Clinical medicine is a branch of knowledge on which the well-being of most people largely depends. Its development allows you to maintain a person’s quality of life at an acceptable level, despite the ever-increasing number of diseases that threaten health.
What is clinical medicine?
This section of knowledge is of great importance to humanity. Specialists working in the development of this branch of science are engaged in the collection, systematization and testing of data for the purpose of timely diagnosis and effective treatment of various diseases.
At present, the development of this branch of science by the most developed states spends hundreds of billions of dollars annually. In many countries, institutes of clinical medicine have been created, whose walls unite a huge number of physicians, biologists, chemists, and specialists from other related branches of science.
The main differences from other sections of medicine
This area of ​​knowledge has several differences from other sections of medicine:
- the main efforts are directed precisely at the practical component of the fight against diseases, and not at the study of their etiology, pathogenesis, and consequences;
- the achievements in this section of medicine directly depend on the results of research in other areas of medical knowledge;
- provides real improvement in the quality of human life;
- conducting clinical trials in this section of medicine can harm patients in the experimental group.
Despite all these differences, clinical medicine is very closely related to other sections of medical knowledge.
History of development
Clinical medicine is a branch of science that has a long history of its development. Its foundations were laid by ancient healers. They managed to achieve success in this industry using an experimental approach. In those days, studies were conducted on patients. The search for the necessary treatment was carried out by trial and error. Diagnosis was based on the features of the clinical manifestations of the disease.
Clinical development of clinical medicine as an experimental one was received in the middle of the 18th century. Already in the Renaissance, the luminaries of medical science used complex diagnostic tools, the most important of which was a microscope. The rapid development of clinical medicine at this time was due to the emergence of the first laboratory research methods. The data obtained with their help made it possible to enrich the knowledge of doctors and to develop more effective ways to combat various diseases.
Another important milestone in the development of clinical medicine is the discovery in 1929 of antibiotics. Since this period, doctors have been able to effectively deal with infectious diseases that previously could destroy entire cities.
In 1953, American scientists discovered the structure of DNA. Currently, the data obtained by them is actively used and supplemented by modern researchers. Thanks to this achievement, the possibilities of clinical medicine have expanded significantly. Knowing the structure of human DNA and gradually discovering all its new features, biochemists manage to invent more effective methods of combating a variety of diseases, many of which were previously considered fatal.
Currently, modern clinical medicine continues to evolve, allowing physicians to help an increasing number of patients.
The main directions of development
The rate of development of clinical medicine, like other sciences, is constantly increasing. At the same time, there are several areas of promising research that can dramatically increase the effectiveness of diagnostic and therapeutic processes. The main ones are the following:
- development of diagnostic devices that can immediately identify all pathological processes that occur in the body at the most different stages of their development;
- the discovery of ways to influence the human genome in order to prevent the development of major socially significant diseases (diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, infectious pathology);
- the development of complex artificial mechanisms capable of fully replacing the lost part of the body or a damaged human organ.
Currently, all these areas are actively developed by scientists from around the world.
The future of clinical medicine
Despite the seeming fantastic nature of these studies, certain achievements in these areas already exist. For example, mechanical limb prostheses already exist that connect to nerve fibers that control the movements of the hands and feet, which allows a person to live a full life. Unfortunately, at the moment, such prostheses have a very high cost, but over time and the development of technology, their price will become acceptable to most people.
Thanks to the development of clinical medicine, modern doctors have managed to defeat many previously incurable diseases. Further discoveries in this industry will allow to overcome those ailments that now remain dangerous to humans.