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Drug,
substance that affects the function of living cells,
used in medicine to diagnose, cure, prevent the occurrence
of diseases and disorders, and prolong the life of patients
with incurable conditions.
Since 1900 the availability of new and more effective
drugs such as antibiotics, which fight bacterial infections,
and vaccines, which prevent diseases caused by bacteria
and viruses, has increased the average American's life
span from about 60 years to about 75 years. Drugs have
vastly improved the quality of life. Today, drugs have
contributed to the eradication of once widespread and
sometimes fatal diseases such as poliomyelitis and smallpox.
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