There exist many professions where those in them are called upon to save lives, but few require the finesse and skill that go with cardiology. It is a field of medicine that has evolved from the trial and error of numerous decades, starting out as something crude and experimental, and ending up as an art form. In this article, we will take a closer look at two of the foremost cardiologists of the modern age, Drs. Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley.
As modern science and medicine improved, so has the health maintenance of the human body. People are able to live longer, mainly due to our ability to better take care of our physical parts and even replace them if they fail entirely. The heart, being the main engine, never stops and it never rests. The never resting engine needs special care and attention for healthy and proper function. We did not always understand the importance of the heart and how it worked. Here is a brief history of important events and figures in cardiology and how we came to understand the heart and treat it.
William Harvey was an English physician who was the first to fully describe the circulation system and its relationship to the blood. Harvey was not the first to theorize that the blood circulates throughout the body or that it is pumped by the heart. There were earlier scientists and writers who theorized as such. Harvey was, however, the first to fully organize and describe it as a system of the body in 1628.
The next notable figure, Raymond de Vieussens, was a French anatomist. He was the first to describe the anatomy, or the structure of the heart, its chambers and vessels. In 1705, Vieussens wrote the Vessels of the Human Body, which is a classic study and resource material in the history of cardiology. In 1733, Stephen Hales, a true scholar in a variety of academic disciplines was an English man of the cloth, who made his contribution to cardiology by being the first to measure blood pressure.
Debakey continue to make advances in the field of cardiology and practice medicine right up until his death at the age of 99 in 2008. Two years prior to his death, the procedure that he had perfected in the 60's was used to save his life on December 31, 2005.
As the modern scientific era dawned, the first attempts at surgical intervention began. The field of cardiology was venturing into new and uncharted waters. In the late 1800s the first successful open-heart surgery was performed by Dr. Ludwig Rehn. In 1896 this German physician performed the first successful heart surgery. It wouldn't be until 1953 until heart surgery would become more common.
He finished his medical training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In 1946, he served with the Army Medical Corps. During the 1950's, he went back to Houston to become a professor of surgery and to work at the Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital.
In 1957 James Jude, yet another American cardiac surgeon, lead a team to perform the first successful chest compression method. This external cardiac massage method Jude and his team studied and perfected, is the essential component of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, better known as CPR. Today, CPR is widely studied, educated and applied, and saves countless number of lives around the world.
Michael DeBakey, the American surgeon hailed by the National Institute of Health as a magician of the heart, performed the first coronary bypass in 1965. In the same year another important American surgeon, Adrian Kantrowitz invented a mechanical implant device to help keep a heart pumping even when the patient is not in the surgical room of a hospital. Their contribution to cardiology continues to save numerous lives today.
Another miraculous breakthrough in cardiology and medicine was made in 1967 by a South African surgeon, Chrstiaan Neethling Barnard. Barnard was able to, for the first time in history, perform a whole human to human heart transplant. This gave new hope to patients with even end stage heart failures or extremely serious coronary artery diseases.
In looking at these two great men, we have only really glimpsed their long careers, careers that accounted for the saving of many lives, and by extension, giving life back to the families who cared about those that went under the skillful hands of both DeBakey and Cooley.
The art and science of cardiology have a long and wonderful history. Many of us today owe our lives to the efforts of these pioneers. Advances in medical science have created a world that many of these trailblazers could only imagine. Cardiologists continue to work in tandem with specialists from other fields, like bio-engineering and electronics. The new discovery these men and women invent will improve the quality of life for countless heart patients. The study of the human heart will continue to amaze, fascinate, and benefit us for a long time to come.
As modern science and medicine improved, so has the health maintenance of the human body. People are able to live longer, mainly due to our ability to better take care of our physical parts and even replace them if they fail entirely. The heart, being the main engine, never stops and it never rests. The never resting engine needs special care and attention for healthy and proper function. We did not always understand the importance of the heart and how it worked. Here is a brief history of important events and figures in cardiology and how we came to understand the heart and treat it.
William Harvey was an English physician who was the first to fully describe the circulation system and its relationship to the blood. Harvey was not the first to theorize that the blood circulates throughout the body or that it is pumped by the heart. There were earlier scientists and writers who theorized as such. Harvey was, however, the first to fully organize and describe it as a system of the body in 1628.
The next notable figure, Raymond de Vieussens, was a French anatomist. He was the first to describe the anatomy, or the structure of the heart, its chambers and vessels. In 1705, Vieussens wrote the Vessels of the Human Body, which is a classic study and resource material in the history of cardiology. In 1733, Stephen Hales, a true scholar in a variety of academic disciplines was an English man of the cloth, who made his contribution to cardiology by being the first to measure blood pressure.
Debakey continue to make advances in the field of cardiology and practice medicine right up until his death at the age of 99 in 2008. Two years prior to his death, the procedure that he had perfected in the 60's was used to save his life on December 31, 2005.
As the modern scientific era dawned, the first attempts at surgical intervention began. The field of cardiology was venturing into new and uncharted waters. In the late 1800s the first successful open-heart surgery was performed by Dr. Ludwig Rehn. In 1896 this German physician performed the first successful heart surgery. It wouldn't be until 1953 until heart surgery would become more common.
He finished his medical training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In 1946, he served with the Army Medical Corps. During the 1950's, he went back to Houston to become a professor of surgery and to work at the Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital.
In 1957 James Jude, yet another American cardiac surgeon, lead a team to perform the first successful chest compression method. This external cardiac massage method Jude and his team studied and perfected, is the essential component of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, better known as CPR. Today, CPR is widely studied, educated and applied, and saves countless number of lives around the world.
Michael DeBakey, the American surgeon hailed by the National Institute of Health as a magician of the heart, performed the first coronary bypass in 1965. In the same year another important American surgeon, Adrian Kantrowitz invented a mechanical implant device to help keep a heart pumping even when the patient is not in the surgical room of a hospital. Their contribution to cardiology continues to save numerous lives today.
Another miraculous breakthrough in cardiology and medicine was made in 1967 by a South African surgeon, Chrstiaan Neethling Barnard. Barnard was able to, for the first time in history, perform a whole human to human heart transplant. This gave new hope to patients with even end stage heart failures or extremely serious coronary artery diseases.
In looking at these two great men, we have only really glimpsed their long careers, careers that accounted for the saving of many lives, and by extension, giving life back to the families who cared about those that went under the skillful hands of both DeBakey and Cooley.
The art and science of cardiology have a long and wonderful history. Many of us today owe our lives to the efforts of these pioneers. Advances in medical science have created a world that many of these trailblazers could only imagine. Cardiologists continue to work in tandem with specialists from other fields, like bio-engineering and electronics. The new discovery these men and women invent will improve the quality of life for countless heart patients. The study of the human heart will continue to amaze, fascinate, and benefit us for a long time to come.
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There are quite a few cardiologists Los Angeles that can provide services in case you are having heart problems. It is their expertise so they deal effectively with any kind of heart diseases and conditions.
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