The Last Decade Our Health Care Costs Rose ~ AND ~

The most important Medical Advances of the Last Decade were revealed on the News.

These are not the only advances or milestones reached in medicine, but they carry the most impact.

DRUGS

The number one drug developed is Lipator / Crestor.
Not only does this drug reduce cholesterol in patients with existing heart conditions, it is a preventative therapy for those at risk of developing heart disease.

PROCEDURES

Stints used to open blocked vessels in the heart. Since they were first introduced in the early part of the decade they have now been improved. They are coated with a medicine that allows them to function and stay in place longer.

Overall a 40% reduction in heart related deaths have been achieved this decade.

SURGICAL ADVANCES

The most progressive field in surgery has been the laprascopic procedures. Many surgeries that were once full incision have been reduced to several small slits. Surgeries are being performed with the aid of scopes and robotics. Recovery time has been reduced as well as the incidence of post surgical complications. Many procedures are now done as outpatient.


MEDICAL DISCOVERY

The mapping of the Human Genome in 2001 has opened an entire new field of medicine. Targeted therapy. Diseases can be predicted sometimes 30 years in advance of the manifestation. Vaccines are being developed to counter the disease before it strikes.


NOTEWORTHY PROGRESS AND DISCOVERIES

• Vaccine for Shingles

• Zostavax in vaccine form is now available for patients over 60 who have never developed shingles.

Vaccine Cervical Cancer
A vaccine is available for women to prevent cervical cancer linked to viruses. The vaccine is effective in most cases.

• Vaccine Skin Melanoma

• A vaccine for skin Melanoma is in clinical trials.

Vaccine Oral Melanoma
A vaccine is in use in Veterinarian medicine for oral melanoma which may translate over to human therapy.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has conditionally licensed a vaccine to treat
canine oral melanoma—the first approved therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of
cancer in either animals or humans, according to the company that produces it,
Merial.

How it works. This is how many of the latest vaccines against cancer are programmed.
The vaccine alerts the immune system to the presence of the melanoma tumor
protein tyrosinase. The vaccine uses a gene for human tyrosinase inserted into a
DNA plasmid. The human tyrosinase produced is different enough from canine
tyrosinase that it stimulates an immune response, yet similar enough to the
canine tyrosinase that the immune response is directed against melanoma cells.

• Vaccine for breast cancer in clinical trials at Johns Hopkins

• The cervical cancer vaccine advanced women's medicine and researchers at Johns Hopkins are working toward the same goal with breast cancer.

Breast Cancer theraputic drugs
Tamoxifen and Femara used to block estrogen produced in the body which fuels certain breast cancers.

• Breast Cancer HER2 Gene

• Advances in discovering the HER2 gene which results in a more aggressive breast cancer, led to the discovery of Herceptin a drug designed to specifically target this type of cancer.

Vaccine for Prevention of HIV
After clinical tests on a vaccine developed by the US Army a new vaccine has been shown to be 31% effective in preventing HIV/Aids. While this is not yet a cure the most recent attempt at a vaccine shows encouraging progress.

• The medical advances in this decade are many. Science seems to be progressing in leaps and bounds. Cures for many of the most dreaded diseases appear to be within reach in the near future.

Many complain about the high cost of medical procedures, medical insurance and drugs. We are not standing still when it comes to medical progress and advances. They all cost money to implement and money to make new treatments available.

• We could just STOP and be satisfied with the status quo. STOP research and development.

Just focus on the delivery system and cost effectiveness without any consideration to reaching further for cures and treatments.

• We have not only the greatest health care system in the world, we are responsible for the majority of the advances the rest of the world follows. We are the leaders in research and development. No other country can hold a candle to us.

Surely this list is far from complete. Feel free to post medical advances you are aware of where they originated.

• Most of us would be interested in seeing the medical advances and cutting edge technology brought to us from countries such as the UK, Canada, Germany and France, where Socialized medicine has replaced the system we currently use.

Let's give a system a fair shake. If other countries have adopted free and low cost government care for their citizens, plus been able to revolutionize medical discoveries at the same time - we should jump on that band wagon. What country has both?

• The choice seems fairly simple. Improve what you have by making small adjustments to the health care system, or slip back into the dark ages and give up medical advances and technology.

What would be the best choice for your children and grandchildren?

________________________________________________________________