In the modern era of high and sophisticated technologies, one cannot imagine his/her daily life without numerous technological developments and advancements of the 21st century. The prevalence of modern technology in society and around the world taken as a whole as well as its profound impact on every aspect of an individual’s life, including healthcare, education, and business activities, cannot be underestimated. Therefore, “technology, and the constantly new world it brings, is an abiding concern for human beings” (Hanks, 2010, p. 1). It should be taken into consideration that one of the basic purposes of modern technological development is “to prolong human life and provide mental and psychological relief to human being” (Green, 2014).
Speaking from the perspective of medicine, technological advancements have played a fundamental role in the history of medicine alongside with developments in chemistry, genetics, and lab technology, including the x-ray technology. In this context it is very important to define what is ‘technological progress’ in medicine and how it relates to fight against disease. According to Goodman (2003), it “might be found in the invention of a surgical tool or a drug or even in the identification of a disease” (p. 11).
According to Wailoo (1997), “in the twentieth century, doctors have learned to think and act through their technologies” (p. 1). In other words, the two major specific features of the 20-th-century medicine have been the practical deployment of technical advancements by health care providing specialists and “the ways in which technologies such as EKGs and fetal heart monitors have assigned coherent meaning to particular symptoms and bodily features, guiding the physician’s mind and hand” (Wailoo, 1997, p. 1).
There is no exaggeration to say that the above-mentioned technical advancements have played a crucial role in disease detection. In the meantime, the issue regarding technology’s role in disease prevention and treatment remains controversial even at the present day. Consequently, the crucial question that still needs to be answered is, “Does technical progress help or harm the process of fight against disease?”
Speaking from the perspective of major advantages associated with technological advancements in medicine, it should be noted that Engineers and specialists in the field of chemical technology have contributed enormously to the reduction of infectious disease in the West by disposing of waste in ways that did not expose humans to infection and by supplying clean water.
Another paramount advantage of use of technological progress advancements is the possibility of early disease detection, including such HIV/AIDS and other viral diseases. It is an ascertained fact that, for the majority of disease cases, early detection is one of the most important prerequisites for successful disease treatment. Therefore, diagnostic technologies are considered to be extremely advantageous for medicine taken as a whole as well as for individual patients, which might help fight against numerous diseases in a more effective manner.
Furthermore, technological progress enabled numerous advances in vaccine technology. In actual fact, according to Kenny (2006), “the invention of a range of vaccinations has been a powerful weapon in the fight against diseases of civilization”. This should definitely be considered as one of the most positive aspects of technological progress and its advancements.
In the meantime, despite all the advantages associated with the use of modern technology in medicine, technological advancements also resulted into numerous negative consequences for the field of healthcare and for every single individual. According to Cowley and Underwood (2003), technical progress has opened “broad new avenues for infection” (p. 33). The negative side of technological progress is now evident and unmistakable: a lot of the developments and advancements which have facilitated and eased our everyday lives have also made them more hazardous and sometimes destructive. In actual fact, “some 30 new diseases have cropped up since the mid-1970s - causing tens of millions of deaths - and forgotten scourges have resurfaced with alarming regularity (Cowley & Underwood, 2003, p. 33).
What makes matters worse, according to the report produced by the Institute of Medicine, the number of infectious diseases that arise due to the technological progress, is likely to increase in the next years and decades.
Another example, which proves that technological progress does not always have a positive influence on disease prevention and treatment, is eugenics and euthanasia experiments. It should be taken into consideration that eugenics procedures have not always been effective in fighting a particular disease, while euthanasia in and of itself cannot be considered as fight against disease.
Taking into consideration all the advantages and negative aspects associated with technological progress in medicine, one should arrive at a conclusion that it remains quite a controversial issue which requires profound analysis. On the one side, technological progress and its advancements, providing for opportunities of early disease detection, vaccination, and chemical technologies, proved to be really helpful and effective when fighting against diseases. On the other side, not all of the above mentioned technological advancements in medicine are safe for an individual’s health and actually help fight against disease rather than harm.
References
Cowley, G., & Underwood, A. (2003, May 5). How progress makes us sick. Newsweek, 141(18), 33-35.
Goodman, K. W. (2003). Ethics and evidence-based medicine: Fallibility and responsibility in clinical science. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Green, M. (2014). How Technology Affect Our Life - Why We Are So Dependent On Technology (E-book ed.). Google Play.
Hanks, C. (2010). Technology and values: Essential readings. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kenny, A., & Kenny, C. (2006). Life, liberty, and the pursuit of utility: Happiness in philosophical and economic thought. Exeter, UK: Imprint Academic.
Wailoo, K. (1997). Drawing blood: Technology and disease identity in twentieth-century America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved May 3, 2016, from https://encore.massey.ac.nz/iii/encore/record/C__Rb3244118__Stechnology and disease__Orightresult__U__X4?lang=eng&suite=cobalt.
