ly plays a rolein human strokes.The fight against poliomyelits (polio) was delayed due to misconceptions in studies doneon monkeys. The experiments done on the monkeys indicated that the virus mainly infects thenervous system. When trials were done on humans they found that the gastrointestinal systemwas the primary route of infection. The reason the primary route was different was because theviral strains they had administered through the nose had artificially developed an affinity forbrain tissue. This resulted in misguided preventive measures and it delayed the development of avaccine.In addition medical research is used in laboratories to test the safety of drugs and otherchemicals. The US Food and Drug Administration approved many substances that appeared tobe safe in animal studies. When later used on humans they were found to be dangerous to thehealth of humans. A few examples of these drugs are milrinone, which increases cardiac output.While this drug raised the survival of rats with heart failure, humans on this drug had a 30%increase in mortality. The antiviral drug fialuridine was safe in animal trials, yet it caused liverfailure in humans. The antidepressent nomifensine had minimal toxicity in lab animals, butcaused liver toxicity and anemia in humans.Although there have been some set backs, there have also been many great advancementsin medicine which relied heavily on animal experimentation. A prime example of this is the Secor 5polio vaccine. Albert Sabin studied this virus and introduced his oral vaccine to the US in 1961.Polio was a very deadly disease. This epidemic condemned millions of children and youngadults. In 1952, 58,000 children were struck down alone (Sabin 1). Without animal researchSabin would not have had enough knowledge to invent this vaccine, and without this vaccinepolio would still be claiming thousands of lives each year.The antibiotic penicillin is another example of an advancement that came due to ...
