The Importance of Medical Research

All around the world, researchers are working tirelessly to uncover the next great medical discovery. Whether that be cures or new treatments for diseases like cancer or Alzheimers, or even just a more efficient version of the flu shot, medical researchers are hard at work to find ways to improve our lives. For many decades we have greatly benefited from these efforts as research has led to life-changing discoveries.

Here is a small, but notable list:

  • 1882 – The first mastectomy for breast cancer is performed 1
  • 1898 – Physicists Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium and later use it to effectively treat tumors. 5
  • 1887 – First contact lenses developed 3
  • 1899 – Felix Hoffman develops aspirin 3
  • 1922 – Insulin first used to treat diabetes 6
  • 1928 – Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin 3
  • 1950 – John Hopps invented the first cardiac pacemaker 3
  • 1961 – Stewart Adams discovers Ibuprofen. 4
  • 2006 – FDA approves adjuvant (post-surgery) Herceptin for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. 5
  • 2011 – FDA approved the first immunotherapy drug for advanced melanoma. 1

Many of the medicines that we use in our everyday lives, even medicine for the common cold, is possible because of medical research. In the same way, research has made a great impact on cancer rates in the U.S. with the American Cancer Society reporting that as of 2016, the cancer death rate for men and women combined had fallen 27% from its peak in 1991. 

While much progress has been made there is still more to be done, and YOU can help. 

Make a difference by donating blood or bone marrow at one of our multiple collection centers. Click HERE to learn more about the different donation types. What’s more, in addition to advancing research and helping countless people, you will be compensated for your time and effort. Learn what others are saying about donating with StemExpress. 

At StemExpress, we are committed to accelerating research and reducing the time it takes for new treatments and cures to reach patients in need. With the development of new treatments and medicine, people around the world, and your family and friends, can live a longer and healthier life!

Your donation could be the missing piece needed to make today’s life-threatening diseases a thing of the past.  

Sources

  • 1 – American Cancer Society LINK
  • 2 – NIH National Cancer Institute LINK
  • 3 & 4 – NCBI – National Center for Biotechnology Information LINK 1 LINK 2
  • 5 – Cure Today – Cancer updates, Research & Education LINK
  • 6 – Infoplease LINK 6