RE: VMs: Strange disorders

["GC" <glenclaston@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bob Richmond wrote:

>>"John Arderne was especially known for his surgery to correct anal
fistula,
a disorder to which the English were thought to be particularly prone."<<

Particularly the ones whose horoscopes showed Uranus rising....

John Arderne - don't know his dates, 12th century I think - was one of the
most skilled and daring surgeons of early times. He is supposed to have
proposed
and planned abdominoperineal resection (Miles procedure) of the rectum and
anus for cancer, though without anesthesia or blood transfusion, or the
ability
to construct and maintain a colostomy afterwards, he could not actually
perform the procedure.

He isn't better known to history because of the low regard in which surgeons
were held at the time - they were thought of as no more than tradesmen,
while
the "internists" of the day were the academics. (To this day a surgeon in
the
U.K. is sometimes addressed as "Mister", or at least was 40 years ago.)

Uranus rising indeed!

What I don't get though is the constant reference by the medical profession
to the lack of anesthesia in surgery and routine medicine during these
times.  There is a wealth of literary comment on opiates and other plants
that are known to possess anesthetic qualities.  These were either taken
internally before procedures or in many cases applied topically to wounds
before suturing, etc.  I'm no medical professional, but it does seem to me
that these guys did their best to alleviate pain.  Not very good by modern
standards, but at least they tried.

I recently stumbled across a plaster recipe made with anise, which caught my
attention.  I know from experience that anise oil applied to a cavity stops
toothache almost instantly, so I tried the plaster of anise on an open
wound, (not self-inflicted, of course), and it served extremely well as a
local pain killer.

I grant that many books omit references to anesthesia, but this was not
entirely unknown.  In fact, more modern books written after the renaissance
(when all old knowledge was discarded in favor of science) tend (at least to
me) to be more barbaric in the treatment of patients than the older manuals.

A good example is Solanus of Ephesus, from ancient Rome.  I wasn't studying
him for surgical technique, rather for his books on child bearing, but I did
find it fascinating that he focused quite strongly on the comfort of the
patient in all instances.  Some of his recommendations for alleviation of
pain were bogus, but others are proven even today.  And even more
importantly, his treatise on the mentally ill includes such things as *not*
locking them away in dark cells, rather providing them quarters that are
moderately lit, moderate rations instead of starving the demon, removing any
objects that they may use to harm themselves, when using restraint, using
only the hands and not a club or other object, and more modern than I can
even begin to stress, the need to have the mentally ill patient engage in
conversation with "philosophers" in hopes of the patient recovering his wits
by his won strength.  Comfortable lodging, good food, safe environment, and
counseling until the patient improves.  Compare this advice to the
mainstream treatment of the mentally ill in the 18th and 19th centuries.....
or even post-Reagan America!

GC

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