Understanding Medical Treatments: Types and Risks

Distinguishing Medical Treatments

What is the Difference Between Palative, Preventive, and Healing Treatment?

Palative Treatment

Palative treatment seeks to alleviate or treat the maximum discomfort to reach a state of well-being, but it cannot cure the underlying condition.

Preventive Treatment

Preventive treatment serves to prevent the appearance of an illness or infirmity.

Healing Treatment

Healing treatment aims to cure an already existing infirmity.

What Types of Treatments Are Available?

We have:

• Scientific medicines
• Transplants
• Alternative medicines

Risks Associated with Organ Transplants

Transplantation carries several risks:

1. Organ Production: There is a risk of losing the organ during recovery or if the blood flow to the recipient is compromised, which could lead to death.
2. Time Limits: Organs have a time limit. Before approving a donation for a recipient, practitioners must conduct several tests to check compatibility.
3. Organ Viability: Once a compatible organ is selected for transplant, it must be kept sufficiently cold to be transplanted successfully.
4. Rejection: After the operation, the patient may show signs of rejection. To avoid this, immunosuppressive drugs are used, which decrease the receiver's defense response.

Controversies in Drug Trials

There is an ongoing dilemma regarding the use of medicine trials, especially for severe conditions like AIDS. Employing medicine without passing the initial trials involves greater risks. However, the necessary years for trials can mean life or death for an AIDS patient.

Generic Medicines: Pros and Cons

It is necessary to pharmacologically test the quality and therapeutic equivalence of a generic medicine against the original to obtain the corresponding authority's permission.

• Advantages: Reduced price series.
• Inconveniences: Some laboratories argue that the benefits for the original inventor are reduced.

What is the WHO?

The World Health Organization (WHO), accessible via org.mun.sld, has a single objective: to achieve the highest possible level of health for all people.

The main objectives include:

• Good nutrition
• Safe water
• Basic healing
• Maternal and child health care (including family planning)
• Vaccination against principal infectious diseases
• Access to essential medicines
• Health education

Diabetes and Treatment

Diabetes is characterized by an excess of glucose in the blood. Treatment often involves insulin injections, sometimes every few minutes.

Alternative Medicines?

Alternative medicine refers to any treatment whose effectiveness has not been proven through controlled and contracted studies.

Gene Therapy: Applications and Implications

Gene therapy involves inserting a process that takes care of the genetic material in cells to produce the normal protein.

Its uses will include curing diseases of the immune system, allowing for modulation of the response against any antigen, and changing the genotype sequence of a body to have phenotypic implications.

Social Repercussions at National and Global Levels

The possible social repercussions include discrimination based on a person's genetic profile. For example, this could affect employment selection.