retroelectro
that had survived to that point.
An excessive action of the shock described Early in the book, it describes electrocution. Using the theory of ‘electrical effluvia,’ he reasons that when an excessive shock is given, the blood vessels burst only because they aren’t strong enough to embrace the increased electrical effluvia, causing instant death. Asthma When talking about asthma, he says that he is not sure if it can be cured with electric shocks, but he is certain it could ‘throw off’ an active asthma attack. Arthritis Electricity was a common treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. It claimed that it can treat inflammation in ‘such a manner as no other medicine on earth can possibly do.’ The treatment removes tension, offering relief. Consumption During this time, consumption was the leading cause of death. Known today as tuberculosis, it starts in the lungs and spreads throughout the body. It was characterized by severe coughing fits, followed by quick and significant weight loss, leading to the appearance of a body that was ‘consumed’ from within. This disease was highly contagious and did not have a proper treatment until the invention of antibiotics. At the time, the most common treatment for consumption was insolation. For many hours a
Dysentery Dr. Gale concedes that it sounds ludicrous to treat dysentery with electrification, and he says that he would never have suggested it if it wasn’t for a patient a few years earlier, a man named Mr. Huntington. He arrived at Dr. Gale’s office one day with ‘vehement dysentery,’ begging for relief. At first, he refused treatment to the man, but after days of seeing the man in great pain, he decided to treat the man. Dr. Gale gave him twenty very light shocks through the inside of his bowels to his back, and this eased his pain. Within a few hours, the pain came back, and he treated him the same as he did before, but there was less blood at that time. He did these three or four more times and was cured within 30 hours. He continues the story that the following summer, there was an epidemic of dysentery. It claimed a lot of lives in Saratoga County. Nearly two-thirds of the people, particularly infants, did not survive. He was told that no children younger than two survived the disease except for two. The two surviving children were also the only two he treated with his electric machine. He published these findings in a newspaper, but it didn’t get the attention he thought he would. He later heard of Dr. Lyon in Lebanon, New York. Dr. Lyon found his article and was able to cure everyone in his community with the disease
He says treating dysentery was his ‘only inconvenience to be regretted’ while using medical electricity. While it is a miserable treatment, he tells of curing a four-month-old baby in an instant with half a dozen electric shocks. Epilepsy ‘This disease may sometimes be cured, but may always be relieved by electrifying… the gentle electrifications go the farthest in relieving persons who are so unhappy as to be subject to it.’’ At the time, the most common treatment for epilepsy was insolation, but when insolation didn’t work, Dr. Gale suggested artificial insolation by way of electric shocks. He states that if done correctly, a few light shocks from hand to hand will delay an oncoming seizure. If it does not, however, pass a shock from the top of the head to the feet, and they will immediately recover their senses. After the series of shocks, the operator should prepare the patient a drink made of valerian root. Sometimes, it is helpful to alternate with opiates. It is important to keep the patient warm, as one slight chill can bring on a seizure. Fever The common treatment for fever was bloodletting. It worked by releasing tension on the blood vessels, allowing the patient to
Figure 7. 1880s Therapy
Figure 6. Galvani
bleed out some amount, lessening a fever, by decreasing the blood pressure. Dr. Gale continues to explain that bloodletting is often a temporary measure. “I know of no fever without tension and retension; in short, this is what constitutes a fever, and to remove these is to cure a fever.” However, Dr. Gale was convinced that electric shock is useful to enlarge or dilate blood vessels. In his instructions, he explains that diaphoresis (when someone is sweating but not from outside heat or exercise, a.k.a. fever sweats) is needed before treatment. He states that ‘to begin the electric shock before perspiration is established would be to leave the cause of heat unremoved’ and would result in the same temporary effects of bloodletting. Sore throat The book says to treat sore throat
day, every day for months, the patients would be left outside to sunbathe. This was used to treat many chronic diseases. Modern medicine shows that sun exposure allows the body to develop vitamin D. The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include fatigue, back pain, weakness, depression, hair loss, muscle cramps, etc. With a modern eye, it is easy to see why insolation was considered an effective treatment. ‘The patient must be made warm with little temperature variation in combination with insolation. Then, proceed to electrify the patient, but very lightly. A stronger shock would dilate the blood vessels and further weaken the patient. At the first electrification, as many as twenty shocks may be given, with the last few shocks being from the forehead to the feet. In
the following three or four days, the patient may receive the same number of shocks, which must be reduced afterward.’ He tells of elixirs, teas, and tallows that he has heard of from other doctors. He gives the recipe for a tea made from the roots of a bayberry bush. He tells of how someone could only take one tablespoon twice a day without food, or else they would ‘offend their stomachs.’ The book claims that not many cases of consumption would fail to be cured by electrical shocks alone, but when it is paired with the elixir paregoric, the cases that could resist his treatments would be very few, if any at all. The elixir paregoric was a common over-the- counter opiate treatment for many things, from cough and diarrhea to tuberculosis and pain relief.
we get technical
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