The is no doubt that the rate of medication innovation is insane right now.  Occasionally I like to look back at history and think about all the changes and discoveries that have been made.  I’m a baseball fan, and I couldn’t resist creating a blog post of some of the coolest medication innovations since the Chicago Cubs last won the world series.  For those of you who don’t know, the Cubs last won in 1908 and are in the world series right now.

• In 1899, just 9 years before the Cubs won their last world series, a man named Felix Hoffman developed aspirin
• In 1922, insulin which is used all the time for diabetes was first used to treat diabetes
• Multiple vaccines were created in the 1920’s (including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough)
• Not to be outdone, Flemming discovered penicillin in 1928
• A couple medications to help with glaucoma and rheumatoid arthritis were developed in the 30’s along with the utilization of digoxin
• In the 40’s we had the discovery of streptomycin
• In the 50’s, the first kidney transplant was done, beta-blockers and spironolactone were also being studied and began to be used in patient
• More vaccines highlighted the 60’s with measles and mumps
• An ACE inhibitors was first created in the 70’s
• Fast-forward to the 80’s and the first statin hit the market; we also had the game changing discover of HIV/AIDS virus
• The 90’s brought forth the technology age and rapid development and utilization of the internet and electronic medical records

So to summarize, penicillin, insulin, digoxin, beta-blockers, statins, numerous vaccines, HIV did not exist or were undiscovered the last time the Cubs won the world series!

That’s a long time.

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Sources

• http://www.datesandevents.org/events-timelines/10-history-of-medicine-timeline.htm
• http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/510212_2