Diseases and cures are all influenced by, and have great effects upon, Science, Invention and Nature.

This SINergy looks at how the diseases we suffer from, and the cures we try to treat them with, are changing. It also explores the effects of new medical developments.

The Maidenhair tree at ARKive

The maidenhair, or gingko, tree is renowned worldwide for its medicinal properties and has spawned a multi-million dollar industry. The trees have been utilised for traditional medicine in China and Japan for hundreds of years. More recently, they have been adopted by western practitioners to treat a range of ailments. The seeds are used to treat a variety of conditions from asthma to fever, while the nuts can alleviate wheezing and coughing. An extract of the leaves (known as GBE) is believed to have myriad curative properties and is used to address such diverse illnesses as Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, premenstrual syndrome, vertigo, altitude sickness and tinnitus (ringing in the ear). It is thought that many of the tree’s seemingly magical curative powers are due to the activities of chemicals called flavonoids and ginkgolides.

Medicinal Leeches at The Natural History Museum

Medicinal leech Credit: Biopharm leeches

The medicinal leech has been used for therapeutic human bloodletting since ancient times. Bleeding a patient was thought to cure anything from headaches to gout. This belief has long been proved false but, unexpectedly, leeches are making a comeback. Pioneering surgeons are now finding that leeches can assist patients recovering from plastic and reconstructive surgery. Today’s microsurgeons are adept at reattaching severed body parts, such as fingers. But veins, with their thin walls, often prove difficult to suture. It can be hard to get blood to flow down them freely. In such cases, leeches are summoned. When a leech bites, it creates a puncture wound. The leech's saliva contains substances that anaesthetise the wound area, prevent the blood from clotting and dilate the newly-mended veins – increasing vital blood flow. The effects of a leech bite can continue for up to 10 hours after the animal has detached. After about four days of leech treatment, the patient’s full venous blood flow should be restored.

Wonder drugs at the Science Museum

A bottle of penicillin, ca.1944 Credit: Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

Belief in medicine, in wonder drugs that would put paid to a host of diseases, soared in the 1940s and 50s. New antibiotics seemed to promise an end to diseases such as syphilis, pneumonia, meningitis and tuberculosis, whilst new vaccines defeated viruses such as polio and diphtheria, and revolutionary psychoactive drugs tackled psychological and psychiatric problems. But this belief has been tested through experience. Some vaccines cause side-effects, some psychoactive drugs have proved highly addictive, whilst the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have proved that these drugs aren’t quite as wonderful as was once thought.

Depression – a personal story at Y Touring

Lewis Wolpert Credit: Lewis Wolpert

At the time when Professor Lewis Wolpert became depressed, he was a successful biology professor with a happy family life. Out of the blue, he became extremely anxious, unable to sleep and prone to painful burning sensations. It didn’t take him long to realise he was having a breakdown. In this highly personal, informative and moving account, Professor Wolpert tells the story of his battle with depression from its onset, to its eventual cure after hospitalisation, treatment with drugs and cognitive therapy. 

Freidreich’s ataxia at Y Touring

Annie Kaye and her brother Ryan discuss Freidrich's Ataxia in The Gift, a Y Touring drama. Credit: Bob Workman/Y Touring

Over one million people in Britain are members of families affected by genetic disorders. One such disorder is Freidrich’s Ataxia which currently affects over 1500 people in the UK. This disease, which sufferers inherit from their parents, attacks the central nervous system. This causes unsteadiness and loss of balance and, later, slowness and slurring of the speech, curvature of the spine and loss of muscle control. Symptoms usually appear between the ages of 4-16. About 15-20 years later, the person will typically be confined to a wheelchair. In this drama from the Y Touring theatre group, Annie Kaye, who is 16, has recently been diagnosed with the disorder. Annie’s younger brother, Ryan, does not yet know if he will also be affected.   

 

 

Xenotransplantation: A history of social responses at Y Touring

Transgenic pigs' hearts could be available for transplanting into humans by 2010. Credit: Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library

Xenotransplantation – the transplant of an organ or tissue from an animal into a human – is a very controversial sort of cure. It also has a longer history than might be expected. Physicians attempted to transfuse animal blood into humans as long ago as the seventeenth century, but never successfully.  By the early twentieth century, the development of immunosupressant drugs meant there was greater potential for success. But then, as now, the surgeons doing this research were subject to intense media scrutiny and criticism from those who did not find the practice ethically acceptable. Social responses to xenotransplantation have always been greatly affected by these two factors: the role of the media, and the public’s concern for animals.  

Treat Yourself at the Science Museum

In the early 20th century the Veedee massager was thought to cure a variety of ailments. Credit: Science Museum/Science& Society Picture Library

Britain’s The National Health Service was launched in 1948. The idea behind it encapsulated a dream of good health for all. But dealing with ill health has proved intractable – the demand for medicine has always been so great that excessive demands have been placed on the health services. Many agree that there is a large psychological element in health. They argue that modern western medicine sometimes fails because it does not treat the whole person. It is in search of a more holistic approach that many of us insist on treating ourselves, as our forebears have for centuries.

Back