The Clap

Gonorrhoea and syphilis.  Two microscopic organisms that over the years have removed more men from the battlefield of various conflicts than fists, bayonets, bullets, sabres, mustard gas, grenades, mortars, tanks or any creative combination thereof, combined.  

An address by Surgeon General Gorgas before the General Sessions of the American Public Health Association in August 1917 expresses the wish that if he were provided a magic wand and were given the choice to eradicate wounds or venereal disease, he would choose venereal disease.  "A man with a flesh wound through the thigh is back in the trenches within ten days or two weeks, frequently in less time. If he contracts a venereal disease, his average disability is very much longer. In other words, to the commanding general, the loss is greater for a man who contracts gonorrhea than for a man who is shot through the thigh, and if the commanding general could lay aside all question of morality,he would probably choose the eradication of venereal disease rather than the prevention of wounds."

Caesar

Your intrepid reporter is currently at an intensive pre-examination revision course, learning all about saving the lives of mother's and babies.  Which is by way of an excuse as to why there will be no detailed post this month.

Instead from the collection of the US National Library of Medicine we have the following image.  A woodcut entitled La commare o riccoglitrice dell'eccmo. sr. Scipion Mercurii, and dating back to 1601 it depicts a woman being restrained by two other man as another surgically extracts a foetus from her abdomen.

One of the earliest known images of caeserean section.

Caeserean section as we know it today was not how the procedure was performed prior to mid this century. Generally it was only performed post-mortem, as in after the mother was already dead, which meant the success rate of also delivering a live baby was quite slim.

Thankfully on my revision course I am learning that we have come a long way....
 
Contrary to popular belief, by the way, it seems likely that Julius Caesar was not born this way, as his mother survived his birth - but we'll save his story for another day.   

Hitler and His Habit

The history of humans and drug use is a fascinating one.  Human beings have been using mood-altering substances since the dawn of time.  Traces of alcohol have been found in pots excavated from ancient dig sites in Greece and Rome.  For centuries the biggest trade commodities world wide have been alcohol, nicotine, coffee and opiates, mood altering substances all.  

It seems that something about being human makes us want to alter our state of mind and the Fuhrer was not immune.  

Amphetamine was synthesised for the first time in 1887 by a chemist working at the University of Berlin named Lazăr Edeleanu (given the subject of this story, it is perhaps relevant that he was a Romanian Jew).  Methamphetamine, a related compound, came along in 1893 thanks to a Japanese chemist named Nagai Nagayoshi.  It was first marketed in 1900 under the trade name Benzdrine as a bronchodilator and an appetite suppressant.  Most people are more aware of amphetamine today by its street names such as ice, speed and ecstasy.  They are also probably much more aware of its other properties.  Amphetamine, and its related compounds are very, very good stimulants. 

Unfortunately they also have a number of deleterious side effects.   These include paranoia, agitation, hallucinations, florid psychosis and rapid increasing dependence. 

Over the years several nations have experiemented with amphetamines to help their soldiers stay awake.  Perhaps the most notorious culprit in this department was the German army.  During World War II thousands of German soldiers became addicted to methamphetamine, marketed as Pervitin. 

There’s no concrete evidence that Hitler was also using Pervitin.  However the hearsay is fairly compelling.  Given the widespread use of the drug by the German army, it is certain that its properties were very well known to him.  

What is known is that every morning from 1941 Theodor Morell, Hitler’s personal physician, attended him and gave him an intravenous injection.  Throughout 1943 these injections began to be administered at several times throughout the day.  Reportedly these injections contained 'vitamins', however following their administration Hitler was said to become very active, alert, happy, talkative and able to stay awake for great periods of time.  

 

(Dr. Theodor Morell)

Hitler is widely described as having been insane especially as his behaviour and military judgement became increasingly erratic.  A lack of judgement led to the complete disaster of the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 and from there the tide of war turned significantly against the Nazis. 

He became increasingly paranoid and aggressive.  He developed a shake in his left hand, attributed by some to Parkinson’s, but also possibly a side effect of the drugs.  Previously very clear on the importance of personal responsibility, Hitler began to blame his subordinates, often violently, for lapses in judgement that were clearly his fault.  

While these symptoms can also be due to schizophrenia, Hitler was 53 in 1942, which is unusually old for a psychotic mental disorder to make its first appearance.  

No, it seems likely that Hitler was a speed addict.  

Methamphetamine is a dangerous drug of addiction which is causing us enormous problems in many societies.  Nonetheless, perhaps we owe a debt of gratitude to Lazăr Edeleanu.  After all, the effects of methamphetamine probably helped the Allies win the war. 

       

Ship of Fools

One hundred years ago today at two twenty am in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic Ocean the RMS Titanic sank.  In one of the greatest peacetime maritime disasters in history 1,514 people lost their lives.

For the duration of the short voyage the passengers and crew of the Titanic were served by a small medical staff made up of two surgeons, two nurses and a hospital steward.  

I'm reaching and I know it...

In 1981 a syndrome was first described that baffled doctors and quickly killed its victims.  That syndrome came to be known as AIDS.  

Today AIDS or more correctly the precursor virus HIV, is more of a chronic illness in the western world.  We have good treatment and most sufferers can expect to live well into old age. 

However in the mid eighties and early nineties, this was not the case.  

Dr. Turkey is old enough to remember the large public health campaign that occurred in Australia in the late 1980s, which is the origin of today's picture interlude. 

 

(Copyright the QAHC)   (This is the Royal Easter Show Edition?  See, there is a link!)

Condoman was created in 1988 by a group of indigenous health workers in Queensland who felt that the Grim Reaper ads being run for the general population were culturally inappropriate.  The 'Don't be shame be game' slogan for condom use was incredibly successful amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the program eventually spread out to the Pacific Islands. (The general population from memory also responded well).

Australia's overall response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic was one of the best in the world, resulting in a halt and reversal of infection rates.  It set the standard for how to respond to the threat of a blood borne/sexually transmitted virus.  Australian public health workers are particularly proud of this and the fact that they also managed to do it in a culturally appropriate way. 

Unfortunately perhaps due to the fact that things are better these days for sufferers infection rates are once again on the rise, particularly amongst our indigenous populations.  Condoman had to make a return in 2009.  

Hopefully we won't require the Grim Reaper.