The Impact of War - Coursework Example

The Impact of War War being an armed fighting between countries or between groups within a country has contributed to improvements in the health care. This shows how war correlates with medicine. Medicine is the science of diagnosing, curing, treating and preventing diseases. It is apparent that medical advances are well pioneered in historical accounts and literature. The war lessons have led to advances in the health care that might not have occurred. The war also has played a big role in the development of neuroscience. This paper shows how War and Medicine, Neuroscience and War correlates with each other in a clear and outright way. First, it is apparent that the combat mortality rates of the American military have remained constant at 20% as at the Vietnam War. This is despite improvements in antibiotics, hospital facilities in theater, the advent of blood transfusions and preventative health methods such as improved nutrition. The one exception evident in the war has been the reduction in death in military combatants due to infectious illnesses and diseases. The reduction has been because of the introduction of the prophylactic use of antibiotics, improvement in sanitary conditions and hygiene (Wiesmann et al, 227). The high rate of development in weapons posses an equal challenge to come up with life-saving skills in the battlefield. Research, on the other hand, has proved that battlefield medical care of the future will evolve rapidly to obtain the capability to quickly diagnose the severity and nature of the battle injury. The American military has gone a step ahead in implementing a R&D investment in medicine. The R&D investment involves preventative vaccine development, infectious disease research, protective gear and the point-of-care devises. It is apparent that military medical requirements lead to the development of practical medical devices that support military missions. The advances end up being applied in the civilian healthcare in the cases of civilian trauma incidence. Military has been proven to be the first in the use of healthcare technology. Statistics has shown that 3 to 5 percent of the mainstream medicine is derived from warfare (Wiesmann et al, 230). Military has improved healthcare in various ways. One is from the American Revolution where the first command ordered immunization program for the inoculation of smallpox. Also, a three-tiered evacuation system was developed due to the increasing number of the wounded in the battlefield. First was an Aid station that was located next to the battlefield. The second was a hospital that utilized local burns for emergency treatment and surgery. The third was a large hospital that was located away from the prolonged treatment. As for the Spanish War it led to research to fight malaria that made it possible for the building of the Panama Canal (Wiesmann et al, 230-231). The First World War led to the Thomas splint that reduced mortality due to compound fractures from 80% to 8% into years. In response to the compound fractures, the Americans established a team approach to the reconstruction of surgery. It is apparent that the war has led to field surgical detachments. In the Second World War the first clinical laboratory was established where DDT, blood transfusion and anti-malarial drugs were tested and evaluated. Another evident impact by war is that it led to the use of helicopter in medical evacuation and MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital). This is evident in the Korean War, where the MASH units provided a high-level surgical care closer to the battlefield (Wiesmann et al, 231). The development of the various medicines and regeneration of tissues is apparent in countries such as America. The National Regenerative Medicine Foundation that aims to grow limbs for injured soldiers. Also, research is underway to improve the survival in the battlefield casualties. The research aims at restoring lost tissue, bone, brain and muscle tissue. The spinal injuries due to explosives have led to research on ways of improving peripheral nerve and spinal-cord damage. One method is about reducing of collateral damage to oxygen-starved tissues while the other one is an investigation of the growth factors that stimulate nerve, muscle, skin and immune function. The cytokines are also derived from immune cells to accelerate the restoration of lost tissue after an injury (Wiesmann et al, 234). Medicinal advances have taken place in the 21st century during the war in Iraq. The improved dressing in the battlefield led blood clotting to speed up and prevented infections. The war also led to prosthetics and rehabilitation technologies that can be implemented in the civilian world. There was the development of better body armor and helmets that minimized injuries to the soldiers. As for the left limbs that were exposed blasts led to improved tourniquet that stopped bleeding. The Iraq war has marked progress in preventative and protective technologies. It has also fostered research in prosthetics and led to improved rehabilitation (Ratnam, 1). Neuroscience is an accelerating field that involves a range of applications and technologies that would be of significant impact to the society. It is apparent that an advancement in the understanding of the nervous and brain systems, developments in neuro-pharmacology and human machine systems will enable improved treatment of neurological impairments and psychiatric illness. Neuroscience in the military is driven by two goals. One is the performance enhancement which entails improving the efficiency of one’s forces. The other is performance degradation that involves diminishing the performance of the enemy. The two goals implementation shows how neuroscience and war correlates with each other (The Royal Society, 1). The advances in neuroscience and the increased understanding of the brain have led to potential applications by the military for the enhancement of personnel to be implemented. One of the science and technology development associated with military application is Neuropharmacology and drug delivery, which are for sustaining and enhancing brain function and performance. Also, there has been the development of a human machine that enhances the physical performance (The Royal Society, 5). Neuroscience is applied by the USA to enhance military performance. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is currently funding a training and human effectiveness program. The program is aligned in discovering and applying advances in information processing under stress. DARPA is also funding a program that will enable stress resistance. The aim of the program is to strive to develop behavioral and cognitive interventions that will prevent the deleterious effects of stress in the war fighters. The UK ministry of Defense (MOD) lately identified neuroscience as an important field that has potential relevance to defense and security. It is apparent that understanding pharmacology effects to enhance performance offers significant opportunities for defense and security in understanding adversaries’ behaviors, training and human–based security situations such as guarding (The Royal Society, 6-7). Military personnel undergo through the stages of recruitment, training, operational performance and rehabilitation following injury. The activities are aimed at getting the best candidates for a specific task and to provide effective rehabilitation for the casualties. It is apparent that to achieve the goals, there is applying of the neuroscience findings to find the qualities desired, such as alertness, multi-tasking, memory and decision making. The Neuro-technologies enable both the monitoring and realizing of the skills (The Royal Society, 29). Neuroscience is being embraced by the U.S military for greater strength and endurance that is referred to as “mutant powers”. The risk and policy issues arising from the military enhancements include an electroshock, special nutrition, gene therapy and robotic implants. Researchers are of the view that some of the enhancement could harm the very soldier they are meant to help. Also, that when the enhancements are planned poorly they could lead to disproportionate responses by the American enemies which final result is a devastating arms race. The military enhancements and developing technologies have irresistible benefits, and the military-industrial complex is rising drastically. Scholars have viewed that developing of policies in advance to prepare for the new technologies will help in minimizing unfavorable incidences (Axe, par 1-4). The application of neuroscience advancement in the future battle field will change how wars are fought. This will be evident with the presence of amphetamine-fueled pilots and commanders whose brains have been trained to achieve high tactical canning levels. Between robotics and biomedical research there is the potential of a perfect future war fighter. This will result to a warfighter that is part machine and part human (Axe, par 6-8). In conclusion, it is apparent that war and medicine correlates each other. Statistics has proven that war has led to various advancements in the health sector. One is the prosthetics and rehabilitation technologies that can be applied in the civilian world. The military has been proven to be the first in the use of healthcare technology. Statistics have also shown that 3 to 5 percent of the mainstream medicine is derived from warfare. Neuroscience also correlates with war. The military uses neuroscience to achieve performance enhancement and performance degradation. They involve improving efficiency and performance of the enemy. Work Cited Axe, D. Military Must Prep Now for ‘Mutant’ Future, Researchers Warn. Wired. 12th December 2012. Web. Retrieved on 9th Nov 2014 http://www.wired.com/2012/12/pentagon-prepare-mutant-future/ Ratman, G. Tourniquets to Robots, Iraq War Innovations Finding Wider Use. Bloomberg. 28th Dec 2011. Web. Retrieved on 9th Nov 2014. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-28/iraq-war-s-legacy-of-tourniquets-to-drone-vehicles-seen-in-civilian-uses.html The Royal Society. Brain Waves Module 3: Neuroscience Conflict and Security. London: The Royal Society. 2012. Print. Wiesmann, W., Draghic, N & Parrish, A.J. Advances in Modern Combats Casualty Care with a Vision to the Future. 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