joseph lister's "On The Antiseptic Principle Of The Practice Of Surgery"
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ON THE ANTISEPTIC PRINCIPLE OF THE PRACTICE OF SURGERY was a paper written in 1867 by Joseph Lister, father of Antiseptic Medicine. In it, he describes how important it is to use sanitary techniques during surgery in order to reduce the growth of bacteria on the open wounds. He talks about how the use of dressing soaked in Carbolic Acid can kill the bacteria from the air, surroundings, or from the injury itself. "This is done by introducing the acid of full strength into all accessible recesses of the wound by means of a piece of rag held in dressing forceps and dipped into the liquid."
The document was intended for other medical professionals in order for them to understand this information as well and save more patients. Lister firmly believed in his methods and when met with vast differences in numbers of those that do not die after surgery because of Lister's sanitation methods, others slowly believed too and adopted his precautions. Sanitation is universally important and especially in the medical field of surgery. Millions of lives have been saved then and now, and it changed how medicine is performed.
"I feel sure that, if I had resorted to ordinary dressing when the pus first appeared, the progress of the case would have been exceedingly different."
Frederick G. Banting's "diabetes and insulin" lecture
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Frederick G. Banting, creator of insulin, delivered this speech on September 15th 1925 at Stockholm in regards to his winning of the Nobel Prize in 1923. In it he tells of how it was evident that insulin made a difference in his numerous patients and also animals. Insulin regulates the amount of glucose in the blood, without insulin diabetes can result, and diabetes with the lack of insulin can result in death.
"When the production of acetone bodies is more rapid than the excretion they accumulate in the blood, giving rise to air hunger, drowsiness, and coma. The need of Insulin is then imperative."
Banting's objective is to provide his audience with the overwhelming evidence that insulin works to treat diabetes and keep glucose levels at the necessary amount for those patients. His audience was most likely other doctors who wanted to use insulin on their patients and possibly other people that could benefit from insulin.
With insulin, diabetes patients regained their strength and were no longer on the brink of death. The discovery of insulin is called one of the "biggest discoveries in medicine", and while it does not treat diabetes, it can alleviate the symptoms and allow patients to lead a normal life.
"When the production of acetone bodies is more rapid than the excretion they accumulate in the blood, giving rise to air hunger, drowsiness, and coma. The need of Insulin is then imperative."
Banting's objective is to provide his audience with the overwhelming evidence that insulin works to treat diabetes and keep glucose levels at the necessary amount for those patients. His audience was most likely other doctors who wanted to use insulin on their patients and possibly other people that could benefit from insulin.
With insulin, diabetes patients regained their strength and were no longer on the brink of death. The discovery of insulin is called one of the "biggest discoveries in medicine", and while it does not treat diabetes, it can alleviate the symptoms and allow patients to lead a normal life.