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1. What was the leading cause of death in the Civil War?
2. How many people died a day in the Andersonville Prison in Georgia from Dysentery?
3. What is one of the Gastrointestinal Diseases that was affected troops in the Civil War?
4. What is one factor that contributed to the spread of Dysentery?
5. What was one way these illnesses were treated?
Since there was still a huge lacking of medical knowledge of this time, here are some of a view things doctors did to treat the illness.
- Home remedies such as tea made from dogwood tree bark
- Growing out your beard to protect the throat and lungs
- Opium
- "Blue Mass" : A mixture of chalk and mercury
- Whiskey
- Warm clothes and a cot for bed rest
- Cauterization of the anal opening
Many reasons contributed to the spread of the disease, here are just a few:
- Lack of hygiene by doctors
- poor nutrition
- lack of space
- poor medical knowledge
- Not many qualified doctors
But, most importantly.. CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER
Acute inflammation of the intestine associated with infectious Diarrhea of various etiologies, generally acquired by eating contaminated food containing Toxins, Biologically derived from bacteria or other microorganisms. Dysentery is characterized initially by watery Feces then by bloody mucoid stools. It is often associated with Abdominal Pain; Fever; and Dehydration.
There were many other Gastrointestinal Disorders as well. These diseases included Inflammatory Bowl Disease (IBD), Crohn's disease, and Malabsorption syndrome.
Dysentery is #1 single killer among all factors in the Civil War on both the Confederacy and Union. Including half of all disease related deaths was because of dysentery.
According to Union records, 1,739,135 cases; 57,265 deaths were recorded on Yankee soldiers while just 44,238 men died in battle. Regiments at times would have three fourths of their men have been stricken at one time and 1 of every 4 people were said to die from the illness.
It was no better on the Confederacy either. The Confederate Army of the Potomac of 50,000 troops, reported 36,572 cases of bowel disorder in first nine months. The Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond said 1 of every 10 died to dysentery and over 130 died a day at Andersonville Prison in Georgia.