MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
4.1
37
Aspirin is one of the most effecƟve painkillers
in the world. Hippocrates, a Greek physician,
wrote in the 5th century about a powder
made from the willow tree, which could help
aches and pains and reduce fever. However,
it was not unƟl 1897 that Felix Hoffmann, a
German chemist, synthesised the ingredient
acetylsalicylic acid to treat his father’s arthriƟs.
This was the first syntheƟc drug, which means
it was a copy of something already exisƟng
in nature. Aspirin was patented on 6 March
1899. It was marketed alongside another of
Hoffmann’s products, a syntheƟc of morphine,
called heroin, which he invented eleven days
aŌer aspirin. To start with, heroin was the
more successful of the two painkillers and was
thought to be healthier than aspirin. However,
aspirin took over and has become the world’s
best-selling drug. In 1969, it even went to the
Moon with Neil Armstrong. Today, it is sƟll
one of the most effecƟve painkillers, despite
having a number of side effects. Aspirin is also
effecƟve against many serious diseases such as
heart disease, diabetes and arthriƟs.
PRONUNCIATION
5
4.2
Stressed syllables
Mark the stressed syllable on
the words in Exercise 4a and decide what the stressed
vowel sound is. Listen and check your answers.
READING
6
You are going to read about some important
medical advances: X-rays, penicillin, aspirin,
anaesthesia. Work with a partner. What do you know
about these medical breakthroughs (e.g. what they are
and when they were discovered)? Share your ideas.
7
a
Work with a partner. You will each read two
texts. Make notes about the medical advances, using
the questions below. You may not find answers to
all the questions.
•
what?
• how?
•
where?
• results/benefits?
•
who?
• problems?
•
when?
Student A:
look at the texts on this page.
Student B:
look at page 165.
7
b
Using your notes, tell your partner about the two
breakthroughs.
8
a
Ranking by importance
Work with a partner. Agree
on a ranking of the four medical advances in the texts
(put the most important first).
8
b
Now think of two more medical inventions that
you think are very important (e.g. the thermometer,
the scalpel).
8
c
Join another pair and justify your choices.
SPEAKING
9
Work in small groups and discuss the questions
about medicine and the medical profession.
1
Should people have to pay for healthcare?
2
Do you think nurses and midwives are paid enough
in Bahrain? Why?/Why not?
3
Soon, medical advances will allow people to live to
a very old age. Is this desirable? Why?/Why not?
4
Should new drugs be tested on both animals and
humans before being prescribed by doctors?
ASPIRIN
Anaesthesia is a way of prevenƟng paƟents
from feeling pain during surgery. Crawford
Williamson Long was the first person to use
ether as an anaestheƟc during operaƟons in
1842. Then on 30 September 1846, in Boston,
MassachuseƩs, William Morton, an American
denƟst, performed a painless tooth extracƟon
aŌer giving ether to a paƟent. He also gave
the first public demonstraƟon of the use of
ether to anaestheƟse a paƟent on 16 October
1846. Following the demonstraƟon, Morton
tried to hide the idenƟty of the substance
as he planned to patent it and profit from
its use. However, it was quickly shown to be
ether, and it was soon being used in both the
USA and Europe. It was then discovered that
ether could catch fire easily, so in England it
was replaced with chloroform. Nevertheless,
Morton’s achievement was the key factor in
the development of modern surgery.
ANAESTHESIA
