Medical technology can have long term negative effects for human Essay

Medical technology can have long term negative effects for human populations - Essay Example Furthermore, social customs governing reproduction and technological developments in the areas of medicine and public health directly affect human populations. Indeed, medical technology through improved drugs and other state-of-the-art medical techniques has, questionably, contributed powerful impulse to the increase of human population by decreasing mortality rate, especially among children, and increasing life span (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2007). Medical technology is the diagnostic and/or therapeutic application of scientific breakthrough in the landscape of medicine (Advanced Medical Technology Association, 2004). . The basic objective of medical technology is improvement in health care delivery through early diagnosis, regular and effective patient monitoring, less invasive treatment options and reductions in hospital stays and rehabilitation times (Advanced Medical Technology Association, 2004). It facilitates efficient and effective delivery of a wide range of healt h care products to improve health. At its most advanced level, these technologies include miniature robots capable of performing complex spinal surgery, noninvasive treatment of brain tumors with a focused beam of gamma radiation, and light-activated drugs that target diseased cells. They also include already established techniques such as blood transfusion, radiation therapy, orthopedic surgery and immunology It is claimed that improvements in medical technology have come alongside with an exponential increase in human population (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011). Most often, this increase in population has been attributed to advances in and increased use of medical technology (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2007). Furthermore, it is believed that human population will increase to a point where it will become a threat, not only to humanity, but also to our planet (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2001). Indeed, overpopulation in the animal kingdoms leads to biological issues su ch as unhealthy competition, and ultimately starvation and death (Bureau of Land Management, 2011). Consequently, many people have come to believe that medical technology, which has stimulated population growth, may ultimately lead to the starvation and famine (Food and Agricultural Organization, 2001). Those who held the above opinion fail to recognize that human population is not only controlled by health-care related factors but other factors such as food supply, wars and natural disaster have impact on it. Though medical technology might seem to have some side effects on human population as in the removal of the impact of natural selection, the effect may not be a long term one. Indeed, medical technologies seem to have removed the impact of natural selection on human population. For instance, a diabetic patient, who would have died young, has been aided by medical technologies to survive to the reproductive age, thereby passing the diseased gene to posterity. Why differential r eproductive success does have an effect on natural selection, it corollary, differential survival also plays a role. Thus a diabetic patient who could successfully adapt will definitely survive. Increasing resistance of microbes to antibiotics shows that over time, the