Below is ABCNews.com's list of the Top 10 medical stories of 2008, deemed most important by doctors and found most interesting by readers.
No. 1: The JUPITER trial
Late in November, the results from the JUPITER trial got so much hype that it seemed scientists had found an actual magic "cholesterol pill."
According to the results, Crestor reduced heart attack, stroke and hospitalization and other markers for heart troubles by 56 percent. The authors of the study concluded that the drug was so effective that it should even be given to people whose cholesterol was normal but had high C-reactive protein levels, a signs of inflammation in the body.
Not all doctors were as sold on the results. Many said exercise and diet changes were more effective than drugs, and obviously do not carry any side effects. Some questioned whether the numbers really supported such a high effectiveness.
No. 2: Birth From a Whole Ovary Transplant
On Dec. 10, a baby girl was born from the first-ever full ovary transplant.
The baby's mother had lost her fertility when she went into early menopause at age 15 because of another medical problem. Later in life her twin sister (the baby's aunt) donated a working ovary so that she may conceive. At age 38, she gave birth for the first time.
Dr. Sherman Silber of the Infertility Center of St. Louis said the technique of transplanting frozen ovaries may one day be used to lengthen a woman's fertility across her lifetime. "If she's 40 or 45 when she has it transplanted back, it's still a 25- or 30-year-old ovary, so she's preserving her fertility.”
No. 3: The ENHANCE Trial
In January, early news of the anticipated ENHANCE trial surprised doctors and drugmakers looking for confirmation that the blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin worked.
The ENHANCE trial pitted the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin against the popular combo-drug Vytorin, which had both simvastatin and ezetimibe (Zetia).
But instead of proving the power of the combo, early data showed that Vytorin was no better at reducing the thickness of blood vessel walls than simvastatin alone.
The news hit so big, both the Food and Drug Administration and the American College of Cardiology felt compelled to respond, worried that patients would give up on taking their statins.
"We already know that people tend to stop taking all long-term drugs, including statins, when they're on them. And I'm very concerned that aspects of the Vytorin discussion will lead to people becoming indifferent to an extremely important measurement -- LDL cholesterol," Dr. Robert Temple, director of the Office of Medical Policy in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
No. 4: Malaria Vaccine
Although scientists have long discovered how malaria is transferred and know how to prevent it, nearly 1 million people die every year from the disease, according to international estimates. Malaria largely strikes the young, first infecting the liver with the parasite and quickly traveling to the whole body causing delirium, fever and chills.
On December 8, the first results of a malaria vaccine that shows promise hit international news. Early reports showed the vaccine was more than 50 percent effective in preventing malaria among infants and toddlers.
No. 5: Continuous Glucose Monitoring
In September 2008, researchers in Florida unveiled the first glucose monitor that measures blood sugar around the clock -- literally 24/7 every five minutes.
People who have Type 1 diabetes have lost the ability to produce insulin on their own, need insulin to survive and rely on glucose monitoring to keep their blood sugars from plummeting or skyrocketing. Some Type 2 diabetics also rely on insulin treatments, but many can manage their disease with diet and exercise.
Managing blood sugar levels can be tricky for Type 1 diabetics. Even if the patient can avoid serious short-term complications (such as a coma or death), he or she may suffer long-term complications including blindness.
The researchers in Florida hoped allowing the patients to check their blood sugar frequently would help overall management.
No. 6: Stem Cell Genes and Alzheimer's
In January, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, announced they had discovered an early step that could one day lead to a stem cell therapy for Alzheimer's disease, not to mention other neurodegenerative diseases or brain injuries.
The scientists had discovered the gene, called Lhx2, that tells cells in the developing embryo's brain to form the "thinking center" or the cerebral cortex, which controls language, vision and decision-making. This new understanding of Lhx2's role in cortical development can potentially be used in stem cell research efforts to grow new cortical neurons that can replace damaged ones in the brain.
No. 7: Progress on Parasites
This year marked a great achievement at eradicating a painful, systemic parasitic disease called Guinea worm. People ingest the Guinea worm as larvae in contaminated drinking water. In a year's time the worm can grow to be three feet long before slowly burrowing out of the skin.
In 1986 3.5 million cases in 20 nations were reported. In 2008, the number fell to 4,410 cases in six countries.
No. 8: Early Blood Test for Down Syndrome
A controversial and emotional medical advance this year may one day allow parents to test for signs of Down syndrome as early as 12 to 13 weeks into the first trimester.
The noninvasive blood test called SEQureDX, developed by the San Diego-based company Sequenom, can be administered as early as 12 to 13 weeks into the first trimester.
Controversy surrounds the question of whether an early pregnancy test would or should encourage parents to abort Down syndrome infants. According to reporting by ABCNews.com, about 90 percent of women who learn they are carrying a child with Down syndrome end their pregnancies.
No. 9: Stem Cell Trachea Transplant
Claudia Castillo, a 30-year-old woman living in Barcelona, was the first person in the world to receive a full trachea (or wind pipe) organ transplant grown entirely from her own stem cells. Castillo's surgery meant that she never had to go through immunosuppressive therapy or live with the risk that her body would reject the organ and attack it as a disease.
"They have created a functional, biological structure that can't be rejected," Dr. Allan Kirk of the American Society of Transplantation told the Associated Press.
No. 10: Face Transplant Breakthroughs
For U.S. transplantation experts, 2008 may forever be known as the year of the country's first-ever face transplant.
In early December, surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic embarked on a marathon, 22-hour procedure in which they transferred 80 percent of a face -- including eyelids, bone, teeth and a nose -- from a cadaver to a living female patient.
While three other such procedures had been performed in China and France before this latest surgery, the operation might be the most extensive yet of its kind.
However, not all of the face transplant news of 2008 was good. On Dec. 22 -- less than a week after reports of this advance -- Scientific American noted on its blog that the Chinese patient who received the world's second face transplant had died. According to the blog, the man's surgeon told Agence-France Presse that the man died because he had been taking herbal medications instead of his anti-rejection drugs.