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Medicine - Victorian vs. Modern

17/8/2012

In Victorian times a complete lack of regulation meant that the medical profession had a huge range of abilities and practices, many were highly dubious. Many apothecaries, supplied, prescribed and sold the drugs. Many of these drugs were deadly and contained poisons such as arsenic. A lot of the drugs had no proven efficacy as medical research didn't really happen.

Although a lot has changed we're still in a similar position, although we have regulation, their is no doubt that the pharmacutical industry has deep pockets meaning we may as well have no regulation. The medical profession still has a huge range of abilities and practices, many are highly dubious (statins, chemotherapy etc). Pharmacutical companies supply the drugs, they pay huge bonuses to Doctor's who prescribed and sell the drugs. Many of the drugs are still deadly and contain toxic poison's such as mercury. A lot of the drugs such as vaccines have no proven efficacy as medical research usually paves a path to profit.

Turns out we've not really left Victorian Britain after all...

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Piggy Bank

8/8/2012

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We've talked before about pork products getting into everyday life. From both my research/training and clinical experience, pork is one of the most harmful foods to health, so I tend to make avoiding it wherever possible an important lesson for any new client. So, lets take a look where else they might show up in the medical world and see why poor old Porky Pig just fattens the profits of the pharmaceutical industry by not only decreasing health, but also providing a cheap source for producing the drugs that are supposed to "cure" our ill-health.

Pharmaceutical By-Products

PIG ADRENAL GLANDS
Corticosteroids---Cortisone---Epinephrine
Norepinephrine
PIG BLOOD
Blood Fibrin---Fetal Pig Plasma---Plasmin
PIG BRAIN
Cholesterol---Hypothalamus
PIG GALL BLADDER
Chenodeoxychlolic Acid
PIG HEART
Heart Valves
Pig heart valves, specially preserved and treated, are surgically implanted in humans to replace heart valves weakened by disease or injury.
PIG INTESTINES
Enterogastrone---Heparin---Secretin
PIG LIVER
Desiccated Liver
PIG OVARIES
Estrogens---Progesterone---Relaxin
PIG PANCREAS GLAND
Insulin---Glucagon---Lipase
Pancreatin---Trypsin---Chymotrypsin
Pig pancreas glands provide a source of insulin hormone which is used to treat diabetics as its chemical structure closely resembles that of humans.
PIG SPLEEN
Splenin Fluid
PIG STOMACH
Pepsin---Mucin---Intrinsic Factor
PIG THYROID GLAND
Thyroxin---Calcitonin---Thyroglobin
PIG SKIN
Porcine Burn Dressings---Gelatin
Specially selected and treated pig skin, because of its similarity to human skin, is used in treating massive burns in humans, injuries that have removed large areas of skin and in healing persistent skin ulcers.
PIG PINEAL GLAND
Melatonin
PIG PITUITARY GLAND
ACTH-Adrenocorticotropic Hormone
ADH-Antidiuretic Hormone
Oxytocin---Prolactin
TSH-Thyroid Stimulating---Hormone
PIG BLOOD
Sticking Agent---Leather Treating Agents
Plywood Adhesive---Protein Source in Feeds
Fabric Printing & Dyeing
PIG BRAINS
Cholesterol

And a few other products

PIG BONES & SKIN
Glue---Pigskin Garments---Gloves & Shoes
Footballs
PIG DRIED BONES
Buttons---Bone China
PIG BONE MEAL
Mineral Source in Feed---Fertilizer
Porcelain Enamel---Glass---Water Filters
PIG GALL STONES
Ornaments
PIG HAIR
Artist Brushes---Insulation---Upholstery----Bread
PIG FATTY ACIDS & GLYCERINE
Insecticides---Floor Waxes---Weed Killers
Water-Proofing Agents---Lubricants
Cement---Oil Polishes---Fiber---Softeners
Rubber---Crayons---Cosmetics---Chalk
Antifreeze---Phonograph Records
Nitroglycerine---Matches---Plastics
Putty---Plasticizers---Paper Sizing---Linoleum
Printing Rollers---Insulation---Cellophane

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Adulterated Food - Victorian vs. Modern

8/8/2012

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Much of the foods consumed by the working class in the nineteenth century was adulterated by foreign substances. Contamination with chemicals, animal and human excrement was common.

By the 1840's the old image of home baked bread was long gone, the poor had moved to small city tenements to form a new urban mass. Obviously these tenements were unequipped to bake bread. As such for the first time people began to buy bread and other foods. In 1872 Dr. Hassall, who investigated food adulteration and was a principal reformer in this vital area of health, showed that half of the bread he examined had considerable quanities of alum. Whilst this is not poisonous, it does inhibit digestion, consequently lowering the nutritional value of other foods that people ate.

A variety of poisonous additives such as;

Strychnine, cocculus inculus (hallucinogens) and copperas in rum and beer
Sulphate of copper in pickles, bottled fruit, wine, and preserves
Lead chromate in mustard and snuff
Sulphate of iron in tea and beer
Ferric ferrocynanide, lime sulphate, and turmeric in chinese tea
Copper carbonate, lead sulphate, bisulphate of mercury, and Venetian lead in sugar confectionery and chocolate
Lead in wine and cider
Red lead gave Gloucester cheese its 'healthy' red colour
Flour and arrowroot thickened cream
Tea leaves were 'dried, dyed, and recycled'.
A quarter of the milk contained excessive water, or chalk
Ten per cent of all the butter, over eight per cent of the bread, and 50 per cent of the gin had copper in them to heighten the color.

These poisonous additives and had an accumulative effect, which over a long period gave chronic gastritis and often caused fatal poisoning.

The London County Country Medical Officer discovered that samples of ice cream contained:

Cocci
Bacilli,
Torulae
Cotton fiber
Lice
Bed bugs
Fleas
Straw
Human hair
Cat and dog hair.... delicious!!

Contaminated ice cream caused diphtheria, scarlet fever, diarrhoea, and enteric fever.

Food adulteration now

You may think food adulteration is consigned to history, sadly its not. Food adulteration is the act of intentionally degrading the quality of food offered for sale either by the admixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient (this is also the description of processed food). Food is declared adulterated if:

a substance is added which depreciates or injuriously affects it
cheaper or inferior substances are substituted wholly or in part
any valuable or necessary constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted
it is an imitation
it is coloured or otherwise treated, to improve its appearance or if it contains any added substance injurious to health

Salicylic, benzoic, and boric acids, and their sodium salts, formaldehyde, ammonium fluoride, sulphurous acid and its salts are amongst the preservatives used today. Canned vegetables are sometimes coloured green with copper salts, butter is made more yellow using anatta. Chrome yellow, prussian blue, copper and arsenic compounds are used (often in yellow and orange-coloured sweets).

Artificial flavouring compounds are used for diet drinks and foods. Milk is skimmed, pasteurized, homogenized and has water added. Gelatin (usually pork) is added to cream, as is formaldehyde to preservative it.

The bottom line is that food isn't always food despite what the packaging may tell you. Check the ingredients and if you need a degree in chemistry to understand it then don't eat it.

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Medicine - Victorian vs. Modern

Piggy Bank

Adulterated Food - Victorian vs. Modern

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