The 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was to the guys who discovered that ulcers are caused by bacteria, not stress.
According to the Nobel Prize Committee,
" This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who with tenacity and a prepared mind challenged prevailing dogmas. By using technologies generally available (fibre endoscopy, silver staining of histological sections and culture techniques for microaerophilic bacteria), they made an irrefutable case that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is causing disease. By culturing the bacteria they made them amenable to scientific study.
In 1982, when this bacterium was discovered by Marshall and Warren, stress and lifestyle were considered the major causes of peptic ulcer disease. It is now firmly established that Helicobacter pylori causes more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. The link between Helicobacter pylori infection and subsequent gastritis and peptic ulcer disease has been established through studies of human volunteers, antibiotic treatment studies and epidemiological studies."
Essentially, before this, everyone with an ulcer kept it for their whole lives. Now, they get treated, and it goes away. They might get another one, but it can be treated too. This was a well deserved win.
Another example of someone who made a difference in a good way?
The May 1st, 2006 Woot Rewrote Control Photo Chopping Contest number 70 winner, Josephus. For his award winning rendition of the rising of the dead by remote control!
Oh yeah. This caused a major shift in thinking and in treatment. They couldn’t really treat ulcers until then, now its trivial. Kind of like the isolation of insulin in 1922.
Before Banting and Best isolated insulin, everyone died within a few months of developing the disease. Now, you can live for many years with type 1 diabetes, although you can’t be cured.
Nobel Committee:
"The 1923 Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1923 for the discovery of insulin was divided between Frederick G. Banting and John J. R. Macleod. The choice of this combination of Laureates has been much debated ever since the prize was awarded. Thus, for instance Banting shared his part of the prize amount with his younger coworker Charles Best.
It is very unusual for someone to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine the same year as he or she is nominated for the first time."
“The ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations in Central America were the first to enjoy a much prized drink ‘chocolatl’, made from roasted cocoa beans, water and a little spice. In fact, chocolate was used exclusively for drinking until a technique for making solid ‘eating’ chocolate was devised in the early Victorian times.”
Remember when I said I didn’t have to post for the first 9 or so months I was on woot, because Poof always said what I wanted to post?
She just did it again!!!