Universal Medicine

Last week on Universal Medicine, our primary focus was on discussing revolutionary past and present affairs of Medicine. In present time, many new theories are being proposed due to advances in not only technology, but also our scientific knowledge and understanding. This week, we will explore a more recent discovery; one that has the potential to reduce the risk of heart attacks by 50%. Heart attacks are a major problem, responsible for 7.3 million deaths each year. Clearly then, this is a serious crisis which vitally, must be overcome. In order to devise a solution to this issue, the underlying anatomy combined with the functions of the heart must be understood. Firstly and most simplistically, the heart is the organ that acts as the pump of the circulatory system, transporting blood around the body. In turn then, regulating metabolism by providing oxygen and nutrients to the cells, while simultaneously removing waste products such as carbon dioxide. For this function the heart, it...

The Greatest Medical Innovations This week on Universal Medicine we explore the technological history of medicine and how it has helped many in the times of need. Of course, this topic is a debateable matter with everyone having opinions of what they believe is the greatest medical innovation but Universal Medicine will be analysing two eye-opening innovations which range from being extremely well-known to a more recent innovation- nevertheless all of these technological based advances have had/could have extravagant impacts to the medical world. Artificial hearts Firstly, a very popular medical advancement is the use of artificial hearts. A staggering 30% of deaths, globally, is caused due to heart disease hence the importance of artificial hearts. The scientist Robert Jarvik is said to be the inventor of the artificial heart as, in 1982, Jarvik 7 was the name given to the first implanted artificial heart. Since, 1982 the advancement of the artificial heart has led to around 1...

I spy with my little eye... ...A huge breakthrough in the field of Ophthalmology. Diseases of the eye are a heavy burden that many people have to endure. Being blind or partial-sighted can make seemingly trivial tasks inexplicably more difficult. Although, a new treatment has been developed for one of the most common eye diseases; Cataracts- which is when changes in the lenses of the eyes causes them to become cloudy resulting in impaired vision. It usually develops over many years(usually in elderly people) ,therefore problems may be unnoticeable at first. However, although rare,  it is possible for children to be affected by Cataracts either from birth(congenital cataracts) or as they develop and this can be caused by genetic defects, trauma to the eye or some infections. Cataracts often develop in both eyes, although each eye may be affected differently. Cataracts may also affect sight in the following ways: Difficulty seeing in Dim or excessively bright light D...

Rugby: England is a country filled with high quality athletes able to showcase their talents across the board of sport. Footballers, Cricketers, Tennis stars and Rugby Players. These athletes dedicate their lives to become the greatest and grind on hard to maintain this upheld status. Rugby is one of these sports where drama and talents are bound to be showcased. ruinous runs across the pitch, last ditch tackles to stop the try and off loads defying the laws of physics! These are some of the many aspects towards this beautiful game. With fragments like this occurring in games regularly it's bound to enlighten younger viewers to take on the sport. Tackling: Rugby will always have tackles that will be made, it's inevitable. There will not be a game that won't have tackle unless it is touch rugby (touching the player results in them having to stop and offload the ball to a fellow peer). Being such a competitive sport, big tackles will be made and these can be extremely ...