Medical Research and its Impact on Healthcare Design - the ...

HEALTH MEDICAL FACILITY RESEARCH AND ITS IMPACT ON HEALTHCARE DESIGNped. This will create possibilities for reconstructivesurgery or other invasive techniquesto restore circulation before the damage becomesirreversible.• Drugs with improved specificity <strong>and</strong> selectivity(receptor blockers) produced by biotechnologywill make it possible to more efficientlytreat several conditions without anyside effects e.g. heart failure, arrhythmias, hypertonia<strong>and</strong> hyperlipidaemia.Transplantation as therapeutic methodsThe immunological research has resulted in newdrugs which counteract the rejection/reactionduring transplantation. Furthermore, it has createdconditions which will make heterologousorgan transplantation possible. Thus, the indicationsfor organ transplantation as a therapeuticmethod will be broadened <strong>and</strong> the dem<strong>and</strong>sfor surgical <strong>and</strong> nursing capacity increased. Thepresent situation can be summarised as follows:• Kidney, liver, heart, lungs <strong>and</strong> pancreas aretransplanted practically on a routine basis atdifferent centres specialising in transplantation• Transplantation of the intestine is still at aninitial stage• Great efforts are made to develop methodswhich will make it possible to use animalsas organ donors (xenotransplantation), particularlythe pig. Furthermore, extensiveresearch is carried out in order to solve theproblems connected to the rejection of insulin-producingcells from pig pancreas.• Transplantation of nerve cells (adrenal medullarcells <strong>and</strong> cells from brains of foetuses) isused in clinical trials to cure e. g. Parkinsons,Alzheimer, diabetes, epilepsy, damages of thespinal cord etc.Surgical therapy – consequences of thescientific revolution• “Classical” general surgery (ventricle, gallbladder, intestines etc.) will decrease, partlybecause of the development of new drugs<strong>and</strong> partly because of the introduction ofnew technologies (laparascopy). The remainingpart will primarily consist of cancer surgery,trauma surgery <strong>and</strong> reconstructive surgery.This will result in a reduced number ofin patients.• Emergency surgery will decrease <strong>and</strong> be concentratedto fewer hospitals. This will meanthe closing of smaller surgical clinics or turningthem into elective un<strong>its</strong>. Fewer <strong>and</strong> largerhigh-technology un<strong>its</strong> with high emergencycompetence will be formed. These structuralchanges will be most pronounced in thedensely populated areas whereas the thinlypopulated areas will be changed less.• Orthopaedic surgery. This will increase becauseof the rapid development of new materialsfor prosthesis <strong>and</strong> new drugs, whichwill speed up the healing process of fractures<strong>and</strong> damages of the soft tissues. It is possiblethat cell transplantation will be a new methodto treat damage of cartilage <strong>and</strong> bone. Improvedmethods to prevent <strong>and</strong> treat osteoporosiswill be used.• Laparascopic surgery will be used on widenedindications. The results of the methodwill be improved which will bring about amore extensive use of this technique.• Laser surgery will increase e.g. within gynaecology(early cancer in the cervix, vagina orlabia); urology (tumours of the urinary bladder,especially condyloma); otorhinolaryngology(cancer of the vocal cords <strong>and</strong> certaincases of cancer of the pharynx <strong>and</strong> larynx);<strong>and</strong> surgery of the coronary vessels.Therapy in psychiatric disordersConcerning therapy of psychiatric disordersthe development is mostly concentrated to a refinementof the psychopharmacological drugsthat are used today. Increased knowledge of thetransmission systems in the brain <strong>and</strong> the mode44 (IADH) International Academy for Design <strong>and</strong> Health