Katie

Injuries/ Medicine/ Surgery

Key questions:
 * What medical breakthroughs took place during the first world war?
 * Did the new weaponery and warfare have an impact on the new medical discoveries?
 * What were the most common diseases and injuries during the war?
 * What were the most effective and "modern" cures?

Introduction: The first world war engendered many revolutionary changes on the medical front. With new diseases, injuries due to new weaponery and awful living conditions the soldiers were at high risk for diseases such as influenza, malaria, trench fever and trench foot, infections, amputations and facial disfiguration. These various maladies brought upon an extensive search for new ways of plastic surgery, prostate limbs and effective cures for infection and the other diseases.

Positive Effects: During the first World War new ballistic weapons, submarine and gas warfare were created; which resulted in injuries much worse then anything prier to this war. The wounds produced by sharpnell, shell and grenades left large injuries and fragments of materiel within the human body. This led to the discovery and increase in technology of the x-ray and magnetic applications we know today. The Chlorine gases used by the Germans also led to new discoverie and ways of protection. Protective masks contaning filters pads were created to protect the soldiers along with the invention of mustard gas.

Improvements within the hospitals were also taking place. While blood transfussions had already been invented, they were not open to the general public untill WWI. Due to sanitary and storage problems the blood was usualy passed from donor to patient directly thrue the viens. Facial reconstruction and plastic surgery were vastly improved; while the surgery was allready practissed using the patients own skin, the skills were refined and became more efficient then in the past. Artificiel limbs also became more comfortable and wearible. In england alone over 41000 soldiers lost a limb due to injuries and because every soldier was intitled to a free limb replacement; they were in high demand. The limbs were constructed onsite and were made out of light metal alloys; which was a big difference from the previous wooden ones.

New diseases were introduced, such as typhoid, typhus, malaria, and tetanus, which were a result of the dirty, cold and wet environment of the trenches and the poor sanitation. While there was no real cure for these diseases, the doctors and soldiers uped the precautions and healthcare in order to prevent a spread.Bottles of clean water treated with sodium hypochlorite was supplyed along to the troops along with instructions to boil the water from the wells. The soldiers were to also incinerate and chemically treat all waste and garbage in order to prevent the spread of disease.

Negative Effects:

After having lived and seen the horrors of war; many soldiers returned home feeling depressed and as though they did not fit in with the rest of society nor their old family life. Some suffered the transition much harder than others. A "disease" known as shell shock took over a million men; 80000 of which were in the british army alone. The medical symptomes consisted of diarrhoea, serious anxiety, lose of control over facial muscles, stomach cramps, lose of sight and terrifying persistent nightmares. While this is more a phycological problem than a physical one it had serious consequences upon combat and whithin the family lives of every single one of the soldiers affected. The doctors attempted to treat it with massages, rest, diets, hypnosis and electroshock therapy. Though they went through great expenses to perserves these men's dignities and pride, only four fiths of the men afflicted were ever able to return to duty. Another disease that created much damage was the 1918 influenza pademic which killed between 20 to 40 million people. While we do not know exactly what started it we know that it affected over half the globe; including Spain, China and the United States. A doctor stated that the patients would"develop the most viscous type of pneumonia that has ever been seen" and later when cyanosis appeared in the patients, "it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate,". They never discovered an effecient cure fore the disease.

Conclusion: In conclusion WWI greatly improved the worlds medical care. The improvements regarding surgery, blood transfusion, limb creation, and sanitation were vast and as a result saved many lives and helped modern medicine become what it is today. While there were great improvement new diseases and phycological problems developped; which the doctors were unable to find a cure for thus affecting over 2 million lives. As a result they lost about as many or more lives than they had saved. The research though that went into the saving of these lives, though was revolutionary.

http://www.vlib.us/medical/ http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/milmedhist/chapter3.htm