|
Everyone may be familiar with the concept of witches flying about on a broomstick and whatnot. One association between witchcraft and gravity-averse ability came about with the idea of so-called “flying ointments.” These were unguents (new favorite word) or ointments that contained a mixture of different plant materials which had all sorts of interesting potential. There was not a uniform recipe. These ointments might contain varying amounts of plants such as mandrake, henbane, deadly nightshade, and the Socratic favorite, hemlock. Other substances might be mentioned in recipes, including things like opium. One thing in common with the non-opium substances mentioned is that they all contain what are called “tropane alkaloids.” These alkaloids, whether ingested, inhaled, or, in the case of ointments, absorbed through the skin, could certainly make one think they were mid-flight if the doses were high enough. These substances affect the autonomic nervous system–the part of that system responsible for helping regulate the heart rate, pupil size, digestive system activity, increasing or decreasing blood flow to certain areas of the body, controlling one’s bladder, and even regulating the more interesting bodily functions such as sexual intercourse or vomiting. Too many tropane alkaloids and one can find themselves with a racing heart rate, high body temperature, agitation, and, important to the “flying” bit, in a hallucinatory stupor. Death can result as well. The ointments might be applied to certain areas of the skin or coated on a broomstick or similar wooden staff which could be held, allowing the alkaloids to cross the skin into the bloodstream. Cool bit is that many modern medications derive from these alkaloids, including scopolamine (for motion sickness, dizziness), hyocyamine (for abdominal discomfort and diarrhea), and even atropine (speed up slow hearts, reverse certain nerve gas or pesticide toxicity, dilate eyes for the eye doctor). Maybe it wasn’t magic, but it probably seemed close enough given the understanding of the natural world that the 12th-19th century peoples had. Max Doctor with a mustache.
1 Comment
When he was standing on the gallows prior to his execution in October of 1892, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream (aka Dr. Neill or the Lambeth Poisoner), a serial killer and poisoner, started his last words with “I am Jack the . . .” and then he was hung for murder in England before he could finish the sentence. Nevertheless this led to speculation that he might have been the infamous Jack the Ripper, and it wasn’t the first time he’d called that name into his legal proceedings. It took way too long to put Dr. Neill away. A year before his execution, an inquest was called by the coroner in the death of Matilda Clover, a 27 year old sex worker that was found dead after a night with Dr. Neill. This was initially dubbed a “natural” death due to alcohol withdrawal. A prominent physician in London, named Dr. William Broadbent, received a letter soon after Matilda’s death stating the writer knew she was murdered by Broadbent and would keep quiet for £25k. Dr. Broadbent was innocent but following the deaths of many other sex workers on Lambeth street, other weathy members of the community were receiving letters accusing them of murder, complete with details of each crime. Hence the coroner called the inquest to re-examine the cause of death. He found it to be strychnine poisoning. Dr. Neill chose to show up at the inquest and produced a letter which he read aloud. It stated that he, Dr. Neill is innocent, and was signed by “Jack the Ripper.” Weird flex since nobody asked Dr. Neill to show up and the letter was obviously a ridiculous forgery. Considering that before all of this, Dr. Neill was imprisoned in Joliet Prison in Illinois, USA during the years of the Ripper killings, it seems unlikely that Dr. Neill, a murderer in his own right, was being truthful with his last words. Go figure. Max Doctor with a mustache.  Strychnine This commonly referenced poison came up in our most recent episode about Thomas Neil Cream, the Lambeth Poisoner. Strychnine is a naturally occurring product in the seeds of the Strychnos nux-vomica plant. Charming name! Initially used as a rodent and bird poison, it’s not surprising that strychnine is very toxic to humans as well. As a poison, strychnine has a peculiar mechanism of action that is similar to how the toxin from the tetanus bacteria works. In the connection between our nerve endings and our muscles (the synaptic gap), when we want to contract a muscle, the chemical acetylcholine is sprinkled from the nerve to the muscle, causing contraction. Other inhibiting substances, such as glycine, are released to help stop muscle contractions. Strychnine stops the inhibiting substances from working, causing uncontrolled muscle contraction in high enough doses. If this happens, one cannot breathe which is the predominant cause of death with this poison. It can also cause metabolic disturbances and muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis) as well as seizure-like activity. All that is bad, medically speaking. Though he used other substances, such as chloroform, strychnine was a favorite go-to choice for the late 19th century serial killer/physician, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream. He would either prescribe it under false pretenses or convince people to take it, causing numerous deaths in multiple countries. Image: https://www.wired.com/2012/01/the-science-of-mysteries/ Max Doctor with a mustache. Kuru is a neurodegenerative disease that was observed to occur among indigenous peoples in Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific. Many of these tribes practiced forms of ritualistic cannibalism and researchers in the early to mid 20th century noticed a peculiar set of neurological problems developing among these people These included movement disorders, unusual behaviors (such as inappropriate laughing fits), difficult walking, and rapidly progressive and ultimately deadly dementia. A virologist, named Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, and an accompanying medical doctor, Vincent Zigas, started looking into the disease in 1957. They initially thought it was a genetic disorder. In 1967, researchers formed the hypothesis that the disease may have been linked to ritualistic cannibalism. The practice was banned by the Australian government overseeing Papua New Guinea at the time and the incidence of kuru was decreasing, further lending credibility to the link between eating human tissue and spread of this disorder. Improving upon his earlier work, Gajdusek found that exposing a chimpanzee to the brain tissue from a deceased tribes-person who died from kuru, led to the development of the disease in that same chimpanzee, years later. Though the transmitting agent was not understood, Gajdusek won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1976 for demonstrating that kuru could be transmitted–thus showing it was not a genetic condition. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, researchers made the association with the appearance of brain tissue affected by kuru to those found in other unusual diseases such as scrapie–a neurodegenerative condition seen in sheep and goats. This led to the suspicion that the diseases were linked or at least spread in a similar way. Research seemingly excluded other infectious agents–such as bacteria or viruses–as being the cause of these types of diseases. In 1982, neurologist and biochemist Stanley B. Prusiner purified what appeared to be an infectious protein molecule at the University of California, San Francisco. This was a landmark discovery that added the term “prion” to the medical lexicon. The word comes from a combination of “protein” and “infection.” He later won a Nobel Prize in 1997 for this work. Prions are fascinating and terrifying. They are single proteins that are folded or configured in such a way that they cause normal similar proteins to change shape to mimic the prion’s structure. This causes those normal proteins not only to malfunction, but to cause neighboring proteins to change in similar fashion. This seems to particularly affect neurologic tissues and many now identified prion diseases–such as kuru–share characteristics of causing rapid neurologic damage over time. Unlike bacteria or viruses, prions do not hold or need genetic material to replicate themselves. Prions can exist in the environment for years. Normal disinfectants and hygienic procedures do not get rid of prions. Diseases caused by prions are often called “transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.” Spongiform refers to the appearance of brain tissue under a microscope as damaged or sponge-like with holes. Encephalopathy refers to a condition impairing brain function. Though many people may not have heard of kuru or scrapie, Mad Cow Disease may be the most recognizable prion disorder in popular knowledge. Research is ongoing to discover a treatment or cure for these diseases. To date, there is none and prion diseases are fatal. As frightening as this all sounds, the good news is that these diseases are very rare. The most common prion disease in humans in the U.S. is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and even it is a one-in-a-million diagnosis. Look forward to an episode in the near future on a similarly fascinating topic. Stay tuned! Sources: -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease) -https://www.cdc.gov/prions/cjd/index.html -Kuru, The First Human Prion Disease: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/3/232/htm Images: -Chimpanzee Brain with kuru: Courtesy of D. Carleton Gajdusek via https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/3/232/htm -Dr. Carleton Gajdusek: Courtesy of D. Carleton Gajdusek via https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/11/3/232/htm -Histology slides with kuru-infected brain tissue: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/kuru MaxDoctor with a mustache. Treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning 100 years ago. Courtesy of the American Journal of Public Health (NY) 1922 Apr; 12(4): 355-358. The authors “insist on the vital importance of eliminating carbon monoxide poisoning from the blood as rapidly as possible.” This is absolutely still the treatment 100 years later–albeit with more nuance these days. They then recommended the use of a Tissot army face mask (think gas mask) delivering oxygen from a gas tank and doing so for at least 3 hours. While this would be reasonable treatment even by today’s standards, they did have some odd items recommended. Later the article suggested the patient “should be kept quiet for fear of heart failure for some time after recovery.” Reasonable enough until you add the next line calling for the use of “stimulants.” If you are worried about heart failure, it is best to avoid whipping the heart with stimulants. Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless gas that is quite deadly. It comes from the combustion of natural gas and as a byproduct of combustion in a car engine–among other sources. Hemoglobin is the protein within our red blood cells that carries oxygen around the bloodstream. Imagine a globby protein molecule grabbing an oxygen molecule and wandering about the body to give that oxygen to an organ in need. The problem is that hemoglobin loves carbon monoxide even more than oxygen. When the environment contains high levels of CO gas, our hemoglobin will grab and hang onto the CO more tightly–so-to-speak–than it does oxygen. Our bodies can’t use CO the same way we use oxygen so when CO levels in the blood are rising, our oxygen levels are decreasing. Initially mild symptoms such as headache or fatigue can progress to brain or heart damage if not death if someone is exposed to high enough levels for a long enough period of time. So the treatment is to flood the body with as much oxygen as possible so that, even though the hemoglobin loves to hang onto CO, oxygen is so abundant that eventually it replaces the CO molecules being held in the red blood cells. One of the main differences in treatment these days includes improved methods of oxygen delivery. We now have oxygen masks that can deliver much higher concentrations than old masks. Additionally we use hyperbaric oxygen treatments for some CO poisoning cases. This involves putting a patient into a high pressure super-oxygen rich environment to further speed the elimination of CO from the hemoglobin in the bloodstream. The faster the CO is gone, the more likely long term consequences are likely avoided. So here we have a case where the old treatment is still good. Now, it’s just a bit more refined and better understood with the benefit of the past 100 years of research. #histmed #medicalhistory #medicalfacts #carbonmonoxide #occupationalhealth Max Doctor with a mustache. On episode 33 were were joined by Patrick Kelly from the Corporis Youtube Channel. He is an educator with a focus in teaching anatomy, physiology, and medical history. He shared several images in his work which are reproduced here with links where available to learn more. Follow the other links below to check out more of his work. You'll find links to his social media through the link below as well. Youtube Links: Medical History Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/PatrickKellyMedicalHistory Epipen Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ax-MpVfrTI Corporis Channel (Anatomy and Physiology): https://www.youtube.com/c/Corporis Social Media Links: Instagram: @patkellyteaches Twitter: @PatKellyTeaches TikTok: @patkellyteaches Max Doctor with a mustache.  This week's episode features a special guest collaboration! Kyle Dalton, from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine joined us on the show to talk about the origins of ambulance service. Believe it or not, figuring out how to safely extract wounded soldiers was not a high priority at the time of the U.S. Civil War. Fortunately, we'll talk about how that situation did improve. Guest Bio: Featured Historian: Kyle Dalton A graduate with honors from the Catholic University of America, Kyle is currently the Membership and Development Coordinator at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. He has twenty years of experience in museums as a public historian and educator. In his spare time, he writes and maintains the blog British Tars: 1740-1790 examining the lives of common sailors. National Museum of Civil War Medicine: https://www.civilwarmed.org/ Letterman: https://www.civilwarmed.org/quick-facts/letterman/ Blog: https://www.britishtars.com/ Max Doctor with a mustache.  In this super-exciting special episode the Poor Historians interview author Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris about her new book, The Facemaker. The Facemaker centers on the incredible achievements of Dr. Harold Gillies, a plastic surgeon in WWI who not only helped restore the identities of injured soldiers with severe facial injuries, but developed a multitude of plastic surgery techniques in doing so. He helped legitimize the specialty as well--believe it or not, at one time it was not highly regarded. In this episode, Dr. Fitzharris will give us all a new perspective as the author of this work. We highly encourage you not to miss this one! Go get this book or download the audiobook version, read by Daniel Gillies--the actor and descendant of the pioneering surgeon himself. Follow link below for more information or to order. https://drlindseyfitzharris.com/ Max Doctor with a mustache.  On This Day: May 13th, 1883 - Future physician, Georgios Nikolaou Papanikolaou was born. Though he died in 1962, his work continues to save lives to this day. Through a relatively simple procedure, Dr. Papanikolaou discovered that by using a swab to collect surface cells from the cervix during a pelvic examination, cervical cancer could be detected. This is the origin of the “Pap smear” which refers to swiping the collected material across a slide to observe the cells under the microscope to try and detect cancerous changes. He wasn’t the first to discover malignant (cancerous) cells under a microscope, but he was the first to discover that cervical cancer could be detected early with this simple, low cost test. Today this test is used to try and catch cases of cervical cancer before they can spread. Early detection can make an enormous difference in the effectiveness of treatment of this disease. Though he introduced this idea in 1928 at a medical conference, it was not widely adopted and there was described resistance in the medical community. It wasn’t until 1941 that Papanicolaou revisited the topic by publishing an article with a colleague featuring the same test as it applied to discovering cancer of the uterus. Pap smears are still performed to this day and may be credited with reducing cervical cancer deaths by up to 80% when combined with regular screening and follow up. For more medical history explorations, follow the Poor Historians Podcast and subscribe to the show! Max[Doctor with a mustache.]  On this Day in Medical History: (Apr 28th, 1910): Edouard Van Beneden died at age 64. An accomplished scientist, he was a Belgian embryologist with backgrounds in cytology and marine biology. By studying every physician’s favorite roundworm (Ascarius), incidentally known to be one of the grossest (medically speaking) parasitic infection causes in the world. We invite you to Google pictures of it if you wish. Van Beneden figured out in 1883, that sexual fertilization resulted from the union of two types of cell with half the amount of chromosomes a typical animal or human cell has. He observed the process of “meiosis” whereby the chromosomes are cut in half in the specialized cells that participate in reproduction. Though he was studying worms, the same process happens in the creation of egg and sperm in humans as well as in their uniting during fertilization. Once the two cells unite, the resulting cell (called a zygote) now has the full amount of chromosomes that any given cell in the human body will be found to have–except, of course, for egg and sperm cells. That zygote will go on to divide in a different process, called “mitosis” and will copy the same number of chromosomes to each new cell made. Though Van Beneden wasn’t a physician, his work contributed heavily to the early understanding of embryology and the foundations of sexual reproduction. I would like to argue, given his observation of two sex cells uniting under a microscope lens was a first, that he saw the first and most scientifically important peep show in medical history. That’s something, no? Sources: https://todayinsci.com/4/4_28.htm & Wikipedia.org Max[Doctor with a mustache] |
RSS Feed