The chemistry of medicine
The contribution of the chemical industry has been essential in many fields, but especially in the field of health. Without chemistry, medicine and surgery had stagnated in 19th century practices.
In Spain, according to data from the National Association of Cardiology, 125,000 people enjoy a better quality of life thanks to a pacemaker made of plastic.
In addition, other products in the health area are the plastic as a main component: syringes, lenses, prostheses, capsules, packaging of pharmaceutical products, bags of blood and serum, gloves, filters for hemodialysis, valves, shredded, glasses, and even the preparation of each of the Chambers of a hospital is built with plastic materials. The hospital sector in Spain consumed in 2001 more than 83,000 tons of plastics. A simple example is a "catheter" to, for example, introduced through an artery and solve an obstruction, it has to be disposable, flexible but firm and, above all, toilet. In this sense, the material that, today, offers more guarantees in this function is PVC.
Cleaning products, gases for ventilation, the fibers of the clothing of operating room, latex gloves, constitute only a minimal example of multiple objects of chemical origin which can be found in a hospital. If life is chemistry, medicine is even more.