Getting Better: 200 Years of Medicine
This 45-minute documentary explores three remarkable stories of medical progress that have taken place over the course of the long history of NEJM. In 1812, we had no understanding of infectious disease, surgery was unsanitary and performed without anesthesia, and cancer was unrecognized. Two centuries later, this film tells the story of research, clinical practice, and patient care, and of how we have continued to get better over the last 200 years.
Interesting article in NEJM last week.
77% survival rate among alcoholic hepatitis patients who got early liver transplants compared to 22% among those not receiving an early liver transplant. The NNT is 2… So we would need to treat 2 alcoholic hepatitis patients with early liver transplantation to save one life.
Obviously, there’s controversy in giving alcoholics liver transplants. Alcoholics usually have to be sober for 6 months to be considered for a liver transplant. Most alcoholics with severe hepatitis not responsive to therapy won’t survive the 6 months without a transplant. There isn’t any wait time for acetominophen-overdose liver transplants or from fatty liver. Should we be placing such a stigma on alcoholics that need a liver transplants vs. a person trying to commit suicide vs. an overweight person who continues to eat an unhealthy diet?
"Take the world apart and figure out how it works." - Built to Spill, 1994.
