Added: 11/29/2006 |
Help for Those in Obstetrics; Gynecology Assistance TooMedicine does not encourage a young medical student to think in terms of specialization in obstetrics/gynecology, as opposed to obstetrics and gynecology. Medicine has become all too aware of the relatedness of obstetrics, gynecology issues. That relatedness should become even clearer to the reader of the following article, an article about a few scientific discoveries.
Some of those treatments offered hope for greater survival rates in the field of obstetrics. Gynecology doctors too saw a ray of hope in the announcements about specific new treatments. The success of those new treatments caused pharmacists to take notice. Those treatments contributed to the “drug discoveries” of the 20th Century.
The following paragraphs will look more closely at some of those scientific discoveries. They will provide information on why such discoveries proved of value in the field of obstetrics. Gynecology problems that could be tackled more easily with the aid of the new discoveries will also be covered in the upcoming paragraphs.
In 1952 Rosalyn Sussman Yalow made a significant scientific breakthrough. She developed the radioimmunoassay (RIA). For several decades, the RIA offered doctors the best way to check for the presence of proteins and hormones in the blood.
In the 1950s, the RIA was the only way to look for pregnancy hormones, such as those of interest to professionals in obstetrics. Gynecology researchers also rejoiced at the appearance of the RIA. They too were eager to study changes in the level of female hormones.
At the end of the 1950s, the information on two additional scientific discoveries seemed to be of sole benefit to someone in obstetrics. Gynecology doctors learned later that they too could benefit from those discoveries. One of those discoveries ushered in the development of amniocentesis, the securing and examination of amniotic fluid. Such an examination could indicate the presence of both gross physical problems and obvious chromosome defects.
Amniocentesis received instant praise from obstetrical doctors. It allowed those doctors to let patients the chose whether or not they felt ready to deal with a predicted birth defect. Eventually developments in the field of molecular biology permitted gynecologists to benefit as well from the results of an amniocentesis.
Eventually, scientists learned how to identify in the amniotic fluid a genetic code that was associated with breast cancer. Women who carried such a code could be forewarned by their gynecologists. Those women could then take added precautions, in an effort to prevent that particular gene from triggering the unchecked cell growth that might lead to breast cancer.
The sciences of obstetrics and gynecology benefited from one further discovery made at the close of the 1950s. That was the discovery of Ian McDonald. That discovery led to the development of diagnostic ultrasound techniques. Ultrasound allowed obstetricians to view the fetus while it was still inside the mother. Recently, Doppler ultrasound has allowed gynecology doctors to view the blood flow in their aging female patients.
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