Medical Miracles on the Horizon
The world and its inhabitants will face a multitude of problems in the
21st Century, including drug addiction, deadly disease, violent crime, warfare and hostility, hunger, and homelessness to name a few. All of these critical issues have been present to some extent in the 20th Century and, left unsolved, will continue to plague society and mankind as we enter the new millennium. As we rapidly approach the next era, new issues of equal or even greater importance for mankind will almost certainly arise. I personally envision health issues, concerns related directly to medicine, as the central, most critical and comprehensive problem facing leaders of the 21st Century.
In my opinion, physicians and others associated with the medical profession will participate in one of the most vital and urgent roles entering into the new era. This is one of the reasons that I intend to pursue a career in the medical field after I graduate from The University of Tennessee. Of all occupations in the next millennium, medicine will be perhaps the most important and influential in combating the problems of mankind and in solving them.
People in the field of medicine will continue, as they have in this century, to address and participate in almost all concerns. For example, methadone is currently being used as a therapeutic intervention for some drug addictions. In addition, various medications are now being given in the treatment of criminals, like anti-psychotic drugs to curb aggressive or violent behavior in schizophrenics. A new and improved group of antidepressants is also being used to treat and reduce the growing rate of suicide in all ages of our society. Because a very high percentage of homeless people suffer from psychological problems and/or drug addictions, doctors may also eventually play a larger role in prescribing medication for these individuals. Concerning warfare that may be present into the 21st Century, the medical community will be required to detect and treat a variety of injuries and illnesses, just as they have had to decipher and work on patients who fell victim to the Gulf War
Syndrome. Any future wars may have even more insidious side-effects due to the use of lethal chemicals.
Cures have been found for many illnesses, such as polio, smallpox, and various childhood diseases in the present century, but other health concerns are manifesting rapidly. One of the most important task doctors and research scientists may face is to fight new strains of deadly diseases in the coming years. Outbreaks of eboli and the emergence of diseases that are drug-resistant to antibiotics threaten the survival of mankind.
Assisted Suicide, also known as mercy killing, occurs when a physician provides the means (drugs or other agents) by which a person can take his or her own life. This assistance is one of the most debated issues today in society followed by abortion. Physicians are frequently faced with the question of whether or not assisted suicide is ethical or immoral. Although assisted suicide is currently illegal in almost all states in America, it is still often committed. Is assisted suicide ethical? Studies have found that the majority of Americans support assisted suicide. One must weigh both sides of the argument before they can decide.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide is known as a process in which an individual (sick or disabled) engages in an act that leads to his or her own death with the help of physicians or family members to end pain and suffering. There are several other terms used for this process, such as active euthanasia or passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia refers to what is being done to actively end life while passive euthanasia is referred as eliminating a treatment that will prolong a patient’s life, which will eventually lead to death (Levy et al., 2103, p. 402). Euthanasia and assisted suicide pose a significant ethical issue today, and understanding the issue requires examining the different principles, such as the ethical issue, professional code of conduct, strength and limitations, autonomy and informed consent, beneficence and nonmaleficence, distribution, and confidentiality and truthfulness.
Since most patients will either have an intact immunoglobulin or a free light chain, quantifying the amount of the M protein will aid in calculating the myeloma tumor burden; staging the myeloma patients; and documenting their response to treatment (Dispenzieri, Lacy, & Greipp, 2004). Moreover, since in 93% of patients a monoclonal protein can be detected in serum and in roughly 70% a monoclonal protein or fragment will be present in urine, according to Nau and Lewis (2008), the diagnosis of an asymptomatic (smoldering) multiple myeloma disease depends on the presence of serum M protein levels of ≥ 3 g/dL; ≥ 10% of bone marrow plasma cells; no related organ or tissue destruction like bone lesions; and no symptoms. On the other hand, the diagnosis of a symptomatic multiple myeloma disease can be accomplished by the presence of M protein in serum and/or urine together with clonal bone marrow plasma cells or plasmacytoma; myeloma-related organ or tissue impairment; and obvious symptoms (Nau, & Lewis,
In the United States there are many examples of drugs that are used to help people with psychological problems. An example of this is the drug Antabuse. Antabuse
Physician Assisted Suicide is when you get help from a physician to prescribe you deadly drugs
Physician Assisted Suicide is a freedom of choice. According to ecologist John Barlow “Exercising choice over the time and place of one’s death, once death is a certainty and there is no hope, is the ultimate personal dignity” (McCuen153). Considering Physician Assisted Suicide offers people a choice when end of life care fails to provide adequate relief of suffering. Having that freedom can be a peaceful and freeing experience. Dr. Charles McKhann believed “The decision to die, with or without the help, is exceedingly difficult, with many questions to examine and conflicts to resolve” (McKhann 234). This decision is ultimately made by the patient after a deliberation with doctors abou...
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a respiratory tract infection characterized by a violent cough. The violent cough incudes a series of severe uncontrollable coughing, hacking, or whooping. (1) Pertussis is a very contagious disease caused by bacteria named Bordetella pertussis, which is transmitted through fluids from sneezing or coughing around a person’s breathing space. The bacteria release toxins, damage cilia, and cause airways to swell.
Assisted death can consist of either voluntary euthanasia or physical-assisted suicide. Voluntary suicide is when a doctor purposely administers drugs to force death upon a person, while physical-assisted suicide is when a doctor aids someone in committing suicide by presenting drugs for self administration by a family member or loved one (Tomlinson). This procedure is legal in Vermont, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and recently passed in California. In 2014, Brittany Maynard, a young Californian woman with terminal brain cancer became an advocate for the terminally ill and took her own life under Oregon aid-in-dying law (The Brittany Maynard Fund). Maynard states, “Every terminally ill American deserves the choice to die with dignity… Freedom from prolonged pain and suffering is a most basic human right” (Firger). Having the ability to...
The right to assisted suicide is an intricate topic posed upon those in the United States and several other countries throughout the world. Assisted suicide proposes a controversy of whether or not a person has a right to solicit death through the help of a licensed physician. This issue has sparked an intense moral controversy.
This becomes such common practice that many times the addiction is more than physical, but emotional need sets in. Why should one suffer the pain of life when it takes so little to escape them? “One cubic centimeter cures ten gloomy sentiments,” (54). It is found to be too easy to avoid all of their problems with one little pill, vial, needle, blotter, leaf, or bottle. The drug seems to be the easiest way, the path of least resistance.
This generality of symptoms leads many primary care providers to not check for pertussis on a regular basis. Inconsistencies in screening can lead to a large number of cases being undiagnosed and untreated. In order for correct identification of pertussis, microbiological confirmation is needed. This correctly establishes the diagnosis of B. pertussis infection as well as identifies the diagnosis for public health surveillance and for outbreak investigations. Bacterial culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are the most useful clinical tools for patients with a cough duration shorter than four weeks. If the cough has been longer than four weeks, serology is the test of choice (Cornia & Lipsky,
In recent years the media has shifted more focus on the hot topic of physician assisted suicide. This expanded coverage has caused an ever widening gap on both sides of the debate because of the ethical concerns that come along with this act. Due in part to the advancements in modern medicine, assisted suicide should be viewed as a morally correct decision for individuals to make for themselves when there is no overcoming a life impairing mental or physical ailment. This form of medicine should only be used when the individuals have exhausted all possible procedures and options and the have a bleak chance on being healthy once again. The results of assisted suicide can be viewed as morally correct in regards to consequentialism, social contract theory, as well as deontological ethics. The act of assisted suicide can be viewed as selfless if one does not ultimately want to be a physical or monetary burden on other individuals. A patient can also help to save others in regards of organ donations. We as a country need to learn to observe the choices of the terminally ill patients and understand when they want to concede in their battle. If a person chooses to end their life, it should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, but rather as a statement that this individual does not want to suffer anymore.
Assisted suicide is a very controversial topic in American society that must be dealt with. In assisted suicide, a patient who is terminally ill requests the doctor to administer a lethal dose of medication to end his life. Assisted suicide brings up many moral and legal issues regarding the right of a patient to die with respect and the duties of a doctor. This issue is divided among people who believe that doctor assisted suicide is illegal and immoral and those who believe that suicide is a right that people have. Doctors who aid a patient to commit suicide are performing an illegal act and should be penalized to the full extent of the law.
...deas and knowledge. Also, it is essential to understand in order to succeed in school, find information, and qualify for most jobs. New technologies continue to be created. The wisest step is to embrace the new technologies since they are unlikely to go away. Those who have the most knowledge of new technologies are able to accomplish more, and find more options available to them in life.
To remain competitive and employable in the twenty-first century workplace, society today must conform to the changing demands. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications, which we cannot even begin to see or understand.