Introduction: History of medicine in 20th century. The 20th century produced such a plethora of findings and advances that, in some ways, the face of medicine transformed beyond all recognition.
For example, in Britain in 1901, life expectancy at birth was a primary indicator of the effect of health care on mortality (but also reflecting health education, housing, and nutritional status); for men, it was 48 years and 51.6 years, respectively year for women.
After a steady increase, by the 1980s, life expectancy reached 71.4 years for men and 77.2 years for women. Other industrialized countries showed similarly dramatic increases.
By the 21st century, the approach had changed so much that, except for certain fatal diseases such as cancer, the focus was on disease rather than mortality, and the emphasis shifted from keeping people alive to keeping them fit.
Tremendous communication improvements between scientists worldwide fueled the rapid development of medicine during this period. Through magazines, conferences, and—later—computer and electronic media, they freely traded ideas and reported their efforts.
It is no longer common for an individual to work in isolation. Although expertise increased, teamwork became the norm. As a result, it has become more challenging to attribute medical breakthroughs to specific individuals.