Richard Rush Depletion Therapy

When doing research I found that Benjamin Rush was the father of the American Psychiatry from 1745 to 1813. Rush claimed that “the cause of madness is seated primarily in the blood vessels of the brain” and that mental derangement occurs because the brain is “overcharged” with blood. Also, I researched that Rush had a “Negritude”. In 1797, Rush declared that blacks suffered from a disease called negritude. This he claimed derived from leprosy and caused the skin to be dark and that segregation would therefore prevent infection. He stated that the skin turning white, at which point the person would be considered sane, signified the only cure.

The book “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, written by John M. Barry, covers the progression of the Spanish influenza, especially in the United States. Barry focuses not only on the influenza itself, though, but also on the social influences that allowed the virus to flourish. The book covers how medical practices in the United States had risen up just in time to combat the virus, but, due to societal issues and the war, the doctors struggled in areas where they should have been successful.

Both Dr. Rush of Philadelphia, and Dr. Devese of France trained in Haiti, were highly trained professionals who treated fever victims of their time. Dr. Rush and Dr. Devese both treated their patients with an extremely cold bath that the water will freeze! As well as the patients will be needed to drink emetics. Emetics are used to

The American Plague was written by Molly C. Crosby, who is as much as a researcher as she is an author. In 1648, a slave ship returning from Africa carried a few mosquitoes infected with a deadly virus know as yellow fever. The ship landed in the New World and thrived in the hot wet climate and on the white settlers. The New World has never come in contact with yellow fever and as a result no immunities have been built up. The virus obtained its name from the way it turns the victim’s skin and eyes a golden yellow. Victims also suffer from very high fevers, external and internal bleeding, and blackish vomit. In America yellow fever killed thousands of peoples, halted trade, and disrupted the government. Although many

It was designed by a French merchant, named Stephen Girard, when he was asked by the mayor Philadelphia for help. Girard stepped up and recommended his compatriot, Dr. Jean Devèze, to head the hospital. However, Devèze refused to believe that the yellow fever was contagious and he disapproved of Rush’s aggressive treatments. So he became a world authority on the Yellow Fever.

He linked the common illness cholera to people whom drank from the wells. He observed those getting ill and which areas and pumps they drank from and recorded it on a map, he was then able to establish all those getting ill were in fact drinking from the same pump, and consequently in 1854 John Snow removed the handle of the Broad Street pump and ceased the epidemic of Cholera in Soho, London

Physicians died in contact with the illness and others used procedures of keeping distance and wearing outfits that resembled a bird's beak; it contained vinegar for protection (Document 6). As victims of the illness were deteriorating, another group suffered. Thousands of Jews burned and got tortured due to accusations (Document 7). Although they did poison wells, we now know that they were not the

Dr. John Snow was known as an intelligent physician who had a background with anesthesia advancements. He believed that cholera was a waterborne disease and that it was contaminated by the sewage. Snow’s goal was to convince others about the issue and stop it from spreading. His theory about the intestinal disease, in which was published in 1849 in an article, was laughed at and many doctors believed that his idea was “wrong” and they continued to believe that it was airborne. He wanted to prove many wrong and begin to further research and experiment the disease.

In Elizabethan times many deadly diseases had spread such as the plague, smallpox and typhoid, but the causes and cures had yet to be discovered. Due to bad hygiene because of open sewers and rubbish dumped in the river, this caused disease to easily spread as it was a natural habitat for rats, fleas and lice. The plague was carried by the fleas living in the fur of rats. As a result of this one third of the population died. Elizabethan physicians believed that medicine was basic, they had no idea why and how people were getting so sick, treatments were based from superstitions and guesses so they used a mixture of herbs for cures and also believed leeches would ‘suck

Prior to 18th century Europe there were a few effective medical developments but most treatments lacked medical value. An idea developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans insisted that bloodletting was a fantastic remedy to difficult diseases but it did more harm than good (Doc 4). Another flaw in medicine is the level of hygiene in the institutions that provided care. The sick were crammed into dirty hospitals, dead lay beside those clinging to life, and the air was

Laurie Halse Anderson Fever 1793, many people in Philadelphia were facing a disease called “Yellow Fever” the patients were to get help immediately or they would soon die. During the rough times, most people of the city fled to a safer place where the fever did not eat off others. These times were rough for the people and most couldn’t afford to flee the city or it was too late to consider it. The people were to wait till winter which is when the fever left and the city was safe again.

A great misfortune took place during the summer of 1793. It was one of the driest and hottest summers in years making way for many disease spreading pests like mosquitoes (Gum 1). Said bugs and rodents took the lives of thousands leaving Colonial America in terrible condition. The College of Physicians not only established organization during this time of chaos, but they also limited future epidemics like the events that took place in Philadelphia and Colonial America from occurring again. To expand upon, the college created eleven rules for people to follow in order to prevent Yellow Fever from dispersing any further (Dobson 2). These rules included avoiding “all unnecessary intercourse” with those who have contracted the disease; housing all of the diseased in a large open room, removing “offensive matters from the diseased’s room” (2), frequently cleaning the selected room, and bathing the infected as quickly as possible; having a medical center for each city so the poor can also be assisted with regards to Yellow Fever; putting a stop to the ringing of the church bells; burying the dead fever victims in a private manner;

To begin, the Philadelphian doctors insist of taking out 162 ounces (over a long period of time) of blood out the the yellow fever victim. Second of all, they (Philadelphian doctors) splash water on the patient's. In paragraph 3 it says, “Throw a few buckets of cold water on the patient.”. Alongside, the French doctors make the victims take a ice cold bath instead. Last of all, the American doctors burned nitre so the patients could inhale it. It reads in paragraph 2 “Burn nitre (potassium nitrate) and inhale the

What is often overlooked during this time period, is the medical advancements that were made that are still in place today. During the American Revolution, more soldiers died through disease than by combat or gunshot wounds. Thinking about the concept of war now, most people envision gore, blood, and the trauma of weaponry; however, the biggest weapon to soldiers at this time was disease. Whenever there was a treatable wound, physicians would use unsanitary tools, toxic chemicals such as mercury, and bloodletting. All of which are the breeding ground for disease. The close proximity the soldiers’ had along with the heat and conditions they endured allowed for disease to travel quickly between soldiers. The health of soldiers began improving when the military establishment began to realize that poor hygiene often sparked the diseases. Founding Father Benjamin Rush, who had received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh, carried his knowledge into the Revolutionary War as a surgeon general of the Middle Department of the Army. In the beginning of the war, he was ubiquitously known to treat patients by wrapping them in vinegar soaked blankets and use mercury rubs with cold baths. Shortly after the war in 1778, Benjamin Rush published a book called “Directions for Preserving the Health of Soldiers”. This book

The American Plague, Molly Caldwell Crosby’s nonfiction novel, accounts the journey of yellow fever from an African virus to the remarkably deadly epidemic that shaped American history in an often overlooked way. Crosby’s novel aims to give insight to the historical impact of yellow fever in the Americas, especially the United States. The novel guides through the history of the titular “American Plague”, yellow fever, in three main parts: its height epidemic in the United States, specifically in Memphis, the Commission to find the cause and vaccine for it, in Cuba, and the effects and presence the epidemic has in the present.