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Milestonesthatshowedthewaytomodernmedicine

Level3Advanced
1 Keywords
Matchthesewordsfromthetextwiththeirdenitions.
diminish achieve revolutionisescreen

pervade transmit

1.tocompletelychangethewaythingsaredoneorthoughtabout
2.tospreadthroughthewholeofsomething
3.tospreadadiseasefromonepersontoanother
4.totestsomeoneiftheyhaveaparticularillness
5.tobecomeless,ortomakesomethingbecomeless
6.tosucceedindoingorhavingwhatyouplanned

2 Findtheinformation
Skimthetexttondtheanswerstothequestions.
1.Whohasidentiedthefteenmilestonesofmodernmedicine?
2.Whichcamerst,anaesthesiaorchlorpromazine?
3.Whatcaused30%ofdeathsattheendofthe1800s?
4.WhatistheEnglishnameforthemilestoneinwomanscontraception?

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NEWS LESSONS / Milestones that showed the way to modern medicine / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

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5.Whatdiseasedidtherstvaccinetreat?

Milestonesthatshowedthewaytomodernmedicine
Level3Advanced

Fifteenofthemostimportantmilestoneson
theroadtomodernmedicineareidentied
todaybytheBritishMedicalJournal.They
rangefromvaccinestocomputerstothepill
andthejournaliscallingforreaderstovote
onwhichwasthemostsignicant.The15
havebeenshortlistedfrommorethan100
nominateddiscoveriessincetheBMJwas
launchedin1840.
1. Anaesthesia
Revolutionisedsurgery.Bytheendofthe
19thcentury,anaesthesiahadbecome
asymbolforthewiderhumanitarian
movement.Itremainsthemostvivid
exampleofmedicinescapacitytodiminish
humansuffering.
2.Antibiotics
Therstwonderdrugs.AlexanderFleming
reportedonpenicillinspotentialtokill
bacteriain1929.Cheapmassproduction
wasachievedintheUSduringthesecond
worldwar,allowingsoldierstobeprotected
fromwoundinfectionsbutalsosexually
transmitteddiseases.Antibioticstransformed
healthcare.
3.Chlorpromazine
Breakthroughdrugforschizophrenia,
whichhelpedclosetheasylums.Pierre
Deniker,whoranthersttrialonpsychotic
patients,publishedin1952,wrotethat
aggressivenessanddelusiveconditionsof
schizophreniaimproved,andcontactwith
patientswasreestablished.
4.Computers
Computershavealloweddecodingofthe
genomeandpermitteddoctorstoseethe
bodyanditsfunctionsinthreedimensions.

5. DNA
Thenatureoftheinfectiousagentcausing
Sarswaspublishedwithinweeks,thanks
toDNAtesting.Newbornbabiesarenow
screenedforgeneticdiseasesandall
patientsforsurgeryhavetheirbloodgroup
analysed,afterthediscoveryofthestructure
ofDNAbyWatsonandCrickinthe1950s.It
hasalsomadepossiblegeneticallytargeted
drugs.
6.Evidencebasedmedicine
Thetermwascoinedin1991asresultof
therecognitionthatpullingtogetherallthe
informationonatopicleadstomorevalid
resultsthanasinglestudyandthatbias
deliberateornotpervadesmanyclinical
trials.
7.Germtheory
Realisationthatgermscarriedonthehands
ofdoctorscouldtransmitlethalinfectionsto
womeninlabourbyIgnazSemmelweisin
Viennain1847becametheacceptedgerm
theoryofdisease.Attheendofthe19th
century,infectioncaused30%ofdeaths.By
theendofthe20thcenturyitcausedless
than 4%.
8.Imaging
Identifyingthatthepassageofelectricity
thoughrareedgasesproducedXrayswon
WilhelmRoentgentherstNobelprizefor
physicsin1901.Xraysprovedinvaluable
fordiagnosisandsoonbecametherapeutic
toolsaswell,incancerandpalliative
medicine.
9.Magicbullets
Thediscoveryofmonoclonalantibodies
whichtheimmunesystemwillnotrejecthas
ledtodramaticnewtreatmentsfordisease.
Overamillionpeoplehavebeentreated

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NEWS LESSONS / Milestones that showed the way to modern medicine / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

O
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M W P
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SarahBoseley,healtheditor
January5,2007

Computerscouldhelpustranscend
boundariestoachievegoodhealth,whoever
orwhereverweare.

Milestonesthatshowedthewayto
modernmedicine

Milestonesthatshowedthewaytomodernmedicine
Level3Advanced
forrheumatoidarthritis,withaspectacular
reductionofsymptoms.Theyhavehelped
reduceorgantransplantrejectionandthese
magicbulletstargetradioactivetreatment
forcancerpreciselytothetumour.
10.Oralrehydration
Childreninpoorcountriesarefacedwith
episodesofdiarrhoeaaboutthreetimesa
year.Simple,cheapandeasilypreparedoral
rehydrationtherapy,whichcombinessalt
andsugarwithcleanwater,savesmillionsof
lives.
11.Thepill
Theoralcontraceptivebroughtabouta
socialaswellasamedicalrevolutionand
hadhugebenetsforwomen.Itwastherst
potentdrugtobetakenbymillionsofhealthy
peopleandtheactiveingredientisvirtually
unchanged.
12.Risksofsmoking
Twolandmarkstudiesinthe1950sledtoa
growingbodyofevidenceabouttheharmful
effectsoftobacco,andagradualdeclinein
thenumbersofpeoplesmokinganddyingof
tobaccorelateddisease.

13.Sanitation
Firstcametheindustrialrevolution,then
urbanisation,andbythe1800sinfectious
diseaseswererampant.Choleraoutbreaks
turnedattentiontourbanwatersystems
andmodernsanitationwasborn.Bythe
beginningofthe20thcenturydeathrates
fell.
14. Vaccines
LouisPasteursunveilingoftherabies
vaccinein1885pavedthewayforevery
othervaccine.Thediscoveryhassaved
millionsoflives.
15.Tissueculture
Theinventionoflaboratoryrearedtissue
cultureshasplayedarolein18outofthe
last52Nobelprizesformedicine.Tissue
cultureprovidedamediumonwhichtogrow
virusesforexperimentation,testdrugs,and
growskinculture.
GuardianNews&Media2007
FirstpublishedinThe Guardian,05/1/07

3Comprehensioncheck

Readagainandmatchthewordswiththesentences.Therearetwowordsyoudonotneed.
evidencebasedmedicine sanitation
antibioticstissueculture
computers anaesthesia oralrehydrationmagicbulletschlorpromazine
vaccine
imaging
thepill

1.Itisoneofthemostimportantexamplesofhowmedicinereduceshumansuffering.
2.ItwasusedbytheAmericanmilitarytoprotectsoldiers.
3.Itmeantthatschizophrenicpeoplewerenolongerlockedaway.

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NEWS LESSONS / Milestones that showed the way to modern medicine / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

O
FR BE C
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M W P
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D

4.Ithelpedmapthehumangenome.

Milestonesthatshowedthewaytomodernmedicine
Level3Advanced
5.Itprovedthatmanyclinicaltrialsarebiasedandmoreinvestigationwasneeded.
6.Itwasthekeybehinddevelopingxraymachines.
7.Itisusedtotreatcancerpatientsbetter.
8.ItwasinventedbyLouisPasteur.
9.Itallowsdoctorstogrowvirusestostudythemfurther.
10.Itwascreatedbecausepeopleinbigcitiesweredyingfromunhealthydrinkingwater.

4 Grammar:of phrases
Ofisoftenusedtolinktwonounphrases.Completethesentenceswithof+oneofthephrases
below.

manyillnesses people
the19thcentury

themostimportantdiscoveries deaths

disease

diarrhoea

smoking

1.Thearticleisaboutfteen...inmedicine.
2.Anaesthesiawasinventedattheend
3.Thenaturewasunknownbeforecomputers.
4.Semmelweisdiscoveredthegermtheory
5.Sanitationreducedthenumberfromcholera.
6.Childreninpoorcountriesareoftenvictimsofepisodes
7.Vaccineshavesavedmillions
8.Therisksbecameknowninthe1950s.

5Vocabulary:Findtheword
Findwordswiththefollowingmeanings.
1.Anadjectivemeaningthatsomethingisshownveryclearlytobetrue.(Milestone1)
2.Averbmeaningtogobeyondthelimits.(Milestone4)
3.Averbmeaningtouseaphraseorwordforthersttime.(Milestone6)

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NEWS LESSONS / Milestones that showed the way to modern medicine / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

O
FR BE C
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M W P
W N IA
EB LO B
SI A L
TE DE E
D

4.Anadjectivemeaningverydangerousandabletokillyou.(Milestone7)

Milestonesthatshowedthewaytomodernmedicine
Level3Advanced
6 Vocabulary:Collocations(medicine)
Choosethebestword.

1. to treat/ to serveanillness
2.sexuallytransmitted/transposed diseases
3. to make/to runmedicaltrials
4.clinicaltrials/tests
5. to send/ to transmitinfections
6. a potent/strongdrug

7Discussion

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NEWS LESSONS / Milestones that showed the way to modern medicine / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

O
FR BE C
O DO O
M W P
W N IA
EB LO B
SI A L
TE DE E
D

Whichofthemilestonesdoyouthinkarethemostimportant?Howhasmedicinechangedinyour
lifetime?

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