Heart Surgeon Takes Notes from da Vinci

vivekg writes "Leonardo da Vinci probably never thought he had the proverbial Holy Grail to a revolution in heart surgery. Almost 500 years after da Vinci's death, intricate diagrams of the human heart made by him have inspired a British surgeon to pioneer a new way to repair damaged hearts."

Floppy mitral valve

[karvind]

Mitral valve prolapse [nih.gov], fortunately, is not deadly. But the usual treatment always has the potential danger of valve infection. I hope the new technique will help prevent that problem.

Now medicine is a monopoly

[Anonymous Coward]

When Leonardo was alive, 500 years ago,there was no monopoly; barbers and other people with dubious trainng were involved in medicine.

Before Leonardo, in the early Middle Ages, say, when the Decameron was written (13++) physicians were not called "Doctors" because they did not have doctoral degrees. Only Theologians and Lawyers were Doctors. The best eaxample is Toma De Aquino, "Doctor Universalis" who had all the doctorates of the time, but was no physician.

Re:Now medicine is a monopoly

[Anonymous Coward]

Not everybody can get into med school. No matter how well you do on the MCAT's, most med schools will still screen applications. For example, a 60-year old will probably not be admitted.

Re:BS

[pg133]

Maybe this article Da Vinci decodes heart valve surgery explains it better [news.com.au]
rancis Wells, a consultant cardiac surgeon at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England, said he had a "eureka moment" as he pored over drawings and notes by the artist in the royal collection at Windsor Castle.
With Da Vinci's understanding of the importance of the opening and closing phases of the valve, Mr Wells has worked out how to restore the valve's normal and full variability in opening and closing properly.

"That has been a big step forward," he said yesterday.

So, yes the work of Da Vinci 1500, did lead to some modern improvments in medicine today!

Re:Leonardo's best contribution may be...

[Cerdic]

Ok, let's say I wanted to donate my body to Leonardo's research when I die.

Guess what? The Church won't let me do what I want with my body because it is against their beliefs. And I'm sure the Church scared the hell out of people with ideas that they couldn't go to heaven if their deceased bodies were "desecrated."

Leonardo did his work in the only way he could. Would you rather the world still be ignorant of the body to this day and not have life saving surgeries performed?

Re:how much pure knowledge have we discarded?

[garat]

one of the most healthy foods you can eat is tuna

While tuna is actually an excellent source of protein (remember that a healthy diet needs many other things as well), there is a downside: eating large quantities can introduce the risk of consuming too much mercury; here's two interesting links:

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:1dWBudmqB9cJ:ww w.mercurypolicy.org/new/documents/CanTheTunaReleas eFinal061903.pdf+tuna+mercury&hl=en&client=safari [66.102.7.104]
http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/tuna.as p [nrdc.org]

Re:BS

[Effika]

I think this is the better part of the article. This quote actually explains what the new technique is.

Until now, surgeons have narrowed the diameter of the valve by removing a square portion of one of the flaps. Now, by closing the gaps on each side of the prolapsing flap and cutting out the excess tissue in a V-shape, the surgeon can make the valve work properly again.

Re:Don't mod up both parents are worng

[technoextreme]

Amen. Mod up, please. This man (though he be a coward) is telling the truth. "da Vinci" means "of Vinci". Lots of people lived in Vinci through the ages; it would be a bit unfair to say that Leonardo was the only inhabitant of Vinci. Imagine if years from now someone from New York city is commonly called "of New York". Obviously that would apply to a lot of people.

Sigh..... Read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surname#Italy [wikipedia.org] And I quote:

Italian surnames developed from four major sources: Geographical Surnames: These surnames are based on a person's geographic origin, (Elisabetta Romano i.e. Elisabeth from Rome)

Now I just find it disturbing that wikipedia has an article on surnames.:(