Industrial Revolution 1750-1900
Fads in Medicine
The facts
There have been a number of dead ends
which doctors have gone down hoping to find
cures for diseases. An Italian inventor, Luigi
Galvani (1737 - 1798), discovered 'animal
electricity'. When an electrical charge was
passed through animals the nerves and
muscles twitched. Following this discovery,
the invention of the electric battery in 1800 by
Alessandro Volta brought about a whole
variety of treatments using electricity. It
appeared to people at the time to be a
powerful and 'invisible' force, which they
believed to have miraculous medicinal
properties. Today, however, these beliefs
have been abandoned.
Electricity can certainly have a beneficial
Luigi Galvani
effect in stimulating the heart and pulse rate,
but these early machines were accepted without any real proof that they
worked. Indeed, up until quite recently, electrical shock treatment was used
on some mentally ill patients. Whilst it helped to produce some short-term
relief doctors had little understanding of what it actually did to the brain.
During the 19th century, places where mineral-rich waters were found
became famous as healing 'spas'. Patients could rest, bathe and drink the
water. The germ theory of disease was unknown then and people were keen
to try alternative cures. Spas were very popular and had existed for thousands
of years, going back to the time of the Greeks and Romans. Rest, relaxation
and massage would certainly help the general well-being of the patient. The
minerals in the water would probably, at best, do little harm, although there
was sometimes a real danger of water-borne diseases spreading at such
places.
Memory time...
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Alessandro Volta invented the electric battery in 1800; this was
believed at the time to have medicinal powers
Health spas were popular among the wealthy elite. They are still used
today on a wider basis
Modern scientific enquiry has reduced people's acceptance of
medicinal treatments that do not have proof of working.