Product Review

If you fell ill 100 years ago there wasn’t much you could do except pray. Penicillin was still more than a decade off, surgery was crude, immunisation rare, cancer a death sentence and blood transfusions thought impossible. In the UK, two-thirds of people died before they were 60.

How times have changed. Life expectancy in the west is now above 80, largely thanks to advances in medical technology. The past century has seen a revolution in health care: antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, immunisations, transplants, implants, X-rays, ultrasound, diagnostics and intensive care have all become routine. To a time traveller from 1915, a modern hospital would look like science fiction.

Medical Frontiers is dedicated to the frontiers of medicine. From drug discovery and diagnostics to genetics, stem cells, digital doctors and brain implants, incredible progress is being made right now.