Medical success in the 21st century falls into many categories. As medical scientists have studied and perfected more and better ways to perform surgery, one of the main areas of focus has been cardiac surgery. From triple bypass surgery (where arteries or veins from elsewhere in the body are grafted to bypass a blocked coronary artery to improve blood flow to the heart) to using stents that are surgically placed to hold open blocked arteries, the changes in the field have been vast. Pharmaceutical discoveries have also improved heart health; an increasing number of Americans are now on statins, drugs that help keep cholesterol levels low. It is estimated that statins have reduced the risk of heart disease by 30 percent. Another heart advance has been technological. Inventors have successfully created a very simple automated external defibrillator (AED). Many workplaces, airports, and train stations now have these units on hand, saving countless lives. While organ transplants are discussed later in the chapter, it is certainly notable that heart transplants are performed more successfully than ever before.

Specific illnesses have received a great deal of recent medical focus. As mentioned earlier, smallpox has been totally eradicated (the last case was 1977), and while AIDS still cannot be cured, pharmaceutical cocktails are keeping patients alive and providing them with a better quality of life than before. Cancer has a similar story. While very few cancers can be cured through early diagnosis, a growing number of cases can now be treated, and patients can expect a relatively comfortable quality of life. At the same time, the medical profession is finding more and better ways to diagnose the various forms of cancer, and scientists are developing more targeted treatments that not only improve health but reduce side effects.

People are living longer lives, forcing medical science to address the needs of the aging. The ability to replace joints that wear out or are damaged is a medical art that has been perfected. Many of those who live into their 70s and beyond are undergoing knee and hip replacement surgeries. These surgeries return the patients to the ability to move around without pain. In addition, scientists are working hard to create better hearing aids and attempting to find remedies for vision issues such as age-related macular degeneration. These improvements will be vital as the population ages.

In addition, those who work in mental health care have made great strides in both diagnosis and medications. Psychiatrists now have many more and better options for mental illness than electroshock therapy. Today, doctors have many choices of psychotropic drugs that generally help how a patient feels or how he or she perceives the world. . .

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