Australians Win Nobel Prize in Medicine

AP ^ | October 3, 2005 | MALCOLM RITTER

[Dave Burns]

Two Australians won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for a discovery that defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers. They showed that bacterial infection — not stress — causes ulcers in the stomach and intestine.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 1982 discovery by Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren eventually transformed peptic ulcer disease from a chronic, frequently disabling condition to one that can be cured by a short regimen of antibiotics and other medicines, said the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

[Dave Burns]

Two Australians won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for a discovery that defied decades of medical dogma and revolutionized the treatment of ulcers. They showed that bacterial infection — not stress — causes ulcers in the stomach and intestine.

ADVERTISEMENT

The 1982 discovery by Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren eventually transformed peptic ulcer disease from a chronic, frequently disabling condition to one that can be cured by a short regimen of antibiotics and other medicines, said the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

[since1868]

Barry Marshall is a pioneer he risked his life to prove the real cause of ulsers.

[Dave Burns]

This man was laughed at by the elites

The eldest son of a welder and a nurse, Marshall grew up in a remote area of Western Australia where self sufficiency and common sense counted for more than bookish theories. He applied that same cando spirit to his work. When he needed a centrifuge to separate red blood cells for an experiment he substituted his kitchen ceiling fan, tying test tubes to the rotating blades.
When Marshall finally presented his and Warren's findings before an international conference of microbiologists in Brussels in September 1983, he was greeted with some skepticism. Unschooled at such presentations and filled with boyish eagerness, he refused to respond to questions in the measured, cautious manner of most researchers. Asked whether he though the bacteria were responsible for some ulcer disease, Marshall replied, No, I think they're responsible for all ulcer disease."
http://www.metamath.com/math124/statis/Marhelio.htm

[AndyJackson]

This is not the title of the original article. The "elites" were not wrong. Someone who does scientific research and proves a new theory and wins the Nobel Prize for it is a member of the so-called "elite," even if they are Auzzies.

[starfish923]

Is it possible that everyone might have some of these "bugs" in stocach and stress helps bring forth their disabling effects?
Stress DOES affect the immune system in a very negative way.

I am GLAD to see ulcers treated with anti-biotics.
I just wonder if it's the panacea it looks to be, or will those same ulcers return again and again with new stress?

[ScreamingFist]

Treat the cause, not the symptom. Unfortunately for the huge pharmaceutical companies Drs. Barry Marshall and Robin Warren are modern day Alexander Fleming's........

[since1868]

The point of the title is that he went against the grain,
(the so-called experts).

[AndyJackson]

which so-called experts. Going against the grain with solid research bothers no true professional.

[since1868]

The so-called experts that for years said no corilation between ulsers and bacteria.

[bobdsmith]

You don't think they are experts? I assure you they will be.

[Strategerist]

The thing that people to lose sight of is that 99.99% of all the isolated mavericks challenging established wisdom in science turn out to be horribly wrong.

[since1868]

You don't think they are experts? I assure you they will be.

I am not sure what you mean by this

[Sometimes A River]

I think his point in saying that is that at the time, they were scorned by the Establishment (Elites).

[Lead Moderator]

To prevent duplication, please do not alter the heading. Thanks.

[Lead Moderator]

Thanks.

[Sometimes A River]

The "experts" of the time.

Actually, it's quite common for "experts" to shower scorn on soemthing new, something that has gone against their past and present thinking.

[bobdsmith]

sorry, I just mean the "so-called experts" will be experts in thier field, but on this issue they turned out wrong. Any new ideas are going to come from one or two experts in a field, and most of these new ideas turn out to be wrong, so there is a lot of skepticism of new ideas. Unfortunately this means valid ideas can take a long time to be accepted, but it does seem to eventually happen (as in this case).

[knuthom]

The "elites" were wrong. They were wrong for years. The medical establishment laughed at Marshall when he first said that ulcers were caused by bacteria. They thought he was nuts.

[since1868]

I believe there are some groups of people in any giving field that are set in there ways.They want to hear nothing that might rock there ship.

[bobdsmith]

I have no doubt you are right. Simply dismissing any new idea out of hand will result in a person being right 99% of the time and I bet this kind of behaviour is rife in the scientific community.

Proponents of new ideas who are not well known are in an awkward position where they have to provide a exceptional level of evidence to even be noticed by their peers. In this case the guy even decided to swallow some of the bacteria to support his idea. Once he provided a situation where some people went "hmm that's funny" then his idea stood out amonst the hundreds of new ideas out there and someone looked into it more.

But yea I think it is quite normal for valid new ideas to take decades to be acceped. It's not desirable but what can they do to change it? I don't know