COLONIAL HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Crazy Cures

INTRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Phlebotomy-the act or practice of opening a vein for letting or drawing blood as a therapeutic or diagnostic measure; venesection; bleeding

Introduction

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*Doctors were so bad; many people made home remedies

*remedy for many illnesses- phlebotomy

*If you had swollen glands-wight wine with wood lice

*If you had a fever-roasted powdered frogs would work

*chills? bath with liquid and human urine.

*Rabid animal bite- onions

Colonial doctors -the cause of death

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Teeth

Crazy Cures

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The "reasons" for diseases

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The "Healthy" habits of humans

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Colonial health was very horrifying. Not only had the

doctors no idea how to sanitize things or what it meant to sanitize something, but they had absolutely no knowledge of anything else in the medical world. If you went to the doctor after getting bitten by a rabid animal, they would most likely give you a large amount of whole uncooked unions to eat. One of the most common cures for almost everything was bleeding, which would just get you killed faster.

Teeth

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• Many people did not take of their teeth
• barbers were usually what we call dentists now as well as hair-cutters
• barbers pulled out teeth with pliersvery
• also very unclean/didn't wash anything

Did You Know

• most people lost all of their teeth by the age of thirty because they didn't take care of them

Bibliography

Did You Know

~Did you know that one way to cure the fever is to tie fish(white herrings) to the patients feet.

• Thorndike, Edward L., and Clarence Lewis Barnhart. Thorndike Barnhart Intermediate Dictionary. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1974. Print.

• Hazen, Walter A. "Health and Medicine." Everyday Life: Colonial times. Glenview, IL: Good Year, 1997. 71-74. Print.

Colonial Doctors- the cause of death

*Doctors had little knowledge of the human body

*few doctors had hands on experience with the body

*the cures they had were terrible.

*doctors had no anesthetics- they could only use opium and rum

*all doctors were unsterile

Did You Know

Did you ever hear how George Washington died? After George Washington retired from presidency, he was out for a ride and he felt a little ill. When he came back inside, his little cold turned into a major fever. A few doctors came in to help him, but they were a little too enthusiastic. First of all, they bled him, draining from him about half of the blood in his body. They then gave him a very powerful cathartic to clean out his bowels, to "clean out the bad vapors." Finally, they applied a solution of ground beetles to his throat, causing blisters (also thought to clean out the bad vapors.) It is no surprise then, that George Washington died soon afterward.

Cathartic-of or relating to catharsis or to a cathartic or purification

COLONIAL HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Important Facts

The "Reasons" of Diseases

• doctors had very little knowledge about the human body and how it worked

• In colonial times many cures for diseases were superstitious. The most common was phlebotomy, the act of bleeding someone.

• many people didn't have good teeth because they didn't take care of them

• people in colonial times ate and drank too much which led to heart attacks

• barbers and blacksmiths were subs for doctors

• many common diseases were tuberculosis, scrofula, typhoid, diphtheria, influenza, and small pox

The "Healthy" Habits of Humans

By:Vincent,T.T and Lucy

~people believed in a lot of superstition

~so they think gods and witches caused diseases

~they believed in voodoo caused people to die

~ drank to much beer and wine

~ate to much-which led to heart attacks

~women usually died at the age of 35

Did You Know

Did You Know

Did you know that when doctors weren't available, barbers and blacksmiths were on the job. Barbers pulled teeth. Blacksmiths did surgery while doctors weren't on the job.

People in the colonies thought the kings touch could cure epilepsy and scrofula, a form of tuberculosis

epilepsy- disorder of the nervous system causes unconsciousness and convolutions

scrofula-primary tuberculosis of the lymphatic(a vein like vessel)glands, especially those of the neck

tuberculosis- an infectious disease affecting various tissues of the the body, but most often the lungs