The British Medical Journal conducted a poll in their website and invited people to vote for the greatest medical advance. The votes poured in from more than 11,000 people (mostly doctors) in countries including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, U. K. and U.S. Here in order are the results:

        1. Sanitation--the importance of clean drinking water and waste disposal was recognized in the late 1800s, as disease began to be linked to impure water. However, the World Health Organization says there is still a long way to go. More than 1.1 billion people now lack access to drinking water from an improved source; 2.6 billion do not have basic sanitation.

        2. Antibiotics--Alexander Fleming, a British bacteriologist, discovered penicillin in 1928 by accident when he sloppily left a Petri dish of bacteria unwashed in his lab. He found a substance (later named penicillin) growing on it that killed the bugs, and modern-day antibiotics got its start.

        3. Anesthesia--in 1846, a Boston dentist used ether during surgery putting an end to much of the pain of operations. Since then, general anesthesia has become a mainstay

        4. Vaccines--vaccines have helped prevent a variety of diseases—including polio, whooping cough, and measles. The first was Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine, in 796

        5. Discovery of DNA structure--scientist James Watson and Francis Crick presented the structure of the DNA helix, the molecule responsible for carrying genetic information from one generation to the next in 1953.lt earned them the Nobel Prize in 1962.

        6. Germ Theory--in the late 1800s Louis Pasteur was the first to suggest that disease is caused by exposure to microorganisms. Others furthered the theory, showing that specific diseases are caused by specific bugs.

        7. Oral contraceptive pill--the pill arrived on the U.S. market in 1960.For women who use it correctly, oral contraception can be up to 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.

        8. Evidence based medicine--as the name suggests, evidence based medicine involves making use of the current best evidence (such as research) combined with a patient’s values and a doctors’s clinical experience, to make decisions about patient care. The term was coined in the early 90’s and the concept has been evolving ever since.

        9. Medical imaging-the x-ray was accidentally discovered in 1895.Since then, the field has expanded, giving us computed tomography (CT scans), positron emission (PET scans).magnetic imaging (MRIs) and ultrasound

        10. Computers-from medical records to insurance, to making sure your new medication isn’t going to clash with existing ones, computers are now considered important as their stethoscopes by some doctors. They’ve been in use in medicine since the early 1960s.Doctors can access information on new drugs and interactions, new medical studies, and clinical trials, and keep patients records stored at then- fingertips.

        11 .Oral rehydration-this therapy involves giving fluids by mouth to replace losses by the body.lt was first reported in 1964; now it’s a mainstay of treatment in patients with cholera, acute diarrhea and other conditions

        12. Risks of smoking-the first report of the connection between smoking and lung cancer was published in 1950. Even so tobacco use still kills and estimated 440,000 Americans each year

        13. Immunology-the history of immunology is traced in 1798, when Edward Jenner found that people could be immunized against the disease smallpox. Numerous other immunology discoveries followed, leading to a greater understanding of such things as allergies and antibodies.

        14. Chlorpromazine-discovered in 1952, chlorpromazine (Thorazine) was the first antipsychotic medication.lt was used to treat psychotic disorders and their symptoms, such as hallucinations, hostility, and delusions. It’s development brought new understanding of the biological basis for mental illness, and some say it provided more humane management

        15. Tissue culture-tissue culture (keeping tissue alive and growing it in a culture medium for research or other purposes) was discovered in 1907; but it took until the 1950s for it o become an important tool for clinical investigation