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The importance of animal testing in medicine
A personal view against animal testing
The use of animals in medical research has many practical benefits. animal research
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The medication you are taking was tested on animals. It might save your life and it may even save the animals’ life. Are you for or against animal testing? animal testing? Animal testing is a phrase that most people have heard but are perhaps still unsure of exactly what is involved. Animal research, it refers to experiments carried out on animals. It is used to assess the safety and effectiveness of medicine, and understanding how the human body works (“Murnaghan”). “The use of animals in scientific research continues to play a vital part developing in improvements in healthcare and the environment. The opportunities presented by scientific advances are used to replace or reduce animal use, and to refine procedures to minimise suffering.” (“Understanding Animal Research”). Animal testing is a controversial subject. Because those who support animal testing may define it as experimentation that uses animals to benefit humans, where it saves lives and provides vital medical treatments. (“Murnaghan”) Animal research has enabled to find treatments for cancer, antibiotics for infections, vaccines to prevent some of the most deadly and weakening viruses and surgery for injuries, illnesses and deformities. (“Do Something”) Despite many animal testing protesters, the benefits of animal testing in the field of medicine for humans outweigh any animal suffering that may occur.
“Without animals, we may not have benefited from advances that have given us the antibiotics, vaccines and anaesthetics that we now take for granted. Blood transfusions might never have been developed. It is difficult to see how we could control diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure, which would cause more suffering and claim more lives. We still need animal...
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... and in what amount, was to measure its ability to lower blood sugar in rabbits. Since insulin overdose is fatal. These extracts were first used in dogs, than in patients in 1922. The development of insulin provided the first treatment for what had been a lethal disease. It is not a cure, but it has kept millions alive since its discovery. (“Speaking of Research”)
Has your opinion changed over the course of reading this? Animal testing in the benefits of medicine has its doubts and its complications, but it is life changing for both humans and animals. Most of our medication are tested on animals, and given to humans; once they see the medicine is safe and non harmful. The animals are bred specifically for testing and research. Our D.N.A. is similar to other animals and can be easier to safely test and we can be more assured when using products and/or medication.
The roots of animal experimentation began in the early 1600s when the world expressed in interests on the functions of animals and their uses in human life. However, it wasn’t until the incident regarding the drug thalidomide in 1960 did the government make it a requirement for drugs be tested on animals. During the incident, millions of women took the medication believing that it would be a source of relieve from morning sickness, not knowing however that it would cause irrevocable effects on their unborn children (Watson 4). Although the ruling seemed to provide a sigh of relief to some, the very idea of placing animals in strange uncomfortable environments and experiencing pain and euthanasia angered many. According to the American Anti-Vivisection Society, commonly known as AAVS, It is wrong to treat animals as objects for the purpose of scientific research, and to cause them pain and suffering (“Animal Research Is Unethical and Scientifically Unnecessary”). Although the arguments against animal experimentation seem credible, animal testing on medicines and products are necessary in order to insure the safety of human beings.
One of the greatest medical milestones in history discovered in the 1920s was insulin. Diabetes is commonly known as a relatively harmless condition in today’s era, however before insulin was discovered, it was lethal. Insulin is a substance which the pancreas produces to break down food, this effects the blood glucose levels (Wikispaces.com). Diabetes is when the body is unable to produce the required amount by itself, thus building up the glucose in the blood (Wikispaces). A few symptoms caused by diabetes are damage to the nerves, blurred vision and muscle cramps (Wikispaces.com). In 1922, Frederick Banting and his research assistant Charles Best isolated insulin and successfully lowered a dog’s blood sugar (glucose) level (About.com). Once the insulin was prepared for human u...
In this argumentative essay written by Dr. Ron Kline a pediatrician who wrote his essay titled “A Scientist: I am the enemy”. The article gives an insight on how animal research has helped many people and shine a light on the benefits of animal research. Ron Kline is the director of bone marrow transplants at the University of Louisville. Furthermore, the essay explains his thoughts and his own reasons for his love of medical research. In addition, the essay include the opposing side of the argument which has a lot feedback from activist groups that think that animal research is horrible.
Albert Sabin, the developer of the polio vaccine once said, “Without animal research, polio would still be claiming thousands of lives each year.” Polio is a deadly disease caused by a virus that spreads from person to person. This infectious disease renders the brain and spinal cord helpless while also ensuring a permanent case of paralysis to the victim. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “…13,000 to 20,000 para-lytic cases were reported annually,” before the 18th century. After the introduction of the polio vaccine, “…a total of 2,525 paralytic cases were reported, compared with 61 in 1965.” This dramatic decrease in the prominence of the polio disease can only be attributed to the success of animal testing. Animal experimentation is used in the research of genetics, drug testing, biology, toxicity testing, cosmetic testing, and many other fields. Despite all of its beneficial traits, animal testing has been wildly controversial over the past decades because of its perceived unethical treatment towards animals. Although animal testing may be deemed unethical by many, it is a form of medical testing that has not only saved lives but has also greatly revolutionized the medical world.
What would the world be like if there was no vaccine for polio? If there was no discovery of insulin? Thanks to animal research we don’t have to live without vaccines or insulin. Animal research is a topic debated everyday around the world. Some argue it is cruel to put animals through experiments that animals have no voice in what is being done to them. Others argue that animal testing is good because it collects a lot of information and helps with surgical techniques. I believe that without animal testing we would never know what we know now. Animal testing for medical research is necessary if there are no other alternatives because it allows for advances in medicine, provides treatments for people with diseases, it eliminates human suffering, and it also has helped treat diseases in animals. (Animal Research 2013)
In my opinion, I think that if there is an alternative way in getting the same test results, then animal testing should be avoided. If the use of animals is required in order to obtain more knowledge of medicine then I believe that the welfare of the animals should be a priority of the researchers and if the well-being of the subjects is compromised then measures should be taken to correct these mistakes. I am not an advocate of abusing animals in order to advance research, but I do believe that the use of animals in research studies is extremely beneficial. Without the use of animal testing researchers would not have as many answers and solutions to problems that we have, such as sickness.
It should be noted that, animals are metabolically, physiologically, and anatomically unlike from human beings, hence, the tests working on animals can surely prove to be unsuccessful in human beings (Animal Experimentation). Animals react very differently compared to human beings, and therefore, tests done on animals can be hazardous when done on human beings. In addition, even though humans and animals share a number of biological traits, they have biological differences and this is enough reason to question the data obtained from animal experiments and is to be used on humans. It is very wrong to subject animals to cruel procedures in the name of promoting the future human health and this denies them a normal life, yet they are at liberty to yet there is no prove that these tests can work well on human beings. For example, guinea pigs are used in animal experimentation, yet a guinea pig and a human being react very differently to some drugs, for instance penicillin is toxic to a guinea pig, and a cure to human beings. This proves that, any test done on a guinea pig will automatically be unsafe for human beings. Another example is that, drugs that are effective on dogs, or other animals can fail to be effective on human beings. Therefore, it is important to note that, animal testing has its
Argument Essay Where Would We Be Without Animal Testing? Is the use of animals in research justified? Should animal experimentation be permitted? Should these animals be liberated? A logical person would say the benefits justify the research.
Not only do we have other options for these tests, but animals testing has actually been proven to be ineffective. Companies claim that this sort of cruelty will benefit the human population by testing the “safety” of the products, as they have been for hundreds of years and although this may have been helpful in the past, scientists have discovered otherwise. “While funding for animal experimentation and the number of animals tested on continues to increase, the United States still ranks 49th in the world in life expectancy and second worst in infant mortality in the developed world” (“Animal Testing Is”). This evidence shows that while we still continue to support and spend money on animal testing, it is not working as well as we thought.Essentially we are torturing the animals for a negative outcome, both for the human and the animal. The Food and Drug Administration reports that “92 out of every 100 drugs that pass animal tests fail in humans” (“Top Five Reasons”). If the products and drugs that we are testing on the animals are not working then there is no use in harming a harmless animal for them. Some may disagree and say that animal testing has enabled us to develop many life saving treatments for both humans and animals. But in reality there has been more cons then pros in animal testing. For example, “Animal tests on the arthritis drug Vioxx showed that it had a protective effect on the hearts of mice, yet the drug went on to cause more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths before being pulled from the market” (Should Animals Be). While animal testing has enabled us to create great products it is usually ineffective on humans and leads to animals being harmed for no
“It is a simple fact that many, if not most, of today’s modern medical miracles would not exist if experimental animals had not been available to medical scientists. It is equally a fact that, should we as a society decide the use of animal subjects is ethically unacceptable and therefore must be stopped, medical progress will slow to a snail’s pace. Such retardation will in itself have a huge ethical ‘price tag’ in terms of continued human and animal suffering from problems such as diabetes, cancer, degenerative cardiovascular diseases, and so forth.”
Animal testing is one the most beyond cruelty against animals. It is estimated about 7 million innocent animals are electrocuted, blinded, scalded, force-fed chemicals, genetically manipulated, killed in the name of science. By private institutions, households products, cosmetics companies, government agencies, educational institutions and scientific centers. From the products we use every day, such as soap, make-up, furniture polish, cleaning products, and perfumes. Over 1 million dogs, cats, primates, sheep, hamsters and guinea pigs are used in labs each year. Of those, over 86,000 are dogs and cat. All companies are most likely to test on animals to make patients feel safe and are more likely to trust medicines if they know they have been tested on animals first (PETA, N.D, page 1). These tests are done only to protect companies from consumer lawsuits. Although it’s not quite true, Humans and animals don’t always react in the same way to drugs. In the UK an estimated 10,000 people are killed or severely disabled every year by unexpected reactions to drugs, all these drugs have passed animal tests. Animal testing is often unpredictable in how products will work on people. Some estimates say up to 92 percent of tests passed on animals failed when tried on humans (Procon.org, 2014, page 1). Animal testing can’t show all the potential uses for a drug. The test results are...
Penicillin, a vital antibiotic for infection is toxic to ginea pigs. Animal testing isn’t reliable option for human medication or products. Animals have different genetic make up than humans. Mike Leavitt, The Health and Human Service Secretary, states “ Nine out of ten experimental drug fail in clinical studies because we cannot accurately predict how they will behave in people based on laboratory and animal studies.” (Animal Research is Unethical and Scientifically Unnecessary). Humans have obvious differenced than animals like physiology and anatomy. These differences are the reason drug testing on animals isn’t equal when medication or product is used in a human trial. Pfizer reported in 2004 that they “wasted more than $2 billion over the past decade on drugs that “failed in advanced human testing or, in a few instances, were forced off the market, because of liver toxicity problems” (Animal Research is Unethical and Scientifically Unnecessary). Some drugs have caused serious and unexpected health problems even after they were tested on animals. Animal
The deployment of animals for medical research has brought heated debates from both the proponents and opponents each holding to their views in a tight manner. Those who are in support of animal research argue that it has been constituting a vital element in the advancement of medical sciences throughout the world providing insights to various diseases, which have helped in the discovery and development of various medicines that have brought an improvement in the qualify of living of people. Such discoveries have gone so deep that but for them many would have died a premature death because no cure would have been found for the diseases that they were otherwise suffering. On the other hand, animal lovers and animal right extremists hold to the view that animal experimentation is not only necessary but also Cruel. Human kind is subjecting them to such cruelties because they are helpless and even assuming such experiments do bring in benefits, the inhuman treatment meted out to them is simply not worth such benefits. They would like measures, including enactment of legislations to put an end to using animals by the name of research. This paper takes the view there are merits in either of the arguments and takes the stand a balanced approach needs to be taken on the issue so that both the medical science does not suffer, and the animal lovers are pacified, even if not totally satisfied. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: The next section discusses both the sides by taking account the view of scholars and practitioners and the subsequent section concludes the paper by drawing vital points from the previous section to justify the stand taken in this paper....
Animals have played a major part in medical breakthroughs. Such as the development of anesthetics, which are the chemicals used to make you unconscious during an operation. . Before that surgery was little more than refined butchery. Amputations, removal of bladder stones, caesarean sections and others – were done with the conscious patient strapped to the operating table and screaming.
Animal research is further supported by the authors, as they describe the consequences that science would face if animal research was no longer used, stating that the “assessment of the safety and efficacy of new medications would be severely compromised” (Cline, Sanchez 2). While the authors do understand how animal research was important in the past, allowing scientists to develop and test life-changing medications, they fail to recognize the fact that as time goes on, science changes, and that there are alternatives to animal research even today, such as what I had mentioned earlier with cell cultures, as well as many others that are being tested all the time, and such that will continue on into the future. This will not only help the future of science, but it will also help the animals all over whose fates are decided by the hands of those who wish to end