Medical Advances of the Future!

"Hey! We're headed for the future." Neil Diamond sang those words in the 80s, and they seem to echo the obsession society had at the time with technological advances the future would bring. I think because of so many new products - such as VCRs, Sony Walkmans, home computers and video games - we thought technology was about to revolutionize everything in our lives, including medical care. A 1982 children's book called World of Tomorrow - Health and Medicine was full of predictions about medical care in the future. I won't go into detail about them all - you can read on each page for yourself - but overall, it's pretty interesting how accurate some of the perceptions were (body scanners, robotic surgery, etc.) So let's take a trip back to the 80s, kids, at see the medical future back in 1982...

And, oh, must note that I heard about this book from Gilligan over at Retrospace, and the book can be found in its entirety on The Pointless Musuem. Clicking on each image will open it up in a larger size.

I guess the Foreword was trying to show that the elderly would be living long, healthy lives - even participating in football games! Yes, I know he's holding a soccer ball but the book was published in the UK, after all.

These next two pages talk about genetics and parental planning...this young couple is at the doctor's finding out how good their genes are before proceeding to get pregnant. Is that a good idea for these two to be procreating? They sure are a funny looking couple, aren't they? Hope they don't have a funny looking baby...

This looks like one scary ob/gyn appointment...and why do they have a pregnant woman lying on her stomach? That can't be comfy!

In the future, they've finally figured out how to get men to see the dentist every six months - she wears a skimpy mid-drift top that exposes her breasts: