C) Look at the words in ex.4. What order are they in? Write the following words in the same order.

A. mass waste disc joint stool loose labour
B. productive medicated episode carrier murmur patient

1)How many meanings can you find for each words in A.
Which meaning is most likely in a medical context?

2) Where is the stress in each word in B?
Which meaning is most likely in a medical context?

ACHIVEMENTS IN MEDICINE
These texts are about great achievements in different field of medicine from the last 50 years.
Think about research questions before you read:
1) What were the initial technique used in this area?
2) What was the turning point in this area of medical science?
3) How did the solution change the human life?

IN GENERAL…

LASER SURGERY
Key words: tissue, to focus, precise, cancer, tumour, technique

Until relatively recently, all operations to remove cancer were carried using a scalpel, which is a sharp instrument, a type of knife. The scalpel is used to cut open the skin and tissue surrounding the tumour, and then to remove the tumout itself. In recent years, however, laser surgery has started to replace traditional surgery for removing some types of tumour.

A laser is a light of very high intensity which can be focused in an extremely precise way. Because of its intensity, it can burn whatever it is focused on. This means that it is particularly suited for cancers that occur on the surface of the body or the lining of the internal organs. In contrast to using a scalpel where the surrounding tissue is cut away to get the tumour, a laser can be used through an endoscope. An endoscope is a flexible tube inserted into an opening in the body that is manipulated so that it gets close to the location of the tumour without the need for additional cutting.

Because lasers are more precise, they cause less bleeding and damage to normal tissue than standard surgical tools. As a result, patients tend to bleed less, to have less pain and swelling and there are lower levels of scarring. In addition, operations using a laser are usually shorter than traditional operations and can sometimes be done on an outpatient basis. All these factors mean that there is a much lower risk of infection for the patient.

However, laser therapy has some limitations. Firstly, surgeons who use this technique must have extra specialized training before they are allowed to use the equipment, and much stricter precautions must be followed. Secondly, the equipment required to carry out the operation is expensive. Thirdly, additional technical assistance may also be required for the maintenance of the equipment. A final limitation is that the surgery may need to be repeated.

IN PARTICULAR…
PEDIATRICS.
SMALLPOX VACCINATION.
Key words: to tramsmit, to appear, initial, development, to discover, eradication, to survive

One of the greatest achievements of the 20^th century medicine was the global eradication of smallpox. The disease is one of the most devastating known to mankind.

Smallpox is cause by the variola virus and is most often transmitted by inhaling the virus. It has an incubation period of between 7 to 17 days, after which symptoms begin to appear. The initial symptoms are flu-like. A significant feature of the disease is the development of blisters on the upper part of the body, which eventually scab over and leave scars when the scabs fall off. Around 30 percent of those with smallpox die, usually within two weeks of symptoms appearing.

The first attempts to control the diseases used a technique known as variolation. Dried scab tissue from victims of smallpox as used to deliberately infect young people. Of those infected by variolation, one percent died, but the technique was still used in remote countries until relatively recently.

However, it was the discovery of vaccination by Edward Jenner in 1796 which marked a major step forward in controlling the disease. Vaccination involves the administration of a preparation that allows the body to develop resistance to a disease without having been exposed to it. By infecting children with cowpox, a relatively minor disease, Jenner found they developed immunity to smallpox. By 1853, infants in the UK were required by law to be vaccinated against smallpox, though the vaccines used were not always effective.

Further advances were made in the 1920s with the development of dried vaccines in France and the Netherlands. These were more effective but were difficult to store in hot climates. An outbreak of smallpox in New York City in 18947 led to the development of a freeze-drying technique which meant the vaccine could be stored for months without refrigeration, even in tropical countries.

In 1966 , the WHO set a ten-year goal for the eradication of smallpox worldwide. Considerable resources were devoted to the development of mechanisms for reporting and monitoring the disease. Improved technology and better vaccines also helped.

By 1980, the WHO could formally declare smallpox eradicated worldwide. The last naturally occurring case was reported in 1977, in Somalia. The last fatality was in the UK in 1978, following the escape of the virus from a research lab. It was the first time a human infectious disease had been completely eradicated. Smallpox was no longer a killer for the humanity.

Smallpox has a number of unique characteristics which made its eradication possible. Its symptoms developed quickly, making those infected aware of the disease at an early stage and reducing the possibility of them unknowingly transmitting the disease to others. Because it is almost completely specific to humans, there is a very low possibility of smallpox being kept alive in animals to reinfect humans. The availability of effective vaccines was also a necessary factor. Finally, the high level of mortality from the disease made it easier to achieve global agreement on its eradication.

Although smallpox has ceased to kill, it remains a potential danger to humanity. Though the possibility of the virus surviving in animals is very low, it is still a possibility. So, too, is the accidental release of material traditionally used for variolation in remote communities. However, the most pressing fear is that stocks of the variola virus set aside for research purposes could some day be used as a biological warfare agent. The proposal, in 2003, to inoculate health care staffs in some countries against such a possibility shoes that the potential of smallpox to kill remains as strong as ever.