World War 2 Medical Advances Essay

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War is the basis for lots of things such as hard feelings, pain, or loss. What most people seem to neglect war with is growth. There is no greater motivation for change than when your life or the lives of the people around you depend on it. I like to imagine that this how doctors felt during World War 2. The pressures of war spurred numerous medical advancements during the time of World War 2. Some of these medical procedures and/or used for certain drugs were not benefactory to our men in uniform, they were definitely more harmful than good. On the other hand, some of these different types of medicine changed the medical field as we know it. Medicine grew leaps and bounds during World War 2 and has influenced our own medicine today. While we are still working to perfect and fine tune all types of medicine, we still use …show more content…

It is funny, penicillin seems like something scientists would have definitely been searching for. After all, penicillin is a treatment for everything from scarlet fever to ear infections. Contrary to popular assumptions, penicillin was found completely on accident! It was discovered when Sir Alexander Fleming noticed that a petri dish had developed a odd shaped mold. He then figured out that something (penicillin) has eaten away at the mold growing in the dish. After penicillin was found during the war, it was used to help prevent and cure infections among the wounded. This was vital in a time when there were so many wounded. Doctors had to fight both the initial injury, and the high risk that these grimy men had of infection. Penicillin was so vital to the safety of the soldiers, that “at least 400 million doses of penicillin were manufactured in 1943 for war use” (Nursing History: The History of WWII Medicine for Schools). This antibiotic is another step forward that still keeps people safe today, many people will use penicillin at least once in their

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