Effects of Biomedical Research on Human Health and Life Expectancy
Biomedical researchers develop the drugs and treatments that are prescribed by doctors. They study the potential treatments and carry out clinical trials when a developed drug or treatment is confirmed as safe and effective by pre-clinical research. In order words, biomedical researchers are the ones who develop treatments that cure diseases, help control their symptoms and delay their progress if the cure is not available, and help reduce the risk of a number of diseases including potentially fatal ones.
A number of previously incurable diseases are today easily treated thanks to biomedical research and dedication of the scientists to the field of human health. People are no longer dying from every slightest infection, while a number of serious diseases became virtually non-existent because biomedical researchers do not only develop treatments for diseases but work on their prevention too. For example, smallpox which is estimated to claim up to 500 million lives only during the 20th century was declared eradicated in 1979. The disease which was often fatal, especially in children was eradicated with the smallpox vaccine that was developed by the English scientist Edward Jenner in the 19th century. Smallpox is only one of two diseases to be officially declared eradicated (in 2011, the World Organization for Animal Health declared eradication of riderpest, a viral disease of cattle) but the incidence of a number of infectious diseases declined dramatically, especially in the developed countries. This can be significantly attributed to the discoveries and advances in biomedical research giving the general public an access to preventive treatments such as vaccines as well as the necessary information how to protect themselves and reduce the risk of most known diseases.
As a result of improved public health, people live longer than they did just a few decades ago. Multiple factors play a role in the rising life expectancy including dietary and lifestyle factors, environment, genetics, crime rate, etc. but improved public health, without a doubt, has an important influence on longevity too. And considering that public health primarily depends on biomedical research, the latter can be considered as one of the main contributors to the rising life expectancy. This clearly reveals the comparison of today’s life expectancy with that in history as well as comparison of life expectancy between the developed world where health care is accessible to the general population and the developing countries where access to health care remains limited. For example, an average life expectancy in the UK is today almost 80 years which was the exception rather than the rule in the pre-industrial era. Countries with the lowest life expectancy belong to the so-called Third World where access to health care remains a problem for the majority of the population. However, most countries with the lowest life expectancy have high rates of HIV/AIDS and infant mortality both of which significantly lower the average longevity. The statistics therefore may not reveal the actual life expectancy of a person who has survived the first year of life.