Penicillin

Thursday, August 2, 2018

This week we are looking at monumental inventions. Today I am focusing on medications since that's what I do every day as a pharmacist. I did a little research as I asked the question, "what are the most important medication discoveries?" There are quite a few that have far-reaching significance.

PENICILLIN
When I was a kid, we used to joke about the mold growing on our week-old loaf of bread as being penicillin. Well, it's quite possible that it was. 

theconversation.com

In 1928, Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory from a trip and found penicillium notatum taking up residence in some open petrie dishes. Interestingly, some of these culture dishes also had contained staphylococcal bacteria. Fleming found that the mold had killed the staph. Hm.

One thing lead to another and within a few years, we had our first penicillins ready for consumption.

To say that this was a monumental find would be an understatement. Did you know that many of the deaths in war times were not from injuries but from bacterial illnesses? In World War I, it is estimated that 15-20% of soldiers died from bacterial pneumonia. That statistic was cut to less than 1% for World War II, thanks to penicillin.

Since its discovery, countless penicillin derivatives have been developed. And who knows how many lives have been spared because of these medications. I read one article that suggested that perhaps 75% of today's population would not exist because an ancestor would have succumbed to infection were it not for penicillin. That's mind boggling.

VACCINES
I can't even imagine the fear of coming down with polio -- or smallpox. Now we inoculate our children against multiple diseases and don't even think about it much less fear the diseases. Have you ever had the measles? Mumps? Rubella? Tetanus? Diphtheria? Shingles? Anthrax? Cholera? My grandchildren will never have to worry about these diseases in their lifetimes. 

INSULIN
Diabetes care altogether has come a long way over time. But the initial use of insulin from cows and pigs revolutionized patient care and decreased the incidence of death or complications from the disease. 

HIV MEDICATIONS
Human Immunodeficiency Virus took the world by storm in the 1980s. The death rate spiraled out of control. Very quickly we developed protease inhibitors and other anti-virals that we were able to use to put the progression of the disease in check. Thankfully many who are diagnosed with this disease today can live fruitful lives by using these agents to keep it under control.

ASPIRIN and MORPHINE
So many medications have been formulated from these two pain killers. They are used to treat arthritis, cardiac disease, minor aches, and major pains. When used properly, they can make life bearable for so many people.

ANESTHESIA GASES
I think it is safe to say that surgical advances would not have been made possible if William Thomas Green Morton had not first demonstrated the use of ether as an anesthetic for a dental procedure back in 1846. Thankfully, ether has been replaced by much less flammable and safer agents.

CHEMOTHERAPY DRUGS
Now this is a broad category. Did you know that the first chemotherapy agents were derived from mustard gas? That's scary. It wasn't until the 1990's that more specific and beneficial cancer meds really started gaining traction? Now there are medications that are considered targeted therapy that hone right in on the cancer cells and wipe them out. 

As you can tell, I could probably talk about medications for two or three weeks because I find this stuff to be pretty interesting. Think about it. Where would we be -- or would we even "be" -- if these meds had never been discovered?