Medical Advancements

With the many advances in technology it has greatly benefited the medical field as we know it. Technology has brought the medical field things as simple as electric thermometers to things like the Sonograms. Now that our technology is more advanced we are able to have the ability to cure certain sicknesses, help control diseases, and even detect cancer soon enough to eliminate death. The more discoveries we make the quicker we will be able to find cures for things like cancer, Alzheimer’s, and HIV. Through the years, our life expectancy rate has risen thanks to advances such as immunizations, CT and MRI scans, as well as education on the spread of diseases. Although, all of these advances have been great and really helped our society, I would …show more content…
Although, MRIs are known for being safer than procedures like CT scans and X-Rays there are some problems with using magnetic forces rather than radiation. Metal objects are very sensitive to the magnetic field that the machine produces, so any metal inside the room can be very dangerous. Patients who have pacemakers, or artificial body parts cannot partake in MRIs because they are too dangerous as the magnets will react with them and could cause displacement. People that may have suffered from bullet wounds or incidents where metal objects may have entered there body also cannot perform in the procedure, because of the risk that there may still be loose metal particles inside the body. There have been accidents known were a metal object has accidently been left in the room, and caused injury and even death to a patient. Another problem with MRIs is that the patient must remain as still as possible in a confined space for up to an hour and a half, this could present the problem of claustrophobia. It can be very uncomfortable and patients may begin to feel restless. Being still is important in order to try and gain the best results, and in some cases patients may become so uncomfortable they may not be able to complete the procedure. The main problem with MRIs is that they are very costly. Although, insurance companies cover most of the procedure, “according to recently released Medicare pricing data analyzed by NerdWallet Health, the average cost of an MRI in the U.S. is $2,611” (Glover). This is quite a bit of money to spend on a procedure that will only last a little over an hour. The high cost is directly related to the fact that these machines are very expensive to make, and depending on the version and intensity of the MRI machine one can cost up to five million dollars. Along with the initial cost of the machine patients have to pay for doctors to perform the test, and