened thanks to a pathologist named Gerhard Domagk. In 1932, he studied the possibilities of using certain new chemical dyes in medicine. Working with a newly synthesized dye called prontosil, Domagk injected it into several laboratory mice infected with streptococcus bacteria. As Domagk expected, the dye enveloped the bacteria, but the bacteria survived. It seemed that the dye was not toxic enough. Then something amazing happened: although the dye did not kill the bacteria, it stopped their growth, the infection stopped spreading and the mice recovered. It is unknown when Domagk first tested Prontosil in humans. However, the new drug gained fame after it saved the life of a boy seriously ill with staphylococcus. The patient was Franklin Roosevelt Jr., son of the President of the United States. Domagk's discovery instantly became a sensation. Because Prontosil contained a sulfamide molecular structure, it was called a sulfamide drug. He became the first in this group of synthetic chemical substances, capable of treating and preventing bacterial infections. Domagk discovered something new revolutionary direction in the treatment of diseases, the use of chemotherapy drugs. It will save tens of thousands of human lives.
Insulin
The next great discovery helped save the lives of millions of diabetics around the world. Diabetes is a disease that interferes with the body's ability to process sugar, which can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and even death. For centuries, doctors have studied diabetes, searching for a cure without success. Finally, at the end of the 19th century, a breakthrough occurred. It has been found that diabetic patients have common feature- a group of cells in the pancreas is invariably affected - these cells secrete a hormone that controls blood sugar. The hormone was called insulin. And in 1920 there was a new breakthrough. Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting and student Charles Best studied pancreatic insulin secretion in dogs. Acting on intuition, Banting injected an extract from a healthy dog's insulin-producing cells into a diabetic dog. The results were stunning. After a few hours, the blood sugar level of the sick animal dropped significantly. Now the attention of Banting and his assistants focused on finding an animal whose insulin would be similar to human. They found a close match in insulin taken from cow fetuses, purified it for experimental safety, and conducted the first clinical trial in January 1922. Banting administered insulin to a 14-year-old boy who was dying of diabetes. And he quickly began to recover. How important is Banting's discovery? Just ask the 15 million Americans who rely on the insulin they depend on every day for their lives.
Genetic nature of cancer
Cancer is the second most lethal disease in America. Intensive research into its origins and development has led to remarkable scientific achievements, but perhaps the most important of them was the following discovery. Nobel laureates cancer researchers Michael Bishop and Harold Varmus joined forces in cancer research in the 1970s. At that time, several theories about the cause of this disease dominated. A malignant cell is very complex. She is capable not only of sharing, but also of invading. This is a cell with highly developed capabilities. One theory involved the Rous sarcoma virus causing cancer in chickens. When a virus attacks a chicken cell, it injects its genetic material into the host's DNA. According to the hypothesis, the DNA of the virus subsequently becomes the agent that causes the disease. According to another theory, when a virus introduces its genetic material into the host cell, the genes that cause cancer are not activated, but wait until they are triggered by external influences, for example, harmful chemicals, radiation or ordinary viral infection. These cancer-causing genes, called oncogenes, became the focus of Varmus and Bishop's research. 
The main question is: does the human genome contain genes that are or have the potential to become oncogenes, like those contained in a virus that causes tumors? Is there such a gene in chickens, other birds, mammals, or humans? Bishop and Varmus took a radioactively labeled molecule and used it as a probe to see if the Rous Sarcoma Virus oncogene was similar to any normal gene on chicken chromosomes. The answer is yes. It was a real revelation. Varmus and Bishop found that the cancer-causing gene is already contained in the DNA of healthy chicken cells and, more importantly, they found it in human DNA, proving that the germ of cancer can appear in any of us at the cellular level and wait to be activated.
How can our own gene, which we have lived with all our lives, cause cancer? Errors occur during cell division, and they happen more often if the cell is oppressed by cosmic radiation or tobacco smoke. It is also important to remember that when a cell divides, it needs to copy 3 billion complementary pairs of DNA. Anyone who has ever tried to type knows how difficult it is. We have mechanisms to notice and correct mistakes, and yet, at high volumes, our fingers miss the mark.
What is the importance of the discovery? Previously, they tried to understand cancer based on the differences between the virus gene and the cell gene, but now we know that a very small change in certain genes of our cells can turn a healthy cell that grows, divides normally, etc., into a malignant one. And this became the first clear illustration of the true state of affairs.
The search for this gene is a defining moment in modern diagnosis and prediction of the further behavior of a cancer tumor. The discovery provided clear targets for specific therapies that simply did not exist before.
The population of Chicago is about 3 million people.
HIV
The same number die each year from AIDS, one of the worst epidemics in the world. new history. The first signs of this disease appeared in the early 80s of the last century. In America, the number of patients dying from rare types of infections and cancer began to increase. Blood tests on the victims revealed extremely low levels of leukocytes, white blood cells vital to the human immune system. In 1982, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention gave the disease the name AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Two researchers took up the matter, Luc Montagnier from the Pasteur Institute in Paris and Robert Gallo from National Institute oncology in Washington. 
They both managed to make a major discovery that identified the causative agent of AIDS - HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. How is the human immunodeficiency virus different from other viruses, such as influenza? Firstly, this virus does not reveal the presence of the disease for years, on average 7 years. The second problem is very unique: for example, AIDS has finally appeared, people understand that they are sick and go to the clinic, and they have a myriad of other infections, which exactly caused the disease. How to determine this? In most cases, the virus exists for a single purpose: to penetrate the acceptor cell and multiply. Typically, it attaches itself to a cell and releases its genetic information into it. This allows the virus to subjugate the functions of the cell, redirecting them to the production of new individuals of viruses. These individuals then attack other cells. But HIV is not an ordinary virus. It belongs to a category of viruses that scientists call retroviruses. What's unusual about them? Like the classes of viruses that include polio and influenza, retroviruses are special categories. They are unique in that their genetic information in the form of ribonucleic acid is converted into deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and this is what happens to DNA that is our problem: DNA is integrated into our genes, viral DNA becomes part of us, and then cells, designed to protect us, begin to reproduce the DNA of the virus. There are cells containing a virus, sometimes they reproduce it, sometimes they don’t. They are silent. They hide...But only in order to reproduce the virus again. Those. Once an infection becomes apparent, it is likely to be ingrained for life. This is the main problem. A cure for AIDS has not yet been found. But the discovery 
that HIV is a retrovirus and that it is the causative agent of AIDS has led to significant advances in the fight against this disease. What has changed in medicine since the discovery of retroviruses, especially HIV? For example, we learned from AIDS that drug therapy is possible. Previously, it was believed that since the virus usurps our cells to reproduce, it is almost impossible to influence it without severely poisoning the patient himself. Nobody invested in antivirus programs. AIDS opened the door to antiviral research in pharmaceutical companies and universities around the world. In addition, AIDS has had a positive social effect. Ironically, this terrible disease brings people together.
And so, day after day, century after century, with tiny steps or grandiose breakthroughs, great and small discoveries in medicine were made. They give hope that humanity will defeat cancer and AIDS, autoimmune and genetic diseases, and achieve excellence in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, alleviating the suffering of sick people and preventing the progression of diseases.
SPbGPMA
in the history of medicine
History of the development of medical physics
Completed by: Myznikov A.D.,
1st year student
Teacher: Jarman O.A.
Saint Petersburg
Introduction
The Birth of Medical Physics
2. Middle Ages and Modern Times
2.1 Leonardo da Vinci
2.2 Iatrophysics
3 Creation of a microscope
3. History of the use of electricity in medicine
3.1 A little background
3.2 What we owe to Gilbert
3.3 Prize awarded to Marat
3.4 Galvani and Volta dispute
4. Experiments by V.V. Petrov. The beginning of electrodynamics
4.1 The use of electricity in medicine and biology in the 19th - 20th centuries
4.2 History of radiodiagnosis and therapy
A Brief History of Ultrasound Therapy
Conclusion
Bibliography
medical physics ultrasound beam
Introduction
Know yourself and you will know the whole world. The first is dealt with by medicine, and the second by physics. Since ancient times, the connection between medicine and physics has been close. It is not for nothing that congresses of naturalists and doctors were held jointly in different countries until the beginning of the 20th century. The history of the development of classical physics shows that it was largely created by doctors, and many physical studies were prompted by questions posed by medicine. In turn, the achievements of modern medicine, especially in the field of high technologies of diagnosis and treatment, were based on the results of various physical studies.
It was not by chance that I chose this particular topic, because it is close to me, a student of the specialty “Medical Biophysics”, like no one else. I have long wanted to know how much physics helped the development of medicine.
The purpose of my work is to show how important a role physics has played and continues to play in the development of medicine. It is impossible to imagine modern medicine without physics. The tasks are to:
Trace the stages of formation of the scientific base of modern medical physics
Show the importance of the activities of physicists in the development of medicine
1. The origins of medical physics
The development paths of medicine and physics have always been closely intertwined. Already in ancient times, medicine, along with drugs, used such physical factors as mechanical influences, heat, cold, sound, light. Let's consider the main ways of using these factors in ancient medicine.
Having tamed fire, man learned (of course, not immediately) to use fire for medicinal purposes. This worked especially well among the eastern peoples. Even in ancient times, cauterization treatment was given great importance. Ancient medical books say that moxibustion is effective even when acupuncture and medications are powerless. When exactly this method of treatment arose has not been precisely established. But it is known that it existed in China since ancient times, and was used back in the Stone Age to treat people and animals. Tibetan monks used fire for healing. They made a burn on sangmings - biological active points responsible for one or another part of the body. The damaged area underwent an intensive healing process, and it was believed that with this healing came healing.
Sound was used by almost all ancient civilizations. Music was used in temples to treat nervous disorders; it was in direct connection with astronomy and mathematics among the Chinese. Pythagoras established music as an exact science. His followers used it to get rid of rage and anger and considered it the main means for raising a harmonious personality. Aristotle also argued that music can influence the aesthetic side of the soul. King David, with his playing of the harp, cured King Saul from depression, and also saved him from unclean spirits. Aesculapius treated radiculitis with loud trumpet sounds. Tibetan monks are also known (discussed above) who used sounds to treat almost all human diseases. They were called mantras - forms of energy in sound, the pure essential energy of sound itself. Mantras were divided into different groups: for the treatment of fevers, intestinal disorders, etc. The method of using mantras is used by Tibetan monks to this day.
Phototherapy, or light therapy (photos - “light”; Greek), has always existed. In Ancient Egypt, for example, a special temple was created dedicated to the “all-healing healer” - light. And in ancient Rome, houses were built in such a way that nothing would prevent light-loving citizens from daily indulging in “drinking the rays of the sun” - that’s what they called the custom of taking sunbathing in special extensions with flat roofs (solariums). Hippocrates used the sun to cure skin diseases, nervous system, rickets and arthritis. More than 2,000 years ago, he called this use of sunlight heliotherapy.
Also in ancient times, theoretical branches of medical physics began to develop. One of them is biomechanics. Research in the field of biomechanics has as ancient a history as research in biology and mechanics. Research that, according to modern concepts, belongs to the field of biomechanics, was known back in ancient Egypt. The famous Egyptian papyrus (The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, 1800 BC) describes various cases of motor injuries, including paralysis due to vertebral dislocation, their classification, treatment methods and prognosis.
Socrates, who lived ca. 470-399 BC, taught that we cannot comprehend the world around us until we comprehend our own nature. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew a lot about the main blood vessels and valves of the heart, and were able to listen to the work of the heart (for example, the Greek physician Aretaeus in the 2nd century BC). Herophilus from Chalcedok (3rd century BC) distinguished among the vessels arteries and veins.
The father of modern medicine, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, reformed ancient medicine, separating it from treatment methods using spells, prayers and sacrifices to the gods. In the treatises “Realignment of Joints”, “Fractures”, “Wounds of the Head”, he classified the injuries of the musculoskeletal system known at that time and proposed methods of their treatment, in particular mechanical, with the help of tight bandages, traction, and fixation. Apparently, already at that time the first improved prosthetic limbs appeared, which also served to perform certain functions. In any case, Pliny the Elder has a mention of one Roman commander who participated in the second Punic War (218-210 centuries BC). After the wound he received, his right arm was amputated and replaced with an iron one. At the same time, he could hold a shield with a prosthesis and participated in battles.
Plato created the doctrine of ideas - the unchanging intelligible prototypes of all things. Analyzing the shape of the human body, he taught that "the gods, imitating the outlines of the Universe... included both divine rotations in a spherical body... which we now call the head." He understands the structure of the musculoskeletal system as follows: “so that the head does not roll on the ground, everywhere covered with mounds and pits ... the body became oblong and, according to the plan of God, who made it mobile, it sprang from itself four limbs that can be stretched and bent; clinging to them and relying on them, it acquired the ability to advance everywhere...” Plato's method of reasoning about the structure of the world and man is built on logical research, which "must proceed in such a way as to achieve the greatest degree of probability."
The great ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose works covered almost all areas of science of that time, compiled the first detailed description of the structure and functions of individual organs and body parts of animals and laid the foundations of modern embryology. At the age of seventeen, Aristotle, the son of a doctor from Stagira, came to Athens to study at Plato's Academy (428-348 BC). Having stayed at the Academy for twenty years and becoming one of Plato’s closest students, Aristotle left it only after the death of his teacher. Subsequently, he took up anatomy and the study of the structure of animals, collecting a variety of facts and conducting experiments and dissections. He made many unique observations and discoveries in this area. Thus, Aristotle first established the heartbeat of a chicken embryo on the third day of development and described the masticatory apparatus sea urchins(“Aristotle’s Lantern”) and much more. In search of the driving force of blood flow, Aristotle proposed a mechanism for the movement of blood associated with its heating in the heart and cooling in the lungs: “the movement of the heart is similar to the movement of a liquid that is forced to boil by heat.” In his works “On the Parts of Animals”, “On the Movement of Animals” (“De Motu Animalium”), “On the Origin of Animals”, Aristotle was the first to consider the structure of the bodies of more than 500 species of living organisms, the organization of the work of organ systems, and introduced a comparative method of research. When classifying animals, he divided them into two large groups - those with blood and those without blood. This division is similar to the current division into vertebrate and invertebrate animals. According to the method of movement, Aristotle also distinguished groups of two-legged, four-legged, multi-legged and legless animals. He was the first to describe walking as a process in which the rotational movement of the limbs is transformed into forward movement of the body, and he was the first to note the asymmetrical nature of the movement (support on the left leg, carrying weights on the left shoulder, characteristic of right-handed people). Observing the movements of a person, Aristotle noticed that the shadow cast by a figure on a wall describes not a straight line, but a zigzag line. He identified and described organs that are different in structure but identical in function, for example, scales in fish, feathers in birds, hair in animals. Aristotle studied the conditions of equilibrium of the body of birds (bipedal support). Reflecting on the movement of animals, he identified motor mechanisms: “...what moves with the help of an organ is something whose beginning coincides with the end, as in a joint. After all, in a joint there is a convex and a hollow, one of them is the end, the other is the beginning...one is at rest , other things move... Everything moves through push or pull." Aristotle was the first to describe the pulmonary artery and introduced the term “aorta”, noted the correlations of the structure of individual parts of the body, pointed out the interaction of organs in the body, laid the foundations for the doctrine of biological expediency and formulated the “principle of economy”: “what nature takes away in one place, it gives in friend." He was the first to describe the differences in the structure of the circulatory, respiratory, musculoskeletal systems of different animals and their masticatory apparatus. Unlike his teacher, Aristotle did not consider the “world of ideas” as something external to the material world, but introduced Plato’s “ideas” as an integral part of nature, its basic principle that organizes matter. Subsequently, this principle is transformed into the concepts of “vital energy”, “animal spirits”.
The great ancient Greek scientist Archimedes laid the foundations of modern hydrostatics with his studies of the hydrostatic principles governing a floating body and his studies of the buoyancy of bodies. He was the first to apply mathematical methods to the study of problems in mechanics, formulating and proving a number of statements about the equilibrium of bodies and the center of gravity in the form of theorems. The principle of the lever, widely used by Archimedes to create building structures and military machines, would become one of the first mechanical principles applied to the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system. The works of Archimedes contain ideas about the addition of movements (rectilinear and circular when a body moves in a spiral), about a continuous uniform increase in speed when accelerating a body, which Galileo would later name as the basis of his fundamental works on dynamics.
In the classic work “On the Parts of the Human Body,” the famous ancient Roman physician Galen gave the first comprehensive description of human anatomy and physiology in the history of medicine. This book served as a textbook and reference book on medicine for almost one and a half thousand years. Galen laid the foundation for physiology by making the first observations and experiments on living animals and studying their skeletons. He introduced vivisection into medicine - operations and research on a living animal to study the functions of the body and develop methods for treating diseases. He discovered that in a living organism the brain controls speech and sound production, that the arteries are filled with blood, not air, and, as best he could, he explored the paths of blood movement in the body, described the structural differences between arteries and veins, and discovered heart valves. Galen did not conduct autopsies and, perhaps, this is why his works included incorrect ideas, for example, about the formation of venous blood in the liver, and arterial blood in the left ventricle of the heart. He also did not know about the existence of two circles of blood circulation and the importance of the atria. In his work "De motu musculorum" he described the difference between motor and sensory neurons, agonist and antagonist muscles, and for the first time described muscle tone. He believed that the cause of muscle contraction was “animal spirits” coming from the brain to the muscle along the nerve fibers. While studying the body, Galen came to the conviction that nothing in nature is superfluous and formulated the philosophical principle that by studying nature one can come to an understanding of God’s plan. During the Middle Ages, even under the omnipotence of the Inquisition, a lot was done, especially in anatomy, which subsequently served as the basis for the further development of biomechanics.
The results of research carried out in the Arab world and the countries of the East occupy their special place in the history of science: evidence of this is provided by many literary works and medical treatises. The Arab physician and philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna) laid the foundations of rational medicine and formulated rational grounds for making a diagnosis based on examination of the patient (in particular, analysis of pulse oscillations of the arteries). The revolutionary nature of his approach will become clear if we remember that at that time Western medicine, dating back to Hippocrates and Galen, took into account the influence of stars and planets on the type and course of the disease and the choice of therapeutic agents.
I would like to say that most of the works of ancient scientists used the method of determining the pulse. The pulse diagnostic method originated many centuries BC. Among the literary sources that have reached us, the most ancient are works of ancient Chinese and Tibetan origin. The ancient Chinese include, for example, “Bin-hu Mo-xue”, “Xiang-lei-shi”, “Zhu-bin-shi”, “Nan-ching”, as well as sections in the treatises “Jia-i-ching”, "Huang-di Nei-ching Su-wen Lin-shu" and others.
The history of pulse diagnostics is inextricably linked with the name of the ancient Chinese healer - Bian Qiao (Qin Yue-Ren). The beginning of the pulse diagnostic technique is associated with one of the legends, according to which Bian Qiao was invited to treat the daughter of a noble mandarin (official). The situation was complicated by the fact that even doctors were strictly prohibited from seeing and touching persons of noble rank. Bian Qiao asked for thin string. Then he suggested tying the other end of the cord to the wrist of the princess, who was behind the screen, but the court doctors disdained the invited doctor and decided to play a joke on him by tying the end of the cord not to the princess’s wrist, but to the paw of a dog running nearby. A few seconds later, to the surprise of those present, Bian Qiao calmly stated that these were not the impulses of a person, but of an animal, and this animal was suffering from worms. The doctor’s skill aroused admiration, and the cord was confidently transferred to the princess’s wrist, after which the disease was determined and treatment was prescribed. As a result, the princess quickly recovered, and his technique became widely known.
Hua Tuo - successfully used pulse diagnostics in surgical practice, combining it with clinical examination. In those days, it was prohibited by law to perform operations; the operation was performed as a last resort, if there was no confidence in a cure using conservative methods; surgeons simply did not know diagnostic laparotomies. The diagnosis was made by external examination. Hua Tuo passed on his art of mastering pulse diagnosis to diligent students. There was a rule that perfect Only a man can learn mastery of pulse diagnostics by learning only from a man for thirty years. Hua Tuo was the first to use a special technique for examining students on the ability to use pulses for diagnosis: the patient was seated behind a screen, and his hands were inserted into the slits in it so that the student could see and study only the hands. Daily, persistent practice quickly produced successful results. 2. Middle Ages and Modern Times 1 Leonardo da Vinci In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the development of the main branches of physics took place in Europe. A famous physicist of that time, but not only a physicist, was Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo studied human movements, the flight of birds, the functioning of heart valves, and the movement of plant sap. He described the mechanics of the body when standing and rising from a sitting position, walking uphill and downhill, jumping techniques, for the first time described the variety of gaits of people with different body types, performed comparative analysis gaits of humans, monkeys and a number of animals capable of bipedal walking (bears). In all cases, special attention was paid to the position of the centers of gravity and resistance. In mechanics, Leonardo da Vinci was the first to introduce the concept of resistance that liquids and gases provide to bodies moving in them and was the first to understand the importance of a new concept - the moment of force relative to a point - for the analysis of the movement of bodies. Analyzing the forces developed by muscles and having excellent knowledge of anatomy, Leonardo introduced lines of action of forces along the direction of the corresponding muscle and thereby anticipated the idea of the vector nature of forces. When describing the action of muscles and the interaction of muscle systems during movement, Leonardo considered cords stretched between muscle attachment points. He used letter designations to designate individual muscles and nerves. In his works one can find the foundations of the future doctrine of reflexes. Observing muscle contractions, he noted that contractions can occur involuntarily, automatically, without conscious control. Leonardo tried to translate all his observations and ideas into technical applications; he left numerous drawings of devices designed for various types of movements, from water skis and gliders to prosthetics and prototypes of modern wheelchairs for the disabled (in total, more than 7 thousand sheets of manuscripts). Leonardo da Vinci conducted research on the sound generated by the movement of insect wings and described the possibility of changing the pitch of sound when cutting a wing or smearing it with honey. Conducting anatomical studies, he drew attention to the branching features of the trachea, arteries and veins in the lungs, and also indicated that erection is a consequence of blood flow to the genitals. He carried out pioneering studies of phyllotaxis, describing the patterns of leaf arrangement of a number of plants, making imprints of vascular-fibrous bundles of leaves and studying the features of their structure. 2 Iatrophysics In medicine of the 16th-18th centuries there was a special direction called iatromechanics or iatrophysics (from the Greek iatros - doctor). The works of the famous Swiss physician and chemist Theophrastus Paracelsus and the Dutch naturalist Jan Van Helmont, known for his experiments on the spontaneous generation of mice from wheat flour, dust and dirty shirts, contained a statement about the integrity of the body, described in the form of a mystical principle. Representatives of the rational worldview could not accept this and, in search of rational foundations for biological processes, based their study on mechanics, the most developed field of knowledge at that time. Iatromechanics claimed to explain all physiological and pathological phenomena based on the laws of mechanics and physics. The famous German physician, physiologist and chemist Friedrich Hoffmann formulated a unique credo of iatrophysics, according to which life is movement, and mechanics is the cause and law of all phenomena. Hoffmann viewed life as a mechanical process during which the movements of the nerves along which the “animal spirit” (spiritum animalium) located in the brain moves control muscle contractions, blood circulation and the work of the heart. As a result of this, the organism - a kind of machine - is set in motion. Mechanics was considered as the basis of the life of organisms. Such claims, as is now clear, were largely unfounded, but iatromechanics opposed scholastic and mystical ideas and introduced into use many important hitherto unknown factual information and new instruments for physiological measurements. For example, according to the views of one of the representatives of iatromechanics, Giorgio Ballivi, the hand was likened to a lever, the chest was like a blacksmith’s bellows, the glands were like sieves, and the heart was like a hydraulic pump. These analogies still make sense today. In the 16th century, the works of the French army doctor A. Pare (Ambroise Pare) laid the foundations of modern surgery and proposed artificial orthopedic devices - prosthetic legs, arms, hands, the development of which was based more on a scientific foundation than on a simple imitation of a lost form. In 1555, the hydraulic mechanism of sea anemone movement was described in the works of the French naturalist Pierre Belon. One of the founders of iatrochemistry, Van Helmont, while studying the processes of food fermentation in animal organisms, became interested in gaseous products and introduced the term “gas” into science (from the Dutch gisten - to ferment). A. Vesalius, W. Harvey, J. A. Borelli, R. Descartes were involved in the development of the ideas of iatromechanics. Iatromechanics, which reduces all processes in living systems to mechanical ones, as well as iatrochemistry, dating back to Paracelsus, whose representatives believed that life comes down to chemical transformations of the chemical substances that make up the body, led to a one-sided and often incorrect idea of the processes of life and methods of treating diseases. Nevertheless, these approaches, especially their synthesis, made it possible to formulate a rational approach in medicine of the 16th-17th centuries. Even the doctrine of the possibility of spontaneous generation of life played a positive role, calling into question religious hypotheses about the creation of life. Paracelsus created an “anatomy of the essence of man,” with which he tried to show that in “the human body three ubiquitous ingredients were mystically combined: salts, sulfur and mercury.” Within the framework of the philosophical concepts of that time, a new iatromechanical understanding of the essence of pathological processes was formed. Thus, the German doctor G. Chatl created the doctrine of animism (from the Latin anima - soul), according to which disease was considered as movements performed by the soul to remove foreign harmful substances from the body. The representative of iatrophysics, the Italian physician Santorio (1561-1636), professor of medicine in Padua, believed that any disease is a consequence of a violation of the patterns of movement of individual smallest particles of the body. Santorio was one of the first to use the experimental research method and mathematical data processing, and created a number of interesting instruments. In a special chamber he constructed, Santorio studied metabolism and for the first time established the variability of body weight associated with life processes. Together with Galileo, he invented the mercury thermometer for measuring body temperature (1626). His work “Static Medicine” (1614) simultaneously presents the principles of iatrophysics and iatrochemistry. Further research led to revolutionary changes in ideas about the structure and functioning of the cardiovascular system. The Italian anatomist Fabrizio d'Acquapendente discovered venous valves. The Italian researcher P. Azelli and the Danish anatomist T. Bartolin discovered lymphatic vessels. The English doctor William Harvey was responsible for the discovery of the closed circulatory system. While studying in Padua (1598-1601), Harvey listened to lectures by Fabrizio d'Acquapendente and apparently attended Galileo's lectures. In any case, Harvey was in Padua, while the fame of Galileo's brilliant lectures thundered there, which were attended by many researchers who came specifically from afar. Harvey's discovery of the closed circulation was the result of the systematic application of a quantitative method of measurement developed earlier by Galileo, and not a simple observation or guess. Harvey gave a demonstration during which he showed that blood moves from the left ventricle of the heart in only one direction By measuring the volume of blood ejected by the heart per beat (stroke volume), he multiplied the resulting number by the heart rate and showed that in an hour it pumped a volume of blood much greater than the volume of the body. Thus, it was concluded that a significantly smaller volume of blood must continuously circulate in a closed circle, entering the heart and being pumped through the vascular system. The results of the work were published in the work “Anatomical Study of the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals” (1628). The results of the work were more than revolutionary. The fact is that since the time of Galen it was believed that blood is produced in the intestines, from where it goes to the liver, then to the heart, from where it is distributed through the system of arteries and veins to the rest of the organs. Harvey described the heart, divided into separate chambers, as a muscular sac that acts as a pump, forcing blood into the vessels. The blood moves in a circle in one direction and ends up back in the heart. The reverse flow of blood in the veins is prevented by venous valves, discovered by Fabrizio d'Acquapendente. Harvey's revolutionary teaching on blood circulation contradicted the statements of Galen, and therefore his books were sharply criticized and even patients often refused his medical services. Since 1623, Harvey served as the court physician of Charles I and the highest patronage saved him from the attacks of his opponents and provided the opportunity for further scientific work. Harvey carried out extensive research on embryology, described the individual stages of embryo development ("Research on the Birth of Animals", 1651). The 17th century can be called the era of hydraulics and hydraulic thinking. Advances in technology contributed to the emergence of new analogies and a better understanding of the processes occurring in living organisms. This is probably why Harvey described the heart as a hydraulic pump pumping blood through the “pipeline” of the vascular system. To fully recognize the results of Harvey’s work, it was only necessary to find the missing link that closes the circle between the arteries and veins, which will soon be done in the works of Malpighi. The mechanism of work. lungs and the reasons for pumping air through them remained unclear to Harvey - unprecedented successes in chemistry and the discovery of the composition of air were still ahead. The 17th century is an important milestone in the history of biomechanics, since it was marked not only by the appearance of the first printed works on biomechanics, but also by the emergence of a new view on life and the nature of biological mobility. The French mathematician, physicist, philosopher and physiologist Rene Descartes was the first to try to build a mechanical model of a living organism, taking into account control through the nervous system. His interpretation of the physiological theory based on the laws of mechanics was contained in his posthumously published work (1662-1664). In this formulation, the cardinal idea of regulation through feedback was first expressed for the sciences of living things. Descartes viewed man as a bodily mechanism set in motion by “living spirits,” which “constantly ascend in large numbers from the heart to the brain, and from there through the nerves to the muscles and set all the members in motion.” Without exaggerating the role of “spirits,” in the treatise “Description of the Human Body. On the Education of the Animal” (1648) he writes that knowledge of mechanics and anatomy allows one to see in the body “a significant number of organs, or springs” for organizing the movement of the body. Descartes likens the work of the body to a clock mechanism, with individual springs, cogs, and gears. In addition, Descartes studied the coordination of movements of various parts of the body. Conducting extensive experiments to study the work of the heart and the movement of blood in the cavities of the heart and large vessels, Descartes disagrees with Harvey's concept of heart contractions as driving force blood circulation He defends the hypothesis, dating back to Aristotle, that the blood in the heart is heated and liquefied by the inherent heat of the heart, pushing the expanding blood into the large vessels, where it cools, and “the heart and arteries immediately collapse and contract.” Descartes sees the role of the respiratory system in the fact that breathing “brings enough fresh air into the lungs so that the blood entering there from the right side of the heart, where it was liquefied and, as it were, turned into steam, again turns from steam into blood.” He also studied eye movements, used the division of biological tissues according to mechanical properties into liquid and solid. In the field of mechanics, Descartes formulated the law of conservation of momentum and introduced the concept of impulse of force. 3 Creation of a microscope The invention of the microscope, a device so important for all science, was primarily due to the influence of the development of optics. Some optical properties of curved surfaces were known to Euclid (300 BC) and Ptolemy (127-151), but their magnifying ability did not find practical application. In this regard, the first glasses were invented by Salvinio degli Arleati in Italy only in 1285. In the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci and Maurolico showed that small objects are best studied with a magnifying glass. The first microscope was created only in 1595 by Zacharius Jansen (Z. Jansen). The invention involved Zacharius Jansen mounting two convex lenses inside a single tube, thereby laying the foundation for the creation of complex microscopes. Focusing on the object under study was achieved through a retractable tube. The microscope magnification ranged from 3 to 10 times. And it was a real breakthrough in the field of microscopy! He significantly improved each of his next microscopes. During this period (XVI century), Danish, English and Italian research instruments gradually began their development, laying the foundation of modern microscopy. The rapid spread and improvement of microscopes began after Galileo (G. Galilei), improving the telescope he designed, began to use it as a kind of microscope (1609-1610), changing the distance between the lens and the eyepiece. Later, in 1624, having achieved the production of shorter focal length lenses, Galileo significantly reduced the dimensions of his microscope. In 1625, a member of the Roman “Academy of the Vigilant” (“Akudemia dei lincei”) I. Faber proposed the term “microscope”. The first successes associated with the use of the microscope in scientific biological research were achieved by R. Hooke, who was the first to describe a plant cell (around 1665). In his book Micrographia, Hooke described the structure of a microscope. In 1681, the Royal Society of London discussed this peculiar situation in detail at its meeting. The Dutchman A. van Leenwenhoek described amazing miracles that he discovered with his microscope in a drop of water, in an infusion of pepper, in the mud of a river, in the hollow of his own tooth. Leeuwenhoek, using a microscope, discovered and sketched spermatozoa of various protozoa and details of the structure of bone tissue (1673-1677). “With the greatest amazement, I saw in the drop a great many little animals, animatedly moving in all directions, like a pike in water. The smallest of these tiny animals is a thousand times smaller than the eye of an adult louse.” 3. History of the use of electricity in medicine 3.1 A little background Since ancient times, man has tried to understand phenomena in nature. Many ingenious hypotheses explaining what is happening around people appeared at different times and in different countries. The thoughts of Greek and Roman scientists and philosophers who lived before our era: Archimedes, Euclid, Lucretius, Aristotle, Democritus and others - still help the development of scientific research. After the first observations of electrical and magnetic phenomena by Thales of Miletus, interest in them periodically arose, determined by the tasks of healing. Rice. 1. Experience with an electric stingray It should be noted that the electrical properties of some fish, known in ancient times, are still an unsolved mystery of nature. For example, in 1960, at an exhibition organized by the English Royal Scientific Society in honor of the 300th anniversary of its founding, among the mysteries of nature that man has to uncover, an ordinary glass aquarium with a fish in it, an electric stingray, was shown (Fig. 1). A voltmeter was connected to the aquarium through metal electrodes. When the fish was at rest, the voltmeter needle was at zero. When the fish moved, the voltmeter showed a voltage that reached 400 V during active movements. The inscription read: “Man still cannot unravel the nature of this electrical phenomenon, which was observed long before the organization of the English Royal Society.” 2 What do we owe to Gilbert? Therapeutic effect electrical phenomena on a person, according to observations that existed in ancient times, can be considered as a kind of stimulating and psychogenic agent. This tool was either used or forgotten about. For a long time There have been no serious studies of the electrical and magnetic phenomena themselves, and especially their action as a therapeutic agent. The first detailed experimental study of electrical and magnetic phenomena belongs to the English physicist, later court physician William Gilbert (Gilbert) (1544-1603 vols.). Gilbert was deservedly considered an innovative doctor. Its success was largely determined by the conscientious study and then the use of ancient medical means, including electricity and magnetism. Gilbert understood that without a thorough study of electrical and magnetic radiation it would be difficult to use “fluids” in treatment. Disregarding fantastic, unverified speculation and unproven statements, Gilbert conducted comprehensive experimental studies of electrical and magnetic phenomena. The results of this first-ever study of electricity and magnetism are monumental. First of all, Gilbert was the first to express the idea that the magnetic needle of a compass moves under the influence of the magnetism of the Earth, and not under the influence of one of the stars, as was believed before him. He was the first to carry out artificial magnetization and establish the fact of the inseparability of magnetic poles. Studying electrical phenomena simultaneously with magnetic ones, Gilbert, on the basis of numerous observations, showed that electrical radiation occurs not only during the friction of amber, but also during the friction of other materials. Paying tribute to amber - the first material on which electrification was observed, he calls them electric, based on the Greek name for amber - electron. Consequently, the word “electricity” was introduced at the suggestion of a doctor on the basis of his historical research, which laid the foundation for the development of both electrical engineering and electrotherapy. At the same time, Gilbert successfully formulated the fundamental difference between electrical and magnetic phenomena: “Magnetism, like gravity, is a certain initial force emanating from bodies, while electrification is caused by the squeezing out of the body’s pores of special outflows as a result of friction.” Essentially, before the work of Ampere and Faraday, that is, for more than two hundred years after the death of Gilbert (the results of his research were published in the book “On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies and the Great Magnet - the Earth,” 1600), electrification and magnetism were considered in isolation. P. S. Kudryavtsev in “History of Physics” quotes the words of the great representative of the Renaissance Galileo: “I give praise, I am amazed, I envy Hilbert (Gilbert). He developed amazing ideas about a subject that was treated by so many brilliant people, but which none of them they were not studied carefully... I have no doubt that over time this branch of science (we are talking about electricity and magnetism - V.M.) will make progress both as a result of new observations and, especially, as a result of a strict measure of evidence.” Gilbert died on November 30, 1603, bequeathing all the instruments and works he created to the London Medical Society, of which he was an active chairman until his death. 3 Prize awarded to Marat The eve of the French bourgeois revolution. Let us summarize the research in the field of electrical engineering of this period. The presence of positive and negative electricity was established, the first electrostatic machines were built and improved, Leyden jars (a kind of charge storage devices - capacitors) and electroscopes were created, qualitative hypotheses of electrical phenomena were formulated, and bold attempts were made to explore the electrical nature of lightning. The electrical nature of lightning and its effect on humans further strengthened the opinion that electricity could not only amaze, but also heal people. Let's give some examples. On April 8, 1730, the Englishmen Gray and Wheeler conducted a now classic experiment with human electrification. In the courtyard of the house where Gray lived, two dry wooden posts were dug into the ground, on which a wooden beam was fastened. Two hair ropes were thrown across the wooden beam. Their lower ends were tied. The ropes easily supported the weight of the boy who agreed to take part in the experiment. Sitting as if on a swing, the boy with one hand held a rod or metal rod electrified by friction, to which an electric charge was transferred from the electrified body. With his other hand, the boy threw coins one after another into a metal plate located on a dry wooden board below him (Fig. 2). The coins acquired a charge through the boy's body; falling, they charged a metal plate, which began to attract pieces of dry straw located nearby. The experiments were carried out many times and aroused considerable interest not only among scientists. The English poet Georg Bose wrote: Mad Gray, what did you really know about the properties of that hitherto unknown force? Are you allowed, madman, to take risks And connect a person with electricity? Rice. 2. Experience with human electrification The French Dufay, Nollet and our compatriot Georg Richmann almost simultaneously, independently of each other, designed a device for measuring the degree of electrification, which significantly expanded the use of electric discharge for treatment, and the possibility of dosing it became possible. The Paris Academy of Sciences devoted several meetings to discussing the effects of Leyden jar discharge on humans. Louis XV also became interested in this. At the request of the king, the physicist Nollet, together with the doctor Louis Lemonnier, conducted an experiment in one of the large halls of the Palace of Versailles, demonstrating the pricking effect of static electricity. There were benefits from the “court amusements”: they interested many people, and many began to study the phenomena of electrification. In 1787, the English physician and physicist Adams first created a special electrostatic machine for medicinal purposes. He used it widely in his medical practice (Fig. 3) and received positive results, which can be explained by the stimulating effect of the current, the psychotherapeutic effect, and the specific effect of the discharge on a person. The era of electrostatics and magnetostatics, to which everything mentioned above relates, ends with the development of the mathematical foundations of these sciences, carried out by Poisson, Ostrogradsky, and Gauss. Rice. 3. Electrotherapy session (from an ancient engraving) The use of electrical discharges in medicine and biology has received full recognition. Muscle contraction caused by touching electric stingrays, eels, and catfish indicated the effect of an electric shock. The experiments of the Englishman John Warlish proved the electrical nature of the impact of the stingray, and the anatomist Gunther gave an accurate description of the electric organ of this fish. In 1752, the German doctor Sulzer published a report about a new phenomenon he discovered. Touching two dissimilar metals with your tongue at the same time causes a peculiar sour taste sensation. Sulzer did not imagine that this observation represented the beginning of the most important scientific fields - electrochemistry and electrophysiology. Interest in the use of electricity in medicine was growing. The Rouen Academy announced a competition for the best work on the topic: “Determine the degree and conditions under which one can count on electricity in the treatment of diseases.” The first prize was awarded to Marat, a doctor by profession, whose name went down in history french revolution. The appearance of Marat's work was timely, since the use of electricity for treatment was not without mysticism and quackery. A certain Mesmer, using fashionable scientific theories about sparking electric machines, began to claim that in 1771 he had found a universal medical remedy - “animal” magnetism acting on the patient at a distance. They opened special doctors' offices, where there were electrostatic machines of sufficiently high voltage. The patient had to touch live parts of the machine, while he felt an electric shock. Apparently, the cases of the positive effect of staying in Mesmer’s “medical” offices can be explained not only by the irritating effect of the electric shock, but also by the action of ozone appearing in the rooms where electrostatic machines worked, and the phenomena mentioned earlier. A change in the content of bacteria in the air under the influence of air ionization could also have a positive effect on some patients. But Mesmer had no idea about this. After failures accompanied by a difficult outcome, which Marat promptly warned about in his work, Mesmer disappeared from France. A government commission created with the participation of the great French physicist Lavoisier to investigate the “medical” activities of Mesmer was unable to explain the positive effect of electricity on humans. Electrical treatment has temporarily ceased in France. 4 Galvani and Volta dispute And now we will talk about research conducted almost two hundred years after the publication of Gilbert’s work. They are associated with the names of the Italian professor of anatomy and medicine Luigi Galvani and the Italian professor of physics Alessandro Volta. In the anatomy laboratory of the University of Boulogne, Luigi Galvani conducted an experiment, the description of which shocked scientists all over the world. Frogs were dissected on a laboratory table. The objective of the experiment was to demonstrate and observe the naked nerves of their limbs. On this table there was an electrostatic machine, with the help of which a spark was created and studied. Let us quote the statements of Luigi Galvani himself from his work “On Electrical Forces during Muscular Movements”: “... One of my assistants accidentally very lightly touched the internal femoral nerves of the frog with a point. The frog’s leg jerked sharply.” And further: “... This is possible when a spark is extracted from the machine’s capacitor.” This phenomenon can be explained as follows. The atoms and molecules of air in the zone where the spark occurs are affected by a changing electric field, as a result, they acquire an electric charge, ceasing to be neutral. The resulting ions and electrically charged molecules spread over a certain, relatively short distance from the electrostatic machine, since when moving, colliding with air molecules, they lose their charge. At the same time, they can accumulate on metal objects that are well insulated from the surface of the earth, and are discharged if a conductive electrical circuit to the ground occurs. The floor in the laboratory was dry, wooden. He well insulated the room where Galvani worked from the ground. The object on which the charges accumulated was a metal scalpel. Even a slight touch of the scalpel to the nerve of the frog led to a “discharge” of static electricity accumulated on the scalpel, causing the leg to be withdrawn without any mechanical destruction. The phenomenon of secondary discharge itself, caused by electrostatic induction, was already known at that time. The brilliant talent of an experimenter and the conduct of a large number of diverse studies allowed Galvani to discover another phenomenon important for the further development of electrical engineering. Experiments are underway to study atmospheric electricity. Let's quote Galvani himself: "... Tired... of futile waiting... began... to press the copper hooks stuck into the spinal cord against the iron grating - the frog's legs shrank." The results of the experiment, conducted not outdoors, but indoors in the absence of any working electrostatic machines, confirmed that a contraction of the frog muscle, similar to the contraction caused by the spark of an electrostatic machine, occurs when the frog's body is touched simultaneously by two different metal objects - a wire and a plate of copper, silver or iron. No one had observed such a phenomenon before Galvani. Based on the results of observations, he makes a bold, unambiguous conclusion. There is another source of electricity, it is “animal” electricity (the term is equivalent to the term “electrical activity of living tissue”). Living muscle, Galvani argued, is a capacitor like a Leyden jar, positive electricity accumulates inside it. The frog's nerve serves as an internal "conductor". Connecting two metal conductors to a muscle causes an electric current to occur, which, like a spark from an electrostatic machine, causes the muscle to contract. Galvani experimented in order to obtain an unambiguous result only on frog muscles. Perhaps this is what allowed him to propose using a “physiological preparation” of a frog’s leg as a meter for the amount of electricity. A measure of the amount of electricity, for the assessment of which a similar physiological indicator served, was the activity of raising and falling of the paw when it comes into contact with a metal plate, which is simultaneously touched by a hook passing through the spinal cord of the frog, and the frequency of raising the paw per unit time. For some time, such a physiological indicator was used even by prominent physicists, and in particular by Georg Ohm. Galvani's electrophysiological experiment allowed Alessandro Volta to create the first electrochemical source of electrical energy, which, in turn, opened a new era in the development of electrical engineering. Alessandro Volta was one of the first to appreciate Galvani's discovery. He repeats Galvani's experiments with great care and receives a lot of data confirming his results. But already in his first articles “On Animal Electricity” and in a letter to Dr. Boronio dated April 3, 1792, Volta, unlike Galvani, who interprets the observed phenomena from the standpoint of “animal” electricity, highlights chemical and physical phenomena. Volta establishes the importance of using dissimilar metals (zinc, copper, lead, silver, iron) for these experiments, between which a cloth soaked in acid is placed. Here is what Volta writes: “In Galvani’s experiments, the source of electricity is a frog. However, what is a frog or any animal in general? First of all, these are nerves and muscles, and they contain various chemical compounds. If the nerves and muscles of a dissected frog are combined with two dissimilar metals, then when such a circuit is closed, an electrical effect is manifested. In my last experiment, two dissimilar metals also participated - these are staniol (lead) and silver, and the role of the liquid was played by the saliva of the tongue. By closing the circuit with a connecting plate, I created conditions for the continuous movement of the electrical liquid from one place to another. But I could have omitted these same metal objects just in water or in a liquid like saliva? What does “animal” electricity have to do with it?” Experiments conducted by Volta allow us to formulate the conclusion that the source of electrical action is a chain of dissimilar metals when they come into contact with a damp cloth or a cloth soaked in an acid solution. In one of the letters to his friend, the doctor Vasaghi (again an example of the doctor’s interest in electricity), Volta wrote: “I have long been convinced that all the action comes from metals, from the contact of which the electric fluid enters a moist or watery body. On this basis, I believe himself has the right to attribute all new electrical phenomena to metals and replace the name “animal electricity” with the expression “metallic electricity”. According to Volta, a frog's legs are a sensitive electroscope. A historical dispute arose between Galvani and Volta, as well as between their followers - a dispute about “animal” or “metallic” electricity. Galvani did not give up. He completely excluded metal from the experiment and even dissected frogs with glass knives. It turned out that even with such an experiment, the contact of the frog's femoral nerve with its muscle led to a clearly noticeable, although much smaller, contraction than with the participation of metals. This was the first recording of bioelectric phenomena on which modern electrodiagnostics of the cardiovascular and a number of other human systems is based. Volta is trying to unravel the nature of the unusual phenomena discovered. He clearly formulates the following problem for himself: “What is the cause of the emergence of electricity?” I asked myself in the same way as each of you would do it. Reflections led me to one solution: from the contact of two dissimilar metals, for example, silver and zinc, the balance of electricity present in both metals is disturbed. At the point of contact of the metals, positive electricity is directed from silver to zinc and accumulates on the latter, while negative electricity is concentrated on silver. This means that electrical matter moves in a certain direction. When I applied plates of silver and zinc on top of each other without intermediate spacers, that is, the zinc plates were in contact with the silver ones, then their overall effect was reduced to zero.To enhance the electrical effect or sum it up, each zinc plate should be brought into contact with only one silver and add the greatest number of pairs in sequence. This is achieved precisely by placing a wet piece of cloth on each zinc plate, thereby separating it from the silver plate of the next pair." Much of what Volta said does not lose its significance even now, in the light of modern scientific ideas. Unfortunately, this dispute was tragically interrupted. Napoleon's army occupied Italy. For refusing to swear allegiance to the new government, Galvani lost his chair, was fired and soon died. The second participant in the dispute, Volta, lived to see the full recognition of the discoveries of both scientists. In a historical dispute, both were right. Biologist Galvani went down in the history of science as the founder of bioelectricity, physicist Volta - as the founder of electrochemical current sources. 4. Experiments by V.V. Petrov. The beginning of electrodynamics The works of the professor of physics of the Medical-Surgical Academy (now the Military medical Academy named after S. M. Kirov in Leningrad), academician V. V. Petrov, the first stage of the science of “animal” and “metallic” electricity is ending. The activities of V.V. Petrov had a huge impact on the development of science on the use of electricity in medicine and biology in our country. At the Medical-Surgical Academy he created a physical office equipped with excellent equipment. While working there, Petrov built the world's first electrochemical source of high voltage electrical energy. Assessing the voltage of this source by the number of elements included in it, we can assume that the voltage reached 1800-2000 V with a power of about 27-30 W. This universal source allowed V.V. Petrov to conduct dozens of studies within a short period of time, which discovered various ways of using electricity in various fields. The name of V.V. Petrov is usually associated with the emergence of a new source of lighting, namely electric, based on the use of an effectively operating electric arc that he discovered. In 1803, in the book “News of Galvani-Voltian Experiments,” V. V. Petrov outlined the results of his research. This is the first book about electricity published in our country. It was republished here in 1936. In this book, not only electrical engineering research is important, but also the results of studying the relationship and interaction of electric current with a living organism. Petrov showed that the human body is capable of electrification and that a galvanic-voltaic battery, consisting of a large number of elements, is dangerous for humans; in essence, he predicted the possibility of using electricity for physical therapy treatment. The influence of V.V. Petrov’s research on the development of electrical engineering and medicine is great. His work “News of the Galvani-Volta Experiments,” translated into Latin, adorns, along with the Russian edition, the national libraries of many European countries. The electrophysical laboratory created by V.V. Petrov allowed the academy's scientists to widely develop research in the field of using electricity for treatment in the mid-19th century. The Military Medical Academy has taken a leading position in this direction not only among the institutes of our country, but also among European institutes. It is enough to name the names of professors V. P. Egorov, V. V. Lebedinsky, A. V. Lebedinsky, N. P. Khlopin, S. A. Lebedev. What did the 19th century bring to the study of electricity? First of all, the monopoly of medicine and biology on electricity ended. This was started by Galvani, Volta, Petrov. The first half and middle of the 19th century were marked by major discoveries in electrical engineering. These discoveries are associated with the names of the Dane Hans Oersted, the French Dominique Arago and Andre Ampere, the German Georg Ohm, the Englishman Michael Faraday, our compatriots Boris Jacobi, Emil Lenz and Pavel Schilling and many other scientists. Let us briefly describe the most important of these discoveries that are directly related to our topic. Oersted was the first to establish a complete relationship between electrical and magnetic phenomena. Experimenting with galvanic electricity (as electrical phenomena arising from electrochemical current sources were called at that time, in contrast to the phenomena caused by an electrostatic machine), Oersted discovered deviations of the needle of a magnetic compass located near an electric current source (galvanic battery) at the moment of circuit and opening the electrical circuit. He found that this deviation depends on the location of the magnetic compass. Oersted's great merit is that he himself appreciated the importance of the phenomenon he discovered. The ideas about the independence of magnetic and electrical phenomena, which had been seemingly unshakable for more than two hundred years, based on the work of Gilbert, collapsed. Oersted received reliable experimental material, on the basis of which he wrote and then published the book “Experiments relating to the effect of an electric conflict on a magnetic needle.” He briefly formulates his achievement as follows: “Galvanic electricity, flowing from north to south above a freely suspended magnetic needle, deflects its northern end to the east, and, passing in the same direction under the needle, deflects it to the west.” The meaning of Oersted's experiment, which is the first reliable evidence of the relationship between magnetism and electricity, was clearly and deeply revealed by the French physicist Andre Ampere. Ampere was a very versatile scientist, excellent in mathematics, fond of chemistry, botany and ancient literature. He was an excellent popularizer of scientific discoveries. Ampere's merits in the field of physics can be formulated as follows: he created a new section in the doctrine of electricity - electrodynamics, covering all manifestations of moving electricity. Ampere's source of moving electric charges was a galvanic battery. By closing the circuit, he received the movement of electric charges. Ampere showed that stationary electric charges (static electricity) do not act on a magnetic needle - they do not deflect it. In modern language, Ampere was able to identify the significance of transient processes (switching on an electrical circuit). Michael Faraday completes the discoveries of Oersted and Ampere - he creates a coherent logical doctrine of electrodynamics. At the same time, he made a number of independent major discoveries, which undoubtedly had an important impact on the use of electricity and magnetism in medicine and biology. Michael Faraday was not a mathematician like Ampere; in his numerous publications he did not use a single analytical expression. The talent of an experimenter, conscientious and hardworking, allowed Faraday to compensate for the lack of mathematical analysis. Faraday discovers the law of induction. As he himself said: “I found a way to convert electricity into magnetism and vice versa.” He discovers self-induction. The completion of Faraday's major research is the discovery of the laws of the passage of electric current through conductive liquids and the chemical decomposition of the latter, which occurs under the influence of electric current (the phenomenon of electrolysis). Faraday formulates the basic law as follows: “The amount of substance found on conductive plates (electrodes) immersed in a liquid depends on the strength of the current and on the time of its passage: the greater the strength of the current and the longer it passes, the more amount of substance will be released into the solution.” . Russia turned out to be one of the countries where the discoveries of Oersted, Arago, Ampere, and most importantly, Faraday found direct development and practical application. Boris Jacobi, using the discoveries of electrodynamics, creates the first ship with an electric motor. Emil Lenz owns a number of works that are of great practical interest in various fields of electrical engineering and physics. His name is usually associated with the discovery of the law of thermal equivalent of electrical energy, called the Joule-Lenz law. In addition, Lenz established a law named after him. This marks the end of the period of creating the foundations of electrodynamics. 1 The use of electricity in medicine and biology in the 19th century P. N. Yablochkov, placing two coals in parallel, separated by melting lubricant, creates an electric candle - a simple source of electric light that can illuminate a room for several hours. Yablochkov's candle lasted three to four years, finding application in almost all countries of the world. It was replaced by a more durable incandescent lamp. Electric generators are being created everywhere, and batteries are becoming widespread. The areas of application of electricity are increasing. The use of electricity in chemistry, which was started by M. Faraday, is becoming popular. The movement of matter - the movement of charge carriers - found one of its first applications in medicine for the introduction of appropriate medicinal compounds into the human body. The essence of the method is as follows: gauze or any other fabric that serves as a gasket between the electrodes and the human body is impregnated with the desired medicinal compound; it is located on the areas of the body to be treated. The electrodes are connected to a direct current source. This method of introducing medicinal compounds, first used in the second half of the 19th century, is still widespread today. It is called electrophoresis or iontophoresis. ABOUT practical application The reader can learn about electrophoresis in chapter five. Another discovery followed, one of great importance for practical medicine, in the field of electrical engineering. On August 22, 1879, the English scientist Crookes reported on his research on cathode rays, about which the following became known at that time: When a high voltage current is passed through a tube with a very rarefied gas, a stream of particles rushes out of the cathode, rushing at enormous speed. 2. These particles move strictly in a straight line. 3. This radiant energy can produce mechanical action. For example, rotate a small pinwheel placed in its path. 4. Radiant energy is deflected by a magnet. 5. In places where radiant matter falls, heat develops. If the cathode is shaped like a concave mirror, then even such refractory alloys, such as an alloy of iridium and platinum, can be melted at the focus of this mirror. 6. Cathode rays - a stream of material bodies smaller than an atom, namely particles of negative electricity. These are the first steps on the eve of a new major discovery made by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. X-ray discovered a fundamentally different source of radiation, which he called X-rays (X-Ray). Later these rays were called X-rays. Roentgen's message caused a sensation. In all countries, many laboratories began to reproduce Roentgen’s installation, repeat and develop his research. This discovery aroused particular interest among doctors. Physics laboratories, where the equipment used by Roentgen to produce X-rays was created, were attacked by doctors and their patients, who suspected that their bodies contained swallowed needles, metal buttons, etc. The history of medicine has not known before such rapid practical implementation of discoveries in the field of electricity, as happened with a new diagnostic tool - x-rays. They immediately became interested in X-rays in Russia. There have not yet been official scientific publications, reviews of them, exact data about the equipment, only a brief message about Roentgen’s report has appeared, and near St. Petersburg, in Kronstadt, radio inventor Alexander Stepanovich Popov is already starting to create the first domestic X-ray apparatus. Little is known about this. The role of A. S. Popov in the development of the first domestic X-ray devices and their implementation, perhaps, first became known from the book of F. Veitkov. It was very successfully supplemented by the inventor’s daughter Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Kyandskaya-Popova, who published, together with V. Tomat, the article “Inventor of Radio and X-Ray” in the journal “Science and Life” (1971, No. 8). New advances in electrical engineering have accordingly expanded the possibilities for studying “animal” electricity. Matteuci, using a galvanometer created by that time, proved that during the life of a muscle an electrical potential arises. Having cut the muscle across the fibers, he connected it to one of the poles of the galvanometer, and connected the longitudinal surface of the muscle to the other pole and obtained a potential in the range of 10-80 mV. The value of the potential is determined by the type of muscle. According to Matteuci, the “biocurrent flows” from the longitudinal surface to the transverse section and the cross section is electronegative. This curious fact was confirmed by experiments on different animals - a turtle, a rabbit, a rat and birds, carried out by a number of researchers, of whom German physiologists Dubois-Reymond, Hermann and our compatriot V. Yu. Chagovets should be highlighted. Peltier in 1834 published a work in which he presented the results of a study of the interaction of biopotentials with direct current flowing through living tissue. It turned out that the polarity of the biopotentials changes. The amplitudes also change. At the same time, changes in physiological functions were observed. Electrical measuring instruments with sufficient sensitivity and appropriate measurement limits appear in the laboratories of physiologists, biologists, and physicians. Large and varied experimental material is being accumulated. This ends the prehistory of the use of electricity in medicine and the study of “animal” electricity. The emergence of physical methods that provide primary bioinformation, the modern development of electrical measuring equipment, information theory, autometry and telemetry, and the integration of measurements - this is what marks a new historical stage in the scientific, technical and medical-biological areas of the use of electricity. 2 History of radiation therapy and diagnosis At the end of the nineteenth century, very important discoveries were made. For the first time, a person could see with his own eye something hiding behind a barrier opaque to visible light. Conrad Roentgen discovered the so-called X-rays, which could penetrate optically opaque barriers and create shadow images of objects hidden behind them. The phenomenon of radioactivity was also discovered. Already in the 20th century, in 1905, Eindhoven proved the electrical activity of the heart. From this moment on, electrocardiography began to develop. Doctors began to receive more and more information about the state of the patient’s internal organs, which they could not observe without the appropriate instruments created by engineers based on the discoveries of physicists. Finally, doctors were able to observe the functioning of internal organs. By the beginning of the Second World War, the leading physicists of the planet, even before the appearance of information about the fission of heavy atoms and the colossal release of energy during this process, came to the conclusion that it was possible to create artificial radioactive isotopes. The number of radioactive isotopes is not limited to only known naturally radioactive elements. They are known for all chemical elements of the periodic table. Scientists were able to trace their chemical history without disturbing the flow of the process under study. Back in the twenties, attempts were made to use naturally radioactive isotopes from the radium family to determine the speed of blood flow in humans. But this kind of research was not widely used even for scientific purposes. Radioactive isotopes became more widely used in medical research, including diagnostic research, in the fifties after the creation of nuclear reactors, in which it was quite easy to obtain high activities of artificially radioactive isotopes. The most famous example of one of the first uses of artificially radioactive isotopes is the use of iodine isotopes for research on the thyroid gland. The method made it possible to understand the cause of thyroid diseases (goiter) for certain areas of residence. A link has been shown between dietary iodine and thyroid disease. As a result of these studies, you and I consume table salt, which has been deliberately supplemented with inactive iodine. At first, to study the distribution of radionuclides in an organ, single scintillation detectors were used, which examined the organ under study point by point, i.e. scanned it, moving along a meander line over the entire organ under study. Such a study was called scanning, and the devices used for this were called scanners. With the development of position-sensitive detectors, which, in addition to the fact of registering an incoming gamma quantum, also determined the coordinate of its entry into the detector, it became possible to view the entire organ under study at once without moving the detector above it. Currently, obtaining an image of the distribution of radionuclides in the organ under study is called scintigraphy. Although, generally speaking, the term scintigraphy was introduced in 1955 (Andrews et al.) and initially referred to scanning. Among systems with stationary detectors, the most widely used is the so-called gamma camera, first proposed by Anger in 1958. The gamma camera made it possible to significantly reduce the time of image acquisition and, therefore, to use shorter-lived radionuclides. The use of short-lived radionuclides significantly reduces the dose of radiation exposure to the body of the subject, which made it possible to increase the activity of radiopharmaceuticals administered to patients. Currently, when using the Ts-99t, the time to obtain one image is a fraction of a second. Such short times for obtaining a single frame led to the emergence of dynamic scintigraphy, when a series of sequential images of the organ under study are obtained during the study. Analysis of such a sequence makes it possible to determine the dynamics of changes in activity both in the organ as a whole and in its individual parts, i.e., a combination of dynamic and scintigraphic studies occurs. With the development of technology for obtaining images of the distribution of radionuclides in the organ under study, the question arose about methods for assessing the distribution of radiopharmaceuticals within the examined area, especially in dynamic scintigraphy. The scanograms were processed mainly visually, which became unacceptable with the development of dynamic scintigraphy. The main trouble was the impossibility of constructing curves reflecting changes in radiopharmaceutical activity in the organ under study or in its individual parts. Of course, we can note a number of other disadvantages of the obtained scintigrams - the presence of statistical noise, the impossibility of subtracting the background of surrounding organs and tissues, the impossibility of obtaining a summary image in dynamic scintigraphy based on a number of successive frames. All this led to the emergence of computer-based digital processing systems for scintigrams. In 1969, Jinuma and his co-authors used computer capabilities to process scintigrams, which made it possible to obtain more reliable diagnostic information and in a significantly larger volume. In this regard, computer-based systems for collecting and processing scintigraphic information began to be very intensively introduced into the practice of radionuclide diagnostic departments. Such departments became the first practical medical units in which computers were widely introduced. The development of computer-based digital systems for collecting and processing scintigraphic information laid the foundations for the principles and methods of processing medical diagnostic images, which were also used in processing images obtained using other medical and physical principles. This applies to X-ray images, diagnostic ultrasound images and, of course, computed tomography. On the other hand, the development of computed tomography techniques led, in turn, to the creation of emission tomographs, both single-photon and positron. The development of high technologies for the use of radioactive isotopes in medical diagnostic studies and their increasing use in clinical practice led to the emergence of an independent medical discipline of radioisotope diagnostics, which later, according to international standardization, was called radionuclide diagnostics. A little later, the concept of nuclear medicine appeared, combining methods of using radionuclides for both diagnosis and therapy. With the development of radionuclide diagnostics in cardiology (in developed countries, up to 30% of the total number of radionuclide studies became cardiological), the term nuclear cardiology appeared. Another extremely important group of studies using radionuclides is in vitro studies. This type of research does not involve introducing radionuclides into the patient's body, but uses radionuclide techniques to determine the concentration of hormones, antibodies, drugs and other clinically important substances in blood or tissue samples. In addition, modern biochemistry, physiology and molecular biology cannot exist without the methods of radioactive tracers and radiometry. In our country, the mass introduction of methods nuclear medicine clinical practice began in the late 50s after the publication of the order of the Minister of Health of the USSR (No. 248 of May 15, 1959) on the creation of radioisotope diagnostic departments in large oncological institutions and the construction of standard radiology buildings, some of which are still functioning today. A major role was played by the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated January 14, 1960 No. 58 “On measures to further improve medical care and health protection of the population of the USSR,” which provided for the widespread introduction of radiology methods into medical practice. The rapid development of nuclear medicine in recent years has led to a shortage of radiologists and engineers who are specialists in the field of radionuclide diagnostics. The result of using all radionuclide techniques depends on two important points: on a detection system with sufficient sensitivity and resolution, on the one hand, and on a radiopharmaceutical that ensures an acceptable level of accumulation in the desired organ or tissue, on the other hand. Therefore, every nuclear medicine specialist must have a deep understanding of the physical basis of radioactivity and detection systems, as well as knowledge of the chemistry of radiopharmaceuticals and the processes that determine their localization in specific organs and tissues. This monograph is not a simple review of advances in the field of radionuclide diagnostics. It presents a lot original material, which is the result of research by its authors. Many years of joint experience of the team of developers of the department of radiological equipment of JSC "VNIIMP-VITA", the Oncology Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, the Cardiological Research and Production Complex of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the Scientific Research Institute of Cardiology of the Tomsk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, the Association of Medical Physicists of Russia allowed us to consider the theoretical issues of forming radionuclide images, the practical implementation of such techniques and obtaining the most informative diagnostic results for clinical practice. The development of medical technology in the field of radionuclide diagnostics is inextricably linked with the name of Sergei Dmitrievich Kalashnikov, who worked in this direction for many years at the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Medical Instrumentation and led the creation of the first Russian tomographic gamma camera GKS-301. 5. Brief history of ultrasound therapy Ultrasound technology began to develop during the First World War. It was then, in 1914, when testing a new ultrasonic emitter in a large laboratory aquarium, the outstanding French experimental physicist Paul Langevin discovered that fish, when exposed to ultrasound, became restless, rushed around, then calmed down, but after a while they began to die. Thus, the first experiment was carried out by chance, which began the study of the biological effects of ultrasound. At the end of the 20s of the twentieth century. The first attempts were made to use ultrasound in medicine. And in 1928, German doctors already used ultrasound to treat ear diseases in people. In 1934, Soviet otolaryngologist E.I. Anokhrienko introduced the ultrasound method into therapeutic practice and was the first in the world to carry out combined treatment with ultrasound and electric shock. Soon ultrasound began to be widely used in physiotherapy, quickly gaining fame as a very effective tool. Before using ultrasound to treat human diseases, its effect was carefully tested on animals, but new methods came to practical veterinary medicine after they had found widespread use in medicine. The first ultrasound machines were very expensive. Price, of course, does not matter when it comes to human health, but in agricultural production this has to be taken into account, since it should not be unprofitable. The first ultrasound therapeutic methods were based on purely empirical observations, but in parallel with the development of ultrasound physiotherapy, research into the mechanisms of the biological action of ultrasound began. Their results made it possible to make adjustments to the practice of using ultrasound. In the 1940-1950s, for example, it was believed that ultrasound with an intensity of up to 5...6 W/sq.cm or even up to 10 W/sq.cm was effective for therapeutic purposes. However, soon the ultrasound intensities used in medicine and veterinary medicine began to decrease. So in the 60s of the twentieth century. the maximum intensity of ultrasound generated by physiotherapeutic devices has decreased to 2...3 W/sq.cm, and currently produced devices emit ultrasound with an intensity not exceeding 1 W/sq.cm. But today, in medical and veterinary physiotherapy, ultrasound is most often used with an intensity of 0.05-0.5 W/sq.cm. Conclusion Of course, I was not able to cover the history of the development of medical physics in full, because otherwise I would have to talk about each physical discovery in detail. But still, I indicated the main stages of the development of honey. physicists: its origins begin not in the 20th century, as many believe, but much earlier, even in ancient times. Today, the discoveries of that time will seem trivial to us, but in fact, for that period it was an undoubted breakthrough in development. It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of physicists to the development of medicine. Take Leonardo da Vinci, who described the mechanics of joint movements. If you look at his research objectively, you can understand that modern science on joints includes the vast majority of his works. Or Harvey, who first proved the closed circulation of blood. Therefore, it seems to me that we should appreciate the contribution of physicists to the development of medicine. List of used literature 1. "Fundamentals of the interaction of ultrasound with biological objects." Ultrasound in medicine, veterinary medicine and experimental biology. (Authors: Akopyan V.B., Ershov Yu.A., edited by Shchukin S.I., 2005) Equipment and methods of radionuclide diagnostics in medicine. Kalantarov K.D., Kalashnikov S.D., Kostylev V.A. and others, ed. Viktorova V.A. Kharlamov I.F. Pedagogy. - M.: Gardariki, 1999. - 520 p.; page 391 Electricity and man; Manoilov V.E. ; Energoatomizdat 1998, pp. 75-92 Cherednichenko T.V. Music in the history of culture. - Dolgoprudny: Allegro-press, 1994. p. 200 Everyday life of Ancient Rome through the prism of pleasures, Jean-Noel Robbert, Young Guard, 2006, p. 61 Plato. Dialogues; Thought, 1986, p. 693 Descartes R. Works: In 2 vols. - T. 1. - M.: Mysl, 1989. Pp. 280, 278 Plato. Dialogues - Timaeus; Thought, 1986, p. 1085 Leonardo da Vinci. Selected works. In 2 volumes. T.1./ Reprint from ed. 1935 - M.: Ladomir, 1995. Aristotle. Works in four volumes. T.1.Red.V. F. Asmus. M.,<Мысль>, 1976, pp. 444, 441 List of Internet resources: Sound therapy - Nag-Cho http://tanadug.ru/tibetan-medicine/healing/sound-healing (date of access 09.18.12) History of phototherapy - http://www.argo-shop.com.ua/article-172.html (date accessed 09/21/12) Treatment by fire - http://newagejournal.info/lechenie-ognem-ili-moksaterapia/ (access date 09/21/12) Oriental medicine - (date of access 09.22.12)://arenda-ceragem.narod2.ru/eto_nuzhno_znat/vostochnaya_meditsina_vse_luchshee_lyudyam
In the 21st century, it is difficult to keep up with scientific progress. In recent years, we have learned to grow organs in laboratories, artificially control the activity of nerves, and invented surgical robots that can perform complex operations.
As you know, in order to look into the future, you need to remember the past. We present seven great scientific discoveries in medicine, thanks to which millions of human lives were saved.
Body anatomy
In 1538, the Italian naturalist, the “father” of modern anatomy, Vesalius presented the world with a scientific description of the structure of the body and the definition of all human organs. He had to dig up corpses for anatomical studies in the cemetery, since the Church prohibited such medical experiments.Now the great scientist is considered the founder of scientific anatomy, craters on the moon are named after him, stamps are printed with his image in Hungary and Belgium, and during his lifetime, for the results of his hard work, he miraculously escaped the Inquisition.
Vaccination
Now many health experts believe that the discovery of vaccines is a colossal breakthrough in the history of medicine. They prevented thousands of diseases, stopped rampant mortality and still prevent disability to this day. Some even believe that this discovery surpasses all others in the number of lives saved. 
The English doctor Edward Jenner, since 1803 the head of the smallpox vaccination lodge in the city on the Thames, developed the world's first vaccine against the “terrible punishment of God” - smallpox. By inoculating the cow disease virus, which is harmless to humans, he provided immunity to his patients.
Anesthesia drugs
Just imagine having surgery without anesthesia, or having surgery without pain relief. Is it really chilling? 200 years ago, any treatment was accompanied by agony and wild pain. For example, in Ancient Egypt, before surgery, the patient was rendered unconscious by squeezing the carotid artery. In other countries, they drank a decoction of hemp, poppy or henbane. 
The first experiments with anesthetics - nitrous oxide and ethereal gas - were launched only in the 19th century. A revolution in the consciousness of surgeons occurred on October 16, 1986, when an American dentist, Thomas Morton, extracted a tooth from a patient using ether anesthesia.
X-rays
On November 8, 1895, based on the work of one of the most diligent and talented physicists of the 19th century, Wilhelm Roentgen, medicine acquired technology capable of diagnosing many diseases non-surgically. 
This scientific breakthrough, without which no medical institution can now operate, helps identify many diseases - from fractures to malignant tumors. X-rays are used in radiation therapy.
Blood type and Rh factor
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the greatest achievement of biology and medicine occurred: experimental studies by immunologist Karl Landsteiner made it possible to identify the individual antigenic characteristics of red blood cells and avoid further fatal exacerbations associated with transfusions of mutually exclusive blood groups. 
Future professor and laureate Nobel Prize proved that blood type is inherited and varies in the properties of red blood cells. Subsequently, it became possible to use donated blood to heal the wounded and rejuvenate unhealthy people - which is now common medical practice.
Penicillin
The discovery of penicillin launched the era of antibiotics. Now they are saving countless lives, coping with most of the most ancient lethal diseases, such as syphilis, gangrene, malaria and tuberculosis. 
The lead in the discovery of an important therapeutic drug belongs to the British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, who quite accidentally discovered that a mold killed bacteria in a Petri dish that was lying in the sink in the laboratory. His work was continued by Howard Florey and Ernst Boris, isolating penicillin in purified form and putting it into mass production.
Insulin
It is difficult for humanity to return to the events of a hundred years ago and believe that patients with diabetes were doomed to death. Only in 1920, Canadian scientist Frederick Banting and his colleagues identified the pancreatic hormone insulin, which stabilizes blood sugar levels and has a multifaceted effect on metabolism. Until now, insulin reduces the number of deaths and disabilities, reduces the need for hospitalization and expensive drugs. 
The above discoveries are the starting point of all further advances in medicine. However, it is worth remembering that all promising opportunities are open to humanity thanks to already established facts and the works of our predecessors. The editors of the site invite you to meet the most famous scientists in the world.
Conditioned reflexes
According to Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, the development of a conditioned reflex occurs as a result of the formation of a temporary nervous connection between groups of cells in the cerebral cortex. If you develop a strong conditioned food reflex, for example, to light, then such a reflex is a conditioned reflex of the first order. On its basis, a second-order conditioned reflex can be developed; for this, a new, previous signal, for example a sound, is additionally used, reinforcing it with a first-order conditioned stimulus (light).Ivan Petrovich Pavlov studied conditioned and unconditioned human reflexes
If a conditioned reflex is reinforced only a few times, it fades away quickly. It takes almost the same amount of effort to restore it as during its initial production.
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Doctor of Biological Sciences Y. PETRENKO.
Several years ago, the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine was opened at Moscow State University, which trains doctors with extensive knowledge in natural disciplines: mathematics, physics, chemistry, molecular biology. But the question of how much fundamental knowledge a doctor needs continues to cause heated debate.
Science and life // Illustrations
Among the symbols of medicine depicted on the pediments of the library building of the Russian State Medical University are hope and healing.
A wall painting in the foyer of the Russian State Medical University, which depicts the great doctors of the past sitting in thought at one long table.
W. Gilbert (1544-1603), court physician to the Queen of England, naturalist who discovered earthly magnetism.
T. Young (1773-1829), famous English doctor and physicist, one of the creators of the wave theory of light.
J.-B. L. Foucault (1819-1868), French doctor who was fond of physical research. With the help of a 67-meter pendulum, he proved the rotation of the Earth around its axis and made many discoveries in the field of optics and magnetism.
J. R. Mayer (1814-1878), German physician who established the basic principles of the law of conservation of energy.
G. Helmholtz (1821-1894), a German doctor, studied physiological optics and acoustics, formulated the theory of free energy.
Should future doctors be taught physics? Recently, this question has worried many, and not only those who train medical professionals. As usual, two extreme opinions exist and clash. Those in favor paint a gloomy picture, which is the fruit of a neglectful attitude towards the basic disciplines in education. Those who are “against” believe that a humanitarian approach should dominate in medicine and that a doctor should first of all be a psychologist.
MEDICAL CRISIS AND SOCIETY CRISISModern theoretical and practical medicine has achieved great success, and physical knowledge has greatly helped it. But in scientific articles and journalism, voices continue to sound about the crisis of medicine in general and medical education in particular. There are definitely facts indicating a crisis - this is the emergence of “divine” healers and the revival of exotic healing methods. Spells like "abracadabra" and amulets like the frog's leg are back in use, just like in prehistoric times. Neovitalism is gaining popularity, one of the founders of which, Hans Driesch, believed that the essence of life phenomena is entelechy (a kind of soul), acting outside of time and space, and that living things cannot be reduced to a set of physical and chemical phenomena. Recognition of entelechy as a vital force denies the importance of physicochemical disciplines for medicine.
There are many examples of how pseudoscientific ideas replace and displace genuine ideas. scientific knowledge. Why is this happening? According to Nobel laureate, the discoverer of the structure of DNA, Francis Crick, when a society becomes very rich, young people show reluctance to work: they prefer to live an easy life and do trifles like astrology. This is true not only for rich countries.
As for the crisis in medicine, it can only be overcome by increasing the level of fundamentality. It is usually believed that fundamentality is a higher level of generalization of scientific ideas, in this case, ideas about human nature. But even on this path one can reach paradoxes, for example, considering a person as a quantum object, completely abstracting from the physical and chemical processes occurring in the body.
DOCTOR-THINKER OR DOCTOR-GURU?No one denies that the patient’s faith in healing plays an important, sometimes even decisive role (remember the placebo effect). So what kind of doctor does a patient need? Confidently pronouncing: “You will be healthy” or thinking for a long time about which medicine to choose in order to get the maximum effect without causing harm?
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the famous English scientist, thinker and doctor Thomas Young (1773-1829) often froze in indecision at the patient’s bedside, hesitated in making a diagnosis, and often fell silent for a long time, plunging into himself. He honestly and painfully searched for the truth in a very complex and confusing subject, about which he wrote: “There is no science whose complexity surpasses medicine. It goes beyond the limits of the human mind.”
From a psychological point of view, a doctor-thinker does not correspond well to the image of an ideal doctor. He lacks courage, arrogance, and categoricalness, which are often characteristic of the ignorant. Probably, this is human nature: when you get sick, you rely on the quick and energetic actions of the doctor, and not on reflection. But, as Goethe said, “there is nothing worse than active ignorance.” Jung, as a doctor, did not gain much popularity among patients, but among his colleagues his authority was high.
PHYSICS WAS CREATED BY DOCTORSKnow yourself and you will know the whole world. The first is medicine, the second is physics. Initially, the connection between medicine and physics was close; it was not for nothing that joint congresses of naturalists and doctors took place until the beginning of the 20th century. And by the way, physics was largely created by doctors, and they were often prompted to research by the questions posed by medicine.
The medical thinkers of antiquity were the first to think about the question of what heat is. They knew that a person's health is related to the warmth of his body. The great Galen (2nd century AD) introduced the concepts of “temperature” and “degree” into use, which became fundamental for physics and other disciplines. So ancient doctors laid the foundations of the science of heat and invented the first thermometers.
William Gilbert (1544-1603), physician to the Queen of England, studied the properties of magnets. He called the Earth a large magnet, proved it experimentally and came up with a model to describe terrestrial magnetism.
Thomas Young, already mentioned, was a practicing physician, but at the same time made great discoveries in many areas of physics. He is rightfully considered, together with Fresnel, the creator wave optics. By the way, it was Jung who discovered one of the visual defects - color blindness (the inability to distinguish between red and green colors). Ironically, this discovery immortalized in medicine the name not of the doctor Jung, but of the physicist Dalton, who was the first to discover this defect.
Julius Robert Mayer (1814-1878), who made a huge contribution to the discovery of the law of conservation of energy, served as a doctor on the Dutch ship Java. He treated sailors with bloodletting, which was considered at that time a cure for all diseases. On this occasion, they even joked that doctors released more human blood than was shed on the battlefields in the entire history of mankind. Mayer noticed that when the ship is in the tropics, during bloodletting, venous blood is almost as light as arterial blood (usually venous blood is darker). He suggested that the human body, like a steam engine, in the tropics, at high air temperatures, consumes less “fuel” and therefore emits less “smoke”, which is why the venous blood brightens. In addition, having thought about the words of one navigator that during storms the water in the sea heats up, Mayer came to the conclusion that everywhere there must be a certain relationship between work and heat. He expressed the principles that essentially formed the basis of the law of conservation of energy.
The outstanding German scientist Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894), also a doctor, independently of Mayer formulated the law of conservation of energy and expressed it in a modern mathematical form, which is still used by everyone who studies and uses physics. In addition, Helmholtz made great discoveries in the field of electromagnetic phenomena, thermodynamics, optics, acoustics, as well as in the physiology of vision, hearing, nervous and muscular systems, and invented a number of important instruments. Having received his medical training and being a medical professional, he tried to apply physics and mathematics to physiological research. At the age of 50, the professional doctor became a professor of physics, and in 1888 - director of the Institute of Physics and Mathematics in Berlin.
The French physician Jean-Louis Poiseuille (1799-1869) experimentally studied the power of the heart as a pump that pumps blood, and investigated the laws of blood movement in the veins and capillaries. Having summarized the results obtained, he derived a formula that turned out to be extremely important for physics. For his services to physics, the unit of dynamic viscosity, the poise, is named after him.
The picture showing the contribution of medicine to the development of physics looks quite convincing, but a few more strokes can be added to it. Any motorist has heard about the cardan shaft, which transmits rotational motion at different angles, but few people know that it was invented by the Italian doctor Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576). The famous Foucault pendulum, which preserves the plane of oscillation, is named after the French scientist Jean-Bernard-Leon Foucault (1819-1868), a doctor by training. The famous Russian doctor Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov (1829-1905), whose name is given to the Moscow State Medical Academy, studied physical chemistry and established an important physical and chemical law that describes the change in solubility of gases in aquatic environment depending on the presence of electrolytes in it. This law is still studied by students, and not only in medical schools.
"WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE FORMULAS!"Unlike doctors of the past, many modern medical students simply do not understand why they are taught science subjects. I remember one story from my practice. Tense silence, second-year students of the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine of Moscow State University are writing a test. The topic is photobiology and its application in medicine. Note that photobiological approaches based on the physical and chemical principles of the action of light on matter are now recognized as the most promising for the treatment of cancer. Ignorance of this section and its fundamentals is a serious disadvantage in medical education. The questions are not too difficult, everything is within the framework of the lecture and seminar material. But the result is disappointing: almost half of the students received bad marks. And for everyone who failed the task, one thing is typical - physics was not taught at school or was taught carelessly. For some, this item brings real horror. In a stack tests I came across a sheet of poetry. A student, unable to answer the questions, complained in poetic form that she had to cram not Latin (the eternal torment of medical students), but physics, and at the end exclaimed: “What to do? After all, we are doctors, we can’t understand the formulas!” The young poetess, who called the test “doomsday” in her poems, failed the physics test and eventually transferred to the Faculty of Humanities.
When students, future doctors, operate on a rat, no one would even think of asking why this is necessary, although the human and rat organisms are quite different. Why future doctors need physics is not so obvious. But can a doctor who does not understand the basic physical laws competently work with the most complex diagnostic equipment that modern clinics are crammed with? By the way, many students, having overcome their first failures, begin to study biophysics with passion. At the end of the academic year, when such topics as “Molecular systems and their chaotic states”, “New analytical principles of pH-metry”, “Physical nature of chemical transformations of substances”, “Antioxidant regulation of lipid peroxidation processes” were studied, the second-year students wrote: “We discovered fundamental laws that determine the basis of living things and, possibly, the universe. We discovered them not on the basis of speculative theoretical constructions, but in a real objective experiment. It was difficult for us, but interesting.” Perhaps among these guys there are future Fedorovs, Ilizarovs, Shumakovs.
“The best way to learn something is to discover it yourself,” said the German physicist and writer Georg Lichtenberg. “What you were forced to discover yourself leaves a path in your mind that you can use again when the need arises.” This most effective teaching principle is as old as time. It underlies the “Socratic method” and is called the principle of active learning. It is on this principle that the teaching of biophysics at the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine is built.
DEVELOPING FUNDAMENTALITYFundamentality for medicine is the key to its current viability and future development. You can truly achieve the goal by considering the body as a system of systems and following the path of a more in-depth physico-chemical understanding of it. What about medical education? The answer is clear: to increase the level of students' knowledge in the field of physics and chemistry. In 1992, the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine was created at Moscow State University. The goal was not only to return medicine to the university, but also, without reducing the quality of medical training, to sharply strengthen the natural science knowledge base of future doctors. Such a task requires intensive work by both teachers and students. It is assumed that students consciously choose fundamental medicine rather than conventional medicine.
Even earlier, a serious attempt in this direction was the creation of a medical and biological faculty at the Russian State Medical University. Over the 30 years of work of the faculty, it has prepared big number medical specialists: biophysicists, biochemists and cyberneticists. But the problem of this faculty is that until now its graduates could only engage in medical research, without the right to treat patients. Now this problem is being solved - at the Russian State Medical University, together with the Institute for Advanced Training of Doctors, an educational and scientific complex has been created, which allows senior students to undergo additional medical training.
Doctor of Biological Sciences Y. PETRENKO.