10 Achievements of Mankind Made Possible by Economic Freedom
6. Modern medicine
The practice of medicine also changed in the face of rapid advances in science, as well as new approaches by physicians. Hospital doctors began much more systematic analysis of patients’ symptoms in diagnosis. Among the more powerful new techniques were anaesthesia, and the development of both antiseptic and aseptic operating theatres. Actual cures were developed for certain endemic infectious diseases. The decline in many of the most lethal diseases was due to the rising wealth and improvements in public health, which led to more investments in medicine and better nutrition of the middle class. But it was not until the 20th century that the application of the scientific method to medical research began to produce multiple important developments in medicine, with great advances in pharmacology and surgery.
Medicine was revolutionized in the 19th century and beyond by advances in chemistry and laboratory techniques and equipment, old ideas of infectious disease epidemiology were replaced with bacteriology and virology. Western ideas of modern medicine eventually spread throughout the rest of the world and led to the eradication of many previously incurable diseases.
