The 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries were an awful time to live. There wasn’t a lot of medical technology and what they did have wasn’t very useful. Sanitation and health was terrible compared to what its like today. Also, there were many diseases that infected and killed millions of people. One of them, tuberculosis, was a very deadly disease. It spread across the world very quickly and infected most people in the world. However, tuberculosis influenced many ideas and the creation of some medical instruments.
Gaspard Laurent Bayle and Rene Laennec were French physicians who documented all the stages of tuberculosis (“Tuberculosis.”). They were able to do this because they had the disease and experienced all of its stages. However, both physicians eventually died of the disease. They were able to provide information about disease to the public, helping the search for the cure progress, even though they died.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the tuberculosis outbreak infected and killed many people. In fact, towards the end of the 19th century about 70 to 90% of the urban population of both Europe and North America were infected. Also, about 80% of the individuals who developed the disease died of it, and 40% of working-class deaths were from tuberculosis (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”), killing one third of the population in the 1800s. The disease was so common that it seemed like tuberculosis was inherited. By 1882, German Microbiologist Robert Koch identified the tuberculosis bacillus (a rod shaped bacteria), and proved the disease was contagious for about two weeks after infection. After this, hopes for a cure skyrocketed (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”).
The first cures started to pop up after the identification of the tuberculosis bacillus. The sanatoria movement was the first of these. It was a way to cure tuberculosis naturally. They did this by moving tuberculosis patients to isolated environments with clean, circulating air; similar to a quarantine. Major sanatoria included those in New York and Switzerland (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”,). Sanatoriums may seem great, but they have some negatives. They were costly, since houses had to be specially built. It also took a long time to get better while at a sanatorium. This meant that you had to miss work or school for a long time. These two reasons usually made people avoid sanatoria until the late stages of the disease (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”).
After Robert Koch identified the tuberculosis bacillus, he began to work on a cure. He came up with tuberculin, the “treatment” for tuberculosis. However, tuberculin didn’t always work. In most cases, it actually did nothing, or made it worse. Tuberculin was still helpful in diagnosing the disease, even though it wasn’t very good at getting rid of it (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”). Later, Mark Caldwell found that if you could make the lungs as inactive as possible, the tubercles would thicken and strengthen, blocking off the bacillus. Patients were then put into states of immobility, sleeping, reading, and stargazing (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society). Carlo Forlanini, a surgeon from Italy, found a way to collapse a lung, making it inactive. This worked, since patients could survive off of one lung, and the disease would be stopped. This practice (artificial pneumothorax) spread quickly and it slightly brought down death rates, but few people used it (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society).
Tuberculosis was very common in large cities, and it spread easily. It could be spread in many ways such as through water droplets, dust, or mucus. Rarely, it was even spread through food or waste (“Tuberculosis.”). This helped spread tuberculosis in cities even more because they were usually unsanitary. Cities are large and contain a lot of people, which means that many people could get infected quickly, since the disease was contagious.
Anti-tuberculosis communities formed to help prevent the spreading of tuberculosis. They spread propaganda, and started a fund raising program to help end tuberculosis. However, as tuberculosis spread, city plans, waste disposal, and health clinics had to change. The anti-tuberculosis societies had to be shut down (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society”). Social Reformers had to make sure that cities were safe, and were more sanitary. They had to monitor air, space, and light (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society”). By the late 19th century, death rates began to decline in Europe and the United States (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”). Sanitation, hospitals, and nutrition had all improved.
Tuberculosis, as deadly as it was, helped the world. It helped create or inspire many inventions, ones that were used to diagnose diseases. Some of these include the stethoscope and the X-ray (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”). These inventions are still used today, and they are used for many different things. People also learned to improve sanitation and many other things. It brought people together and helped create a lot of medical technologies and techniques. Tuberculosis killed many at first, but after the world learned from the disease, it helped save many people in the future.
The invention of the X-ray was especially important. It could detect tuberculosis in the patient, even if they were in the early stages that didn’t show any symptoms. It could even detect the disease while it wasn’t active (“Tuberculosis.”). This didn’t mean that the X-ray could cure the disease. However, it did notify doctors that the patient had tuberculosis, so the patient could be treated or moved to a sanatorium. This meant that a patient could be helped before he/she was in any real danger. Not only did this help to save the patient’s life, but it would stop them from spreading the disease even further. This helped save many people from tuberculosis, and it dropped the death rate even further.
As shown, tuberculosis was a very deadly disease. Not only did it kill millions, but it infected a lot more. It could spread though water, food, and even dust. It was a disease that seemed unstoppable; most cure attempts didn’t even really work. However, the 19th century tuberculosis outbreak did help to improve sanitary measures. People also made inventions or medical instruments because of the tuberculosis outbreak. The disease even created anti-tuberculosis societies, groups devoted to help get rid of tuberculosis. Overall, tuberculosis was a disease that crippled many, but helped the world improve, by learning from what the disease had done to them.
Gaspard Laurent Bayle and Rene Laennec were French physicians who documented all the stages of tuberculosis (“Tuberculosis.”). They were able to do this because they had the disease and experienced all of its stages. However, both physicians eventually died of the disease. They were able to provide information about disease to the public, helping the search for the cure progress, even though they died.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the tuberculosis outbreak infected and killed many people. In fact, towards the end of the 19th century about 70 to 90% of the urban population of both Europe and North America were infected. Also, about 80% of the individuals who developed the disease died of it, and 40% of working-class deaths were from tuberculosis (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”), killing one third of the population in the 1800s. The disease was so common that it seemed like tuberculosis was inherited. By 1882, German Microbiologist Robert Koch identified the tuberculosis bacillus (a rod shaped bacteria), and proved the disease was contagious for about two weeks after infection. After this, hopes for a cure skyrocketed (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”).
The first cures started to pop up after the identification of the tuberculosis bacillus. The sanatoria movement was the first of these. It was a way to cure tuberculosis naturally. They did this by moving tuberculosis patients to isolated environments with clean, circulating air; similar to a quarantine. Major sanatoria included those in New York and Switzerland (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”,). Sanatoriums may seem great, but they have some negatives. They were costly, since houses had to be specially built. It also took a long time to get better while at a sanatorium. This meant that you had to miss work or school for a long time. These two reasons usually made people avoid sanatoria until the late stages of the disease (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”).
After Robert Koch identified the tuberculosis bacillus, he began to work on a cure. He came up with tuberculin, the “treatment” for tuberculosis. However, tuberculin didn’t always work. In most cases, it actually did nothing, or made it worse. Tuberculin was still helpful in diagnosing the disease, even though it wasn’t very good at getting rid of it (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”). Later, Mark Caldwell found that if you could make the lungs as inactive as possible, the tubercles would thicken and strengthen, blocking off the bacillus. Patients were then put into states of immobility, sleeping, reading, and stargazing (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society). Carlo Forlanini, a surgeon from Italy, found a way to collapse a lung, making it inactive. This worked, since patients could survive off of one lung, and the disease would be stopped. This practice (artificial pneumothorax) spread quickly and it slightly brought down death rates, but few people used it (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society).
Tuberculosis was very common in large cities, and it spread easily. It could be spread in many ways such as through water droplets, dust, or mucus. Rarely, it was even spread through food or waste (“Tuberculosis.”). This helped spread tuberculosis in cities even more because they were usually unsanitary. Cities are large and contain a lot of people, which means that many people could get infected quickly, since the disease was contagious.
Anti-tuberculosis communities formed to help prevent the spreading of tuberculosis. They spread propaganda, and started a fund raising program to help end tuberculosis. However, as tuberculosis spread, city plans, waste disposal, and health clinics had to change. The anti-tuberculosis societies had to be shut down (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society”). Social Reformers had to make sure that cities were safe, and were more sanitary. They had to monitor air, space, and light (“The Disease That Built Mini-Empires—And Changed The Course Of 19th- century society”). By the late 19th century, death rates began to decline in Europe and the United States (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”). Sanitation, hospitals, and nutrition had all improved.
Tuberculosis, as deadly as it was, helped the world. It helped create or inspire many inventions, ones that were used to diagnose diseases. Some of these include the stethoscope and the X-ray (“Tuberculosis in Europe and North America”). These inventions are still used today, and they are used for many different things. People also learned to improve sanitation and many other things. It brought people together and helped create a lot of medical technologies and techniques. Tuberculosis killed many at first, but after the world learned from the disease, it helped save many people in the future.
The invention of the X-ray was especially important. It could detect tuberculosis in the patient, even if they were in the early stages that didn’t show any symptoms. It could even detect the disease while it wasn’t active (“Tuberculosis.”). This didn’t mean that the X-ray could cure the disease. However, it did notify doctors that the patient had tuberculosis, so the patient could be treated or moved to a sanatorium. This meant that a patient could be helped before he/she was in any real danger. Not only did this help to save the patient’s life, but it would stop them from spreading the disease even further. This helped save many people from tuberculosis, and it dropped the death rate even further.
As shown, tuberculosis was a very deadly disease. Not only did it kill millions, but it infected a lot more. It could spread though water, food, and even dust. It was a disease that seemed unstoppable; most cure attempts didn’t even really work. However, the 19th century tuberculosis outbreak did help to improve sanitary measures. People also made inventions or medical instruments because of the tuberculosis outbreak. The disease even created anti-tuberculosis societies, groups devoted to help get rid of tuberculosis. Overall, tuberculosis was a disease that crippled many, but helped the world improve, by learning from what the disease had done to them.