Abstract
In a short historical review of the outstanding changes occurred in the whole of endocrinology and particularly in Chile over the last 60 years -with the background of an infant mortality drop from 200 per thousand in 1940 to 8 per thousand today and a mean life expectancy increase from 42 to 76 years- the author outlines major achievements in this country. He comments on the use in former days of biological tests on urine extract to measure hormones for diagnostic procedures replaced by hormone determinations in blood by radioimmunoassays; today's medication with synthetic hormones instead of opotherapeutic preparations obtained from organ extracts; the identification of new hormones, receptors and new knowledge that enables us to understand the role of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, the interaction of neurological, endocrine and immunological systems and the involvement of stress in various diseases. Finally the description of DNA and the international cooperative project to establish the human genome map with unpredictable potential applications in medicine. The author underlines the importance of collaborative work in all branches of medicine, often making cooperation more effective than competition. The enormous expansion of biological information demands that direct application of scientific knowledge to clinical medicine is prevented as being insufficient for an optimal clinical judgment, since a bio-psychosociological perspective of the patient and the doctor's clinical experience are essential factors in the doctor-patient relationship.
Highlights
In a short historical review of the outstanding changes occurred in the whole of endocrinology and in Chile over the last 60 years –with the background of an infant mortality drop from 200 per thousand in 1940 to 8 per thousand today and a mean life expectancy increase from 42 to 76 years– the author outlines major achievements in this country
Si bien es innegable la importancia del rigor científico en las investigaciones clínicas, no lo es menos que la medicina basada en la evidencia encuentra límites en la aplicación directa a un paciente individual y es insuficiente para proveer el óptimo juicio clínico
Al término de este bosquejo sobre algunos momentos del desarrollo de la medicina, podemos decir que la endocrinología, desde la fisiopatología y la clínica, desde la biología molecular y la bioquímica de sistemas, la genética y la inmunología, hasta la psiquiatría y la salud pública, nos acerca, como ninguna otra disciplina, de una manera integral, a la mejor comprensión del ser humano y a la reflexión sobre el maravilloso misterio de la vida
Summary
In a short historical review of the outstanding changes occurred in the whole of endocrinology and in Chile over the last 60 years –with the background of an infant mortality drop from 200 per thousand in 1940 to 8 per thousand today and a mean life expectancy increase from 42 to 76 years– the author outlines major achievements in this country. La Universidad de Chile aceptaba en primer año 50 estudiantes chilenos y una veintena de estudiantes latinoamericanos de países de la costa del Pacífico y de Centroamérica, algunos de los cuales carecían de escuelas de medicina.
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