Medicine In The 19th Century

There are videogames, movies, books, and even shows based on some of the crazy and grueling things that happened in 19th century medicine practices. Even though, medicine back then was absurd…doctors were learning and growing. We have come a long way from where we use to be, thanks to the Civil war and the industrial age, 19th century medicine and mental health changed drastically. The biggest way medicine has changed; is the way doctors treat patients now compared to what we use to do back then. Believe it or not, but one of the scariest practices ever done, is still being done in the 21stcentury! The practice is called trepanning, they often did this procedure in mental hospitals, where they thought drilling a hole in your skull would fix
The saying “one night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury” was said because they used mercury so much! If you think mercury is bad, they also used cocaine! Cocaine was first used in 1884, by Australian eye doctor, Karl Koller. Everyone thought the drug was a great idea and began to use it for toothache drops! Crazy! We still use cocaine today, but in less dangerous amounts, and it is now called novocaine. Lice was very common in the 19th century and to cure it, people would douse their heads in gasoline, the practice worked, but there is also the downside of the fact that you could set on fire very easily any moment. Lice is treated in modern days by using medicated shampoos. The toaster in the bathtub
In 1816, Rene Laennec invents the stethoscope. In 1818, James Blundell does the first successful transfusion of human blood. 1842, Crawford W. Long uses ether as an anesthetic during surgery. 1844, Dr. Horace Wells an American dentist is going to use nitrous oxide for an anesthetic. 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell is the first ever woman to receive a medical degree! 1867, Joseph Lister publishes a book titled Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery, in his book he stressed the idea of cleanliness in the operating room. He develops ideas such as using carbolic acid to clean surgical instruments! Joseph listers idea was very successful. “The immediate success of his methods leads to general adoption. In one hospital that adopts his methods, deaths from infection decrease from nearly 60% to just 4%.” (Haney 17) In the 1870s, Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch created the germ theory of disease. The germ theory of disease stated that a specific disease is caused by a specific organism. In 1879, a vaccine for cholera was created. 1882, a vaccine for rabies was created. 1890, Emil von Behring finds antitoxins and uses them to create vaccines for tetanus and diphtheria. In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers x-rays. In 1897, Ronald Ross shows and proves that malaria parasites are transmitted from mosquitos. Also in 1897, the first vaccine for the plague is