Hi guys, it has been a while since the Science section has gotten an update (The last two chapters did not have any specific concepts/inventions we could have broken down).
This week’s chapter had something we thought would provide for interesting trivia. Francois and Suika were given some nitroglycerin to use for medical purpose. Senku explains that this mechanism works by expanding the coronary artery, allowing the heart to start beating properly again. A medical fact that is indeed true, since nitroglycerin tablets are used to treat people who have coronary artery disease- A condition where the blood vessels that lead to the heart narrow)
Though as we will talk about in this post, this is not the first time the importance of medicine has been brought up in the series.
Among the first scientific inventions that Senku came up with was soap. It was listed as one of the key uses derived from calcium carbonate. Hygiene is strongly associated with medicine, since a clean body is less likely to succumb to illness.
In ancient times, the soap making process was as simple as mixing animal or vegetable oils with alkaline salts. Alkaline like substances could be obtained from wood ashes. Senku also uses the same principle; the alkali lies in the calcium carbonate which he proceeds to mix with seaweed (Vegetable oils)
Fast forward a few chapters later, Senku runs into the villagers of Ishigami village. Tsukasa sends Gen as a scout to look if Senku is alive. But Magma gets wind of a foreigner in the village, and attacks Gen (Thinking it was Senku). Gen takes some serious damage from Magma’s attacks, and it is up to Senku and co. to treat him.
To cure him, Senku uses herbs (Unnamed ones). This was also a common method of treatment in ancient times, where people would use the plants in their raw form for medical treatment. Eastern Medicine also applies the use of such herbs.
Chrome himself also had herbs in his shed, which he was testing on himself as he sought out a cure for Ruri.
Senku’s first major task when he went to Ishigami village was curing the village’s priestess, Ruri, of the illness that had plagued her for a vast majority of her life. The illness in question was pneumonia. A disease that had also claimed the life of two of the Soyuz’s six astronauts, Shamil and Connie.
But before Senku showed up in the village, Kohaku had taken it upon herself to haul hot water from the hot springs daily to keep Ruri healthy. The hot water helped to keep Ruri warm, plus made it easier for her to breathe. It also helped with clearing phlegm in her body.
Still pertaining to the Ruri issue, Senku settled on the sulfa drug as a cure for her. This can be equated to modern day antibiotics, where sulfonamides are widely used in treating several kinds of illnesses.
But before he decided on the sulfa drug, he had toyed with the idea of using penicillin to cure Ruri. A bit of an interesting fact can be found here. Before man discovered Sulfa drugs, they were dependent on penicillin as a wonder drug. This occurs naturally in the wild, and Senku describes it as a super mold (Considering it eats away other molds). The idea behind developing it in the stone age would be that Senku would grow several cultures and hope one of them predates on the others. Which makes it a rather tricky medicine to acquire. Though in modern times, it is easier to manufacture commercially.
So, Ruri finally manages to get cured, but there is no time to waste. Hyoga attacks the village in the middle of their Grand Bout celebrations. He seriously injures Kinro by stabbing him in the gut.
Senku and Gen conjure up a plan to chase Hyoga away, but Kinro is still gravely hurt. How does Senku deal with this? He uses acetanilide to reduce the fever, and as a pain killer. He also applies the sulfonamides directly to Kinro’s wound. This is different from Ruri who had to ingest them directly, though Kinro does eventually recover from the wounds (It does take a while though)
Fast forward to the end of Stone Wars, and Hyoga has claimed another victim. No other than his former leader, Tsukasa. He stabs him in a vital organ (His lung).
To save Tsukasa’s life, Senku first performs surgery on him (Without the use of any anesthetics).
He then puts him under cold sleep- Scientifically referred to as cryogenic sleep. The first instance of futuristic medicine in the series. This is a concept which, while discovered, has not been used yet successfully on grown adults in the field of medicine. The best humanity has achieved through cold sleep is the freezing of embryos. Though for those of you who are lovers of fiction, you might recognize cold sleep from some Hollywood titles (For example, the 100)
Back to hygiene, and more common Science. On Treasure Island, Senku and his group come up with the plan to sneak Kohaku among the girls who would be chosen by the Head to be in his personal harem. They had to beautify her a bit, and one of the commodities they came up with was shampoo. Shampoo is generally associated with hair hygiene and cleanliness.
There are also minor cases of medicine knowledge in the series- Luna treating Senku on the Perseus after he was shot by Stanley come to mind. Initially, she checks his blood pressure.
She also uses a large syringe to drain the blood from his lungs. Senku also mentions his blood group to her, a fact we know is important when it comes to blood transfusions.
One of Francois’s vast set of skills is medicine, and we see this partly when she gives Senku first aid in the America arc.
Yuzuriha putting together the statues that Tsukasa smashed can be equated to modern day surgery. Wounds are stitched together as a way of sealing them up after injury. And due to Yuzuriha’s prowess with needle work, there is no one better for the job then her. She was also able to put together the statue of the head from Treasure Island, though it was a bit late by the time they got to him.
And of course, the greatest healing agent in the series: petrification. It can bring back people from a ‘dead’ state.
The phenomenon is also able to cure conditions like arthritis or being brain dead.
One must wonder, is this also mimicking a form of futuristic medicine? Of course, more will be revealed to us as the story proceeds….
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