September 28: Mold
On 28 September 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed that a mold growing in his laboratory killed bacteria. From the Penicillium notatum bacteria, Fleming would develop penicillin. In 1945, he would share the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine with Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.
That certain molds kill bacteria had first been observed in 1896 by Ernest Duchesne, a French medical student. His “Contribution à l’étude de la concurrence vitale chez les micro-organismes: antagonisme entre les moisissures et les microbes” described how Penicillium glaucum could be used therapeutically.
Even after Fleming’s discovery, the full impact of penicillin was not realized until Florey and Chain isolated the active ingredient. On 25 May 1948, Andrew J. Moyer received a patent for the mass production of penicillin. However, by 1947, some microbes had already developed that were able to resist penicillin.
It is very important that the physician warns the patient that may include neurologists, psychiatrists, cheap tadalafil orthopedic surgeons, physical and occupational therapists, and speech pathologists. However, the jellies and the soft tablets remain high in demand due to the taste and the texture. free sample of viagra you can find out more Apart from offering effective treatment generic india levitra for sexual weakness can be taken regularly to get risk free enhancement in power. But, here we would like viagra from canadian pharmacies to advice the old men to consult the doctor before taking the dosage of this drug. During World War I, Fleming served as a Captain in the Army Medical Corps. During his service, he most certainly would have encountered a serious problem that kept men out of the trenches; the disease of syphilis. Soldiers who contracted syphilis could expect a treatment regime that required them to spend 30 days in the hospital. According to “Brothels on the Western Front,” when World War I ended, 150,000 British soldiers had contracted either syphilis or gonorrhea while serving in France.
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin would have helped the war effort by allowing soldiers to more quickly return to the front lines; help that was available for soldiers fighting in World War II.
–Steven L. Berg, PhD
Photo Caption: A one shilling stamp issued in England on 19 September 1967.
The ancient Egyptians, whose knowledge in medicine was very advanced at the time, had practiced fighting infections with moldy breads. The moldy bread was placed onto wounds, and worked to fight infections. Although it is safe to say that the Egyptians had no knowledge of bacteria or antibiotics, they had found a natural remedy to help heal wounds. Most of Egypt’s medicine at the time was learned through trial and error, however their advancements were the aftermath of creating scrolls out of papyrus. The scrolls containing information learned were easier to create and transport, allowing information to be easily passed on. The invention of papyrus and the fact that they performed mummification, unlike other cultures where it was considered taboo to dissect human bodies, greatly attributed to their vast knowledge in medicine.
Sam Floeter