Whilst there are medicinal discoveries taking place on an almost daily basis, whenever a doctor prescribes a medicine to collect from a local pharmacy, it is the most effective and safest treatment for a particular condition available on the market and much better than simply having the disease.
In modern medicine, there is no instance where the cure is worse than the disease, but this was not always the case. Previously, there were some particularly suspect medicines sold as cures for certain conditions, but they were just as likely to cause as much harm if not more.
Here are some medical discoveries important not only in their own right but also because they replace the previous frontline treatment.
Penicillin
One of the most important medications ever made, whilst penicillin has saved countless lives since its discovery in 1928 and its more widespread use starting in the 1940s, what is just as important not necessarily as commonly discussed is that it also replaced a truly toxic concoction for many conditions.
Bacterial infections such as syphilis were commonly treated using mercury, which is a particularly poisonous compound that can cause brain damage, kidney failure and damage to the circulatory system, often masked by the typical symptoms of syphilis and similar diseases.
Once alternative options became available, not only were previously life-threatening infections readily treatable but the dangers of mercury were consequently reduced as well.
It did take a lot longer but eventually the rise of composite resin materials replaced mercury amalgam in dental fillings as well.
Epinephrine
Better known simply as adrenaline, epinephrine is a life-saving medication used to restart the heart after cardiac arrest and to open the airway after an allergic reaction causes an anaphylactic shock.
It can also be used to treat asthma, which made it far better than the previous popular option of asthma cigarettes, which inexplicably were recommended as late as the 1990s despite one of the biggest legal settlements in human history proving without question that cigarettes are harmful.
The worst part about this recommendation is that cigarettes are far more likely to make asthma worse as the smoke acts like an irritant.
Antihistamines
A loose group of medications that are primarily used to treat hay fever and other nasal allergies, antihistamines provide vital relief for many people during the spring and summer months when pollen is at its highest.
It can also help with motion sickness, more general nausea and the itchiness that comes with hives and insect bites.
When it comes to allergies though, their discovery in the 1930s was rather vital as one of the alternatives that had been used up to that point was cocaine.
Cocaine was in a lot of medications in the 19th century, with cocaine cough drops even being recommended for children. However, one particularly unusual use was a spray solution directly up the nose that would be used to treat hay fever.
Thankfully, much safer alternative medications would become available that lacked the dangerously addictive qualities possessed by what is now a Class A drug, and antihistamines were one of the key steps towards a safer medical world.