30-Second Medicine by Gabrielle M Finn

Author:Gabrielle M Finn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ivy Press
Published: 2017-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

30-SECOND TEXT

Joanna Matthan

Blood transfusions are essential for many medical procedures — the four blood types are determined by the antigens present or absent on the red blood cell.

LOBOTOMY & ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT)

the 30-second medicine

Cutting the connection between the frontal lobes and the rest of the brain, known as lobotomy, was first performed in the 1930s. As patients with mental disorders were thought to have fixed circuits within the brain, it was believed that cutting the connection could change their behaviour. Two holes were drilled on the top or the sides of the skull and a leucotome (a sharp instrument) was pushed into the brain and swept from one side to the other between the frontal lobes (the front part of the brain) and the rest of the brain. This psychosurgical procedure made its way into mainstream psychiatry and was used to treat compulsive disorders, depression, mania and schizophrenia. Thousands of operations were performed every year but it fell out of favour in the 1950s because of its poor and debilitating results for the patients who received it. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, shock treatment) is still used to treat intractable mental illness such as severe depression. It was introduced by two Italian doctors in 1938. The procedure involves passing alternating electrical current from either side of the temples via electrodes. This leads to immediate unconsciousness and a seizure. It is followed by some memory loss, and is given as a course over a few weeks. After the discovery of tranquillizing drugs, its use has decreased.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.