retroelectro
retroelectro
in the same way you would treat a fever, but not before the patient experiences diaporetics or fever sweats. The operator is to give shocks from shoulder to shoulder and then from underneath the chin to the feet, with the neck covered with a warm compress. This should be followed by a warm drink that includes white oak bark. Gout When discussing gout, Dr. Gail mentions that it used to be common practice to treat gout with strong shocks of electricity, but since that practice has been universally discarded, it discredited the use of electricity in medical treatment. He claims that relief should be the target of treatment, not cure. He begs instead to use several light shocks at a time. Madness In an example of early electro- shock therapy, Dr. Gale describes how to use electric shocks to treat insanity. He describes madness as a redundancy of blood in the head causing compression and irritation of the brain. Treatment includes keeping the patient warm and placing shocks of varying degrees on the patient.
He tells the story of one summer when a young man came to him to inform him that his father was crazy and to ask for his help. The son tells the story of his father selling his large farm to move to Galway and purchase two other smaller farms. Through deception and chicanery, he lost big in the deal, and this had a profound effect on his mental health. His family was already concerned about him, chaining him to the bed at night. The next day, the father’s family brought him up in a wagon. It took several people to move him as he constantly tried to remove his clothes and strip naked. He says that the man was violent and that he was scared that his very costly machine would be smashed and broken by him. He says it took twenty men to help him chain the man down. He says that he charged his machine as high as he thought that the man could live through, and then he passed a shock through him so strong that it knocked him to the floor. He continued to give six or seven lighter shocks to the patient, and the patient’s behavior changed immediately. He was able to leave under his own strength. They returned the next day for a
second treatment, and it was not long before he had the right use of his mind. Palsy In the section on treating palsy, Dr. Gale explains that palsy is caused by an insufficient flow of the muscle’s own elementary fire, leading to weakened or paralyzed limbs. Remember, Gale thought that elementary fire and electricity were the same thing, and by providing shocks, the operator would inject elementary fire into the patient’s body through the electric shocks. Gale emphasizes that the electrical current works by stimulating the nervous system and improving circulation, which, in turn, helps revive muscle function. A partial palsy hardly ever fails a speedy cure by giving thirty or forty light shocks during the course of each day. Smallpox ‘Here, kind reader, is an infallible remedy in smallpox or measles’ Smallpox was a global plague of this time. It wasn’t properly treatable until the invention and propagation of vaccines in the early nineteenth century. Dr. Gale developed a treatment using electricity and says that he proved this treatment with his own nine- year-old son when he contracted smallpox. The treatment consisted of pacing light shocks through each part of the body, avoiding the blisters caused by the disease.
Vertigo In a short note, Dr. Gale lists how to treat vertigo or ‘swimming in the head.’ It is caused by too much blood being created by an overactive aorta. To treat this disorder, the operator should give ‘six or eight pretty strong shocks’ from the sides of the neck to the feet.
1752
Benjamin Franklin conducts his famous kite experiment.
1775 The Battle of Lexington and Concord formally begins the American Revolution 1785 Dr. T. Gale starts treating patients as an ‘itinerant physician’ or traveling doctor. John Adams is named as the nation’s first ambassador to Great Britain. The United States Dollar is chosen as the nation’s unit of currency and trade. 1789 The French Revolution begins. 1821 ‘The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically’ is published Georg Ohm.
1783
The legacy of medical electricity
American Revolution comes to an end.
It is remarkable how far civilization has come in the past 225 years. Dr. Gale’s book represents an early and ambitious attempt to introduce medical electricity to a broader audience. He challenged the conventional boundaries of medical practice, aiming to empower individuals with the knowledge and tools to take control of their health. This book fosters a self-reliance spirit that deeply represents early America’s ideals. Although Dr. Gale’s understanding of electricity and his medical applications seem primitive today, his pioneer spirit and desire to democratize healthcare were ahead of their time. Today, electronic medical devices are everywhere. You may interact with dozens of them daily. From smart watches to pacemakers, they are integral to twenty-first-century life.
1783
American Revolution comes to an end.
1788
The United States Constitution is ratified.
George Washington was elected to be the first President of the United States.
1802
‘Electricity or Ethereal Fire Considered’ is published.
“Every consideration that hath induced me to publish this treatise, stands opposed to that idea: I know that medical electricity hath never been understood and the subject is very occult…”
we get technical
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