Medical Inventions during World War II Have you ever gone to the doctor or to the hospital in need of help? Think of how many lives have been saved with the help of medicine, doctors, surgeons, and nurses. Without some of the medical inventions during World War II, you might not have been able to receive treatment and recover. It is important to understand how medical inventions and surgeries during World War II helped so many lives during the war and today. While World War II was occurring, scientists and doctors were discovering and inventing new medical advances to help soldiers who were fighting in the war. Some of the most helpful medicines today were invented during World War II. These include sulfanilamide, penicillin, atabrine, plasma, and morphine. Sulfanilamide and penicillin proved very useful for their ability to kill deadly, harmful bacteria. “Sulfanilamide was first mass distributed in 1936 to fight not only strep infections but also meningitis and pneumonia, which had been killing and weakening tens of thousands of …show more content…
World War II provided a huge backdrop for a major expansion and improvements in the medical field. Medical inventions like sulfanilamide saved plenty of lives during the war and many historians credit the invention with helping allied forces win World War II. With penicillin, the chance of wound infections for soldiers vastly reduced, so survival rates also raised. Plasma was also of very great usage because 15,000 units of plasma were distributed in just five months of the war! Microscopes were also created and they opened up a new perspective in the medical field. They created new possibilities for surgeries involving the heart, ear, and other potentially problematic areas. The new medical inventions for the war saved many lives and still continue to be widely used