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Penicillin ：：Another drug that has helped increase the standard of people's health is penicillin, which is considered by many to be one of the most important medicines in contemporary society. It was discovered by a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming in 1928. He noted that a dish in which he was trying to grow bacteria for an experiment looked abnormal--there was blue mould in it. It astonished him to see the bacteria surrounding the mould dead, which meant that the mould had killed them. Fleming tried this mould out on another bacterium and found that it killed the bacterium too. He immediately realized that the mould might have an application in treating illnesses caused by bacteria. He named the liquid made from the mould 'penicillin'. However, the development of penicillin as a drug faced two problems. First, he was unable to find a procedure to make penicillin pure enough to work as a medicine. Second, it was difficult to produce penicillin in the ample quantities needed to be effective. In 1940, two other scientists, Howard Florey (Australian) and Ernst Chain (German-born English), helped solve these problems, and managed to make and test the new drug in large quantities. Since the new drug was needed for World War II, the government approval process for penicillin was accelerated, and mass production began in 1944. Due to the widespread use of penicillin, many lives were saved during the war. If penicillin had not been available, many people would have died from sickness or even small wounds. Penicillin became the greatest drug of the 20th century, saving millions of lives. In 1945, the three scientists, Fleming, Florey and Chain, shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work.
Magic needles: Chinese acupuncture
One of the most famous Chinese medical treatments is the art of 'magic needles', or Chinese acupuncture. It was developed long ago, perhaps as early as 2000 BC. There is evidence that acupuncture began during the Stone Age, when stone tools called bian (砭) were used to press areas of the body.
As acupuncture developed, the simple bian stones were replaced by stone needles. Eventually, metal needles began to appear and took their place. There were nine different kinds of needles. These included a needle with a head like an arrow, used for making shallow holes in the surface of the skin; a needle with a round tip, used for pressing the tissue under the skin; a dull needle, used for tapping against pressure points; and a needle like a small sword, used for letting liquid out of body parts which had swollen up. These needles could be made of different metals, such as gold and silver. Some acupuncturists today still use gold and silver needles, but the majority use only stainless steel ones. The main needle now used for acupuncture is fine and sharp. Most of the others have been replaced by more complex medical instruments. For example, the needle looking like a sword has been replaced by a sharp knife that doctors use in operations.
Acupuncture uses stainless steel needles that are put into the skin at certain points on the body so that a disease can be cured or a health problem solved. These points are called acupuncture points. When acupuncture was first practised, there were 365 such points. The number of acupuncture points was the same as the number of days in a year. However, over the last 2,000 years, this number has gradually increased to about 2,000. Some acupuncturists insert needles at or near the body part affected by the disease, while others select points according to the symptoms that the patient has.
If you go to an acupuncturist, he or she will ask you questions about your medical history and your way of life. The acupuncturist will look at the colour of your skin and your tongue, listen to your breathing, and check your pulses.
Western medicine only recognizes one pulse which indicates the heartbeat. However, according to traditional Chinese medicine, there are twelve different pulses, six on each wrist, and every one of them is connected with a major body organ or its function. By checking all the pulses, the acupuncturist can find out which energy channel does not have enough energy.
Some of the medical problems that can be treated by acupuncture include severe pains, headaches, injuries, stomach problems and high blood pressure. Some people have also used acupuncture to treat smokers, alcoholics and people who are addicted to drugs.
How acupuncture reduces pain is not clear. One theory explaining this phenomenon suggests that acupuncture blocks pain signals from reaching the brain. Another theory relates acupuncture to the production of chemicals in the body which reduce pain. A lot of people now subscribe to these theories.
As a unique contribution of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture spread to many other Asian countries, such as Japan, as early as the 6th century. It was introduced to the West in the 17th century. Today acupuncture has become popular round the world, as have other traditional Chinese medicines. The World Health Organization recommends acupuncture as a good treatment for over forty medical problems. While doubts about its safety have faded away, interest continues to grow.
ical components eventually became so small that, by the late 1960s, portable cassette players were developed, along with video recorders which were used by TV stations. By the late 1970s, video recorders small and cheap enough for home use were introduced. Sound and video go digital
In 1982, the first CDs were made available. CDs are often used for storing and playing music because they have a much better sound quality than traditional records and cassettes. In 1993, the VCD was born, and in 1995, the DVD was invented. The DVD is now the standard for recording